I first met Dean and Sal not long before I left university. At the time I had been buried in books and academia for more than 10 years, diligently working towards a career in the law. However expectations, those of my parents and myself, were beginning to weigh me down. The more I tried to confirm to others' thoughts of success and fulfillment, the more I became frustrated with the world and my place in it. I craved liberation. Jack Kerouac's existential tale of dreams, dames, kicks and characters set me free.