To be in transit is to navigate a void between points of departure and arrival. When we’re in an airplane, untethered to the earth, time and space roll by indifferently. Only seldom does a vague sense of location present itself through the oval window—green irrigation circles printed on the Plains, dotted lines of city light woven in the darkness, black granite peaks locked in ice. On road trips, these captivating pauses come at shorter intervals between the on- and off-ramps, at gas stations, diners and cheap motels. Jack Kerouac’s unspooling tale, On the Road, follows his vision of “one great red line across America, ” but gathers its tone and value in the dingy waysides of the route. It begins inauspiciously, with rain coming down hard at Bear Mountain Bridge on Route 6. Waiting alone for a ride at an abandoned filling station, looking This story is from Kinfolk Issue Thirty-Five Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 45 Yoga with Adriene The internet’s best friend is—finally—finding her own flow. Arts & Culture Garden Issue 45 Piet Oudolf The Dutch designer bringing life—and death—to traditional gardens. Arts & Culture Issue 45 Thomas MacDonell The conservationist transforming the Highlands. Arts & Culture Design Issue 45 The New Craftsmen From the Outer Hebrides to central London, Catherine Lock is celebrating the crafts heritage of Great Britain. Arts & Culture Music Issue 45 Gerard & Kelly On dance, domesticity and the giants of modernism. Arts & Culture Issue 45 Hang in There How to make the best of a bad job.
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