Survive a Long Road Trip

Road trips can be fun and exciting for the whole family, at least once you finally arrive where you want to be. Riding in the car for hours, especially in the backseat, it can be boring. Here are some boredom busters and coping strategies for when you're stuck in the backseat.

Steps

Preparing for the Trip

  1. Pack. As well as the clothes, pack such things as toiletries, clothing, and medications.
  2. Have a little backpack full of things you might find amusing, such as books, puzzles and portable video games. Make some yummy snacks, and buy some water and drinks in bottles or cans. That will keep your hunger down when there isn't an exit coming up any time soon!
    • You may also want to pack an iPod, or a Zune, or other type of MP3 player for entertainment. You can also pack a portable DVD player or gaming system.
  3. Make sure that the car is cleaned. Remove trash and old toys, books, wrappers, etc. Vacuum the seats. Put a blanket on the seat to make it comfy.

Just Before the Trip Begins

  1. Get comfortable. Use the bathroom before you go. Adjust your pillow just right because you're going to be back there for a while. Make sure you've eaten. Take off your shoes and relax! Look out the window and see the beautiful scenery go pass.

Enjoying the Road Trip

  1. Play classic road trip games. These are often fun and get your mind going. Here are a few of them:
    • License Plate Words: This is where you find a license plate with letters and try to think of abbreviations for the word. For example, the license plate is CESC686. "CESC" can stand for "cows eat seven chickens".
    • Another one is where you get a list of most states in the current time zone and try to find each state in that area, bonus point if it's out of time zone. Its easier with time zones because if you're on the west coast it will be pretty hard to find a car from upper Maine.
  2. Use your imagination. Think of fun things, or look out the window and pretend someone and/or something is running. It can be just like a movie if you try hard enough.
  3. Listen to some of your favorite tunes.
  4. Read a book. Warning as this may lead to carsickness for some people. Bring some magazines and books. If you don't have many books at your house or don't have a library near you, you can get an app like iBooks or eBooks and you can read from there. Some of the books on iBooks are free.
  5. Get creative. If you bring a notepad, you can write a story. Maybe if you're in the middle of Kansas you can draw the flat ground, and design a roller coaster or a water slide. Write a story that reflects your surroundings. It can pass time and gets your mind going.
  6. Mess around. For example, you can play jokes, such as you can start crying and when someone asks what's wrong and say something like "Someone invisible is chopping onions"! It gets very annoying but it's funny.
  7. Get some shut-eye. If you're leaving in the morning, wake up 3 hours in advanced and do some things to tire you out. if you leave at 7:30 am, wake up at 4:30. Maybe you can pack your carry on and food, bike a mile, and clean the house. You will be super tired by the time you're on your way.

Road Trip Help

Doc:Road Trip Checklist,Road Trip Tips and Tricks,Road Trip Games



Tips

  • Try to sleep. You don't need to worry about your family babbling on about something if you are asleep.
  • Wear loose clothing. You want to be comfortable.
  • Take lots of rest breaks, if at all possible. Try to go to the bathroom every time the family makes a stop, even if you're not really ready yet, but avoid dirty bathrooms. Bathrooms at gas stations may not always be clean enough.
  • If you are just sticking to electronics, ask you family to invest in a electronic charger in your car. Tell them that if they do you won't bother them as much, etc.
  • If none of that works for you, read a good book or draw or write on the trip. Just keep in mind the possibility of motion sickness and how hard it may be to write a straight line in a moving vehicle.
  • If you don't get Wi-Fi, get apps like The Game Of Life, and Minecraft. These are worth the money and can kill a lot of hours. Other free apps like Sonic or Word hunts are fine too. Just look up often to avoid sickness and to refresh your eyes.
  • If you can, get a movie or TV app. If you watch episodes like Family Guy, they are 30 minutes. If you trip is 5 hours you can watch 10 episodes. This passes so much time.
  • Text your friends. Really passes time and your friends may have been to the same location that you're going to.
  • Do not look at the floor or you will get sick. Look out of the window.
  • Truck stops are a good place to buy souvenirs from that particular state.
  • Bring an outdoor toy like a jump rope or a soccer ball, so that at the rest stop you can run around and let out some energy.

Warnings

  • Bring blankets or else you might get cold from the AC.
  • Never distract the driver.
  • Family members may be stressed out or tired of driving, so don't argue.
  • Be aware that older siblings may be annoying and they will put their feet up on you. If this happens, try to put Lego bricks or something uncomfortable on your lap. Or, just put your feet on them.
  • Glare on your gadgets will get annoying.
  • If you sleep during the trip, it might mess up your sleep schedule.

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