"Tech" is, of course, based on the college that I went to. It's about five hours from where my parents lived, so, like in the comic, it was just far enough that I wouldn't be expected to come home every other weekend, but I could easily make the trip for holidays if I so desired. But still, five hours is a long, boring drive. No matter how excited you might be to make the trip, that enthusiasm will only last for one or two hours before the boredom sets in.
My first trip to college was in the summer before classes. I had to take some placement tests to determine what classes I would be taking. My father drove me, and we ended up getting hopelessly lost because I was reading the map wrong. (To be fair, the dot closest to the label was not the right dot.)
That fall, my father once again drove me to school, his truck loaded down with nearly all of my belongings. To get home that first Thanksgiving, a friend of mine was able to give me a ride. But at Christmas, that ride told me he was transferring to a different school, so I was forced to take my dad's truck back to school with me. And, as I was hoping, I was able to keep that truck with me for nearly the next five years. That truck was mine, and I loved it. It was old and not terribly pretty, but it got me where I needed to go. It got terrible gas mileage and leaked various fluids and the windows didn't roll down properly. It had already been in an accident (I was driving, but not my fault) and at one point I had to get the engine replaced, but I drove it to Kentucky and Alabama and Pennsylvania, and I'd probably still be driving it if it hadn't eventually broken down one too many times and I couldn't afford to get it fixed.
I still miss that truck.
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