If you contemplate the nature of the journey, its purpose and the dynamics of the journey itself, you will reach a definitive conclusion. The nature or purpose of travel has not changed in America, the traveler has. There are numerous reasons why people travel. People want to connect. How that connection is made is as varied as the wind. Connection itself is an individualized means of expression. The various idiosyncratic peculiarities are completely unique to each person; therefore no individual can choose a path for another. You have to find out for yourself. It could be said that individuals undertake journeys to experience, learn and understand other cultures. Individualized goals might include tasting new cuisines or exploring new lands, but even these are only superficial excuses. These close details are not so much reasons in the true sense of the word, but serve as impetus to the journey. People travel to lose themselves and embrace their fears. Embracing your fear results in strengthening your resolve as you seek understanding. It is through this understanding that one rediscovers oneself. Thus by rediscovering oneself one discovers the truth. The journey itself is forged in research; looking for “IT”. This “quest,” so to speak, has been a persistent and restless constant in America, since before the founding of the United States of America; when De Soto first found himself on the banks of the Mississippi. This underlying constant can be found in essential characters throughout American history. Beatniks and boomers are no exception. “On the Road,” by Jack Kerouac, defines the spirit of the beatniks and by extension the boomers. It is this spirit that drives one... middle of paper... to implicate the beatnik-boomers as the culprits, the reasoned reason behind the existence of such a vessel. The ship provides a copasetic altered state to the spoiled, self-centered American tourist's desire for instant gratification. “…[the American] ultimate fantasy vacation” (Wallace, 264) Perhaps one would expect an “apologia pro vita sua” from boomers. A reasonable explanation of where, when, why, how, or what changed the direction of boomers' lives is probably needed; no, required! Yet none materialized. One can't help but wonder if somewhere along the way the beatnik/boomer generation got lost along the way. The past of the beatniks and boomers has been forgotten and cast aside, their lives could be compared to those of the Israelites wandering in the desert for forty years. Maybe boomers are waiting for their children to show them the way.