This morning I was thinking about the two major toll highways in New Jersey. Like the roads we take in life, these highways have similarities and differences between them. As a Jersey Boy who’s lived in the Garden State for over the last 30 years, let me tell you about these roads.
The two highways are the New Jersey Turnpike (NJTP) and the Garden State Parkway (GSPW). Like most toll roads, they were built for convenience in their trajectory so commuters have a quick way to reach specific destinations.
The Turnpike runs across the state from the Delaware Memorial Bridge in the southwest to the George Washington Bridge in the northeast. It hosts a total of 29exits with tollbooths at each exit. You pick up a ticket at a tollbooth upon entering the turnpike (or have your EZPass scanned if you have one) and pay when you get off. The fare would vary depending on the length of the trip from entrance to exit.
The Garden State Parkway (GSPW) runs in an vertical path along the eastern outline of New Jersey. It reaches from the most southern town of Cape May all the way up to Montvale where it borders the New York state line. Being the longest highway in Jersey, the Parkway contains a whopping 365 exits, although there are only 49 collection points at toll plazas and entrance/exit ramps. The fare is fixed for each collection point regardless of the distance traveled or planned to travel.
So growing up in Princeton, our family would occasionally take the Turnpike up to the Lincoln tunnel when going into NYC or to Newark Airport when leaving the states. It was the quickest path from where we lived to those destinations. We never took the parkway because going to the shore was a straight shot east while the parkway ran north to south.
It wasn’t until after many years of adulting that I first drove on the Parkway myself. So what changed? Two things:
Where I was in life. I was no longer just a kid; not just a passenger. I had control over where I was going; I was the driver.
Where I was going. I was heading down to Atlantic City. It was a completely different trajectory from NYC or the airport; the Turnpike just didn’t path there.
The analogy may be crude, but I woke up thinking about these two highways because I have been on the same road for so long. It’s the road that was chosen for me by my family. By societal norms. You have to graduate from college and get a job. You work at the same company and retire in your late 60’s.
But there’s more than one road in life. So many paths and destinations. Each with different tolls you must pay. To become a physician is like taking the Turnpike. Each section has it’s own length and toll to pay, MCATs, medical school, residency, maintaining the license to practice.
To become a restaurant owner on the other hand is more like the Parkway. Each store had vastly different costs such as location rent, equipment, cuisine, staffing. Some sections costs money while others are free (or significantly lower).
So it’s not a perfect analogy. But all roads do have one thing in common: they cost time to reach your destination. What I want to say is don’t spend too much time on a road that doesn’t lead you to where you want to go.
Remember that you are the driver. So get off the Turnpike. Get off the Parkway. Find your own destination and route in life.