The car was a clunker, a real lemon, bought cheaply and on a whim. Still, it was a car, a mode of transportation, a source of freedom and exploration. And that’s what mattered to a young Jack Reid, ready to embrace the romance of the road in his post-collegiate odyssey in far-off New Zealand.
It may have been the early 2000s, but part of Reid, always steeped in history, felt a hankering for the past. He had read Kerouac, listened to early Dylan. He sought adventure, experiences, on the road. And so there he was, sputtering along the highways of New Zealand’s North Island, when he came upon a curious sight, something alien to his modern American eyes.
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