The Open Road and the Unseen Destination: Keeping Our Focus on the Coming

There’s a certain electric hum to the open road. It’s the sound of tires on gravel, the rattle of a full-time RV engine, and the constant, exhilarating sense of forward momentum. For those of us who live for the journey—whether it's overlanding through the BLM lands, tackling a stretch of backcountry, or simply navigating the daily life of van life—the path itself is the greatest teacher.

The recent episode of Road 96 captures that feeling perfectly: the adrenaline of the chase, the necessity of resourcefulness, and the constant, urgent need to keep moving. The characters are running toward a border, but what they are truly running toward is a new beginning, a different life, a place of safety.

When we watch this kind of adventure, it’s easy to get caught up in the immediate drama—the pursuit, the cash, the immediate danger. But as Rogue Adventurers, we’re trained to look past the immediate drama. We are always looking at the border, but we are looking at the *ultimate* border. We are looking at the gathering point.

This reminds us that life’s greatest adventures—the ones that truly change us—are not just about reaching a National Park or a perfect dispersed camping site. They are about the journey toward a destination that transcends geography. It’s about knowing where we are going, even when the road gets bumpy and the authorities seem to be closing in.

The Pilgrimage of the Open Road

The movement captured in this video—the desperate need to keep going, to keep the momentum, to keep the bills flying—mirrors the spirit of the pilgrimage. Whether we're homeschooling in a Skoolie, or we're doing a serious backpacking trip to find a quiet spot to pray, we are constantly moving toward something bigger than ourselves.

It’s in these moments of movement that our own tools become useful. We realize that just as the characters in the video are throwing money to keep the cops distracted, we have our own ways to leave signs of hope and remembrance for the next traveler.

Leaving Our Marks: Stones and Pennies

Our community has two wonderful ways to leave signs of hope and remembrance on the road: the painted rocks and the decorated bills. When we stop at an overlook or a trailhead, dropping a little painted rock (a CRockyGo) is a small, tangible way of saying, “We were here. Keep going. Hope is here.” It’s a stone of remembrance, a little beacon of light for the next person on their own adventure.

And speaking of leaving signs, the characters in the video are constantly dealing with money. This is where our decorated Currency Kids bills come into play. Every decorated dollar isn't just currency; it's a tiny, portable gospel tract. Every time we spend those bills at a local Holy Rogue Network vendor—a small bakery in a State Park, a gift shop near a BLM site, or a local craftsman—we are sharing the message of the Kingdom right alongside our spending.

The convergence of our interests—the world-schooling family running a road school curriculum, the thru-hikers needing reliable trail maps, and the climbers seeking a perfect alpine basecamp—all meet on the road. This is the field trip at scale. The journey itself is the classroom, and the faith we share is the foundational text.

We are called to be adventurous, yes, but more importantly, we are called to be *Adventurers*—to come toward the gathering. The road we are on is leading somewhere, and we are excited for the day we all get to gather there.

If you’ve been feeling the pull of the open road, the need for a new adventure, or the desire to connect with other like-minded believers on the move, don’t wait. Find the next meet-up, list a field trip for your homeschool co-op, or claim a creator profile and share your own journey with us. The road is calling, and the Kingdom is waiting.