Hi there!! Since Summer is almost upon us, I know that means vacation season is upon us as well. My family almost always travels by car (I’ve even traveled as many as twenty hours in the car at one time!).
I wanted to share some of the ways I survive long car rides. Honestly, I am pretty content in the car and don’t mind long car rides so I don’t get bored very easily, but I still need ways to spend my time. Here some of my tips:
#1
Car Games. Car games can make or break a trip. It gives you a chance to bond with people on the trip and also is an entertaining way to pass time.
In my family, our favorites are hangman, card games (Uno, Spot it!, Bingo) and never have I ever.
I also found this post on fun car games. I can’t wait to try some of these with my family!!
#2
Prep your devices. If you have access services like Amazon Prime, Netflix, Podcasts, a Kindle, your local library, or Spotify (I’m sure there are others), you can download movies, books, music and podcasts to use without internet connection. Some of these cost money but others are free. They save tons of space and data. This is a great and easy way to get entertainment for the road.
#3
Snacks. Food makes everything better!! I like to bring snacks that I don’t get as often. I also like things that are refreshing. Things like fruits and nuts are perfect because they will fill you up but won’t make you feel over-full inside. Dried fruit or fruit squeezes are good alternative if you can’t take fresh, perishable fruit along. Granola bars are compact, easy to bring, and tasty but can feel heavy on your stomach.
I don’t recommend bringing spicy foods, like Takis, unless you are accustomed to fire in your throat. You’ll guzzle down a ton of water (that’s the reason my family one time had to make two bathroom stops on a two and half hour-long car ride, when we could otherwise go without any). In addition, salty foods will make you dehydrated faster so beware of them.
Drinking water will help keep you from headaches and dehydration during a road trip but drink strategically to avoid unnecessary stops. To save space you can pack a reusable water bottle and fill it up at rest stops.
#4
Be comfy. Wear something that you’ll be comfortable in. Layers are your best friend because depending on how you are feeling you can take something off or put something on. Nothing will make the ride more uncomfortable the tight jeans and a thick sweater in sweltering heat (or tight jeans at any time!).
Keep lotion, chap stick, hand sanitizer, and diaper wipes nearby during the trip so you don’t feel disgusting in the car.
#5
Prep for sleep. If worst comes to worst and you are bored out of your mind, sleep is your best option. It is not impossible to obtain. The biggest thing is comfort, make sure you are wearing comfy clothes (mentioned in #4) and you have a pillow and/or blanket to keep you cozy. If light bothers you wear a sleeping mask. If you can’t stand the noise put in some ear plugs (seriously, these things are AMAZING). Figure out what helps you sleep so catching some zzzs is easier on the road.
#6
Look out the window. Watch the countryside (or interstate) fly by. I like to do this because it is so relaxing and I find it all around interesting. I’ve heard it helps with car sickness as well.
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I honestly loved writing this. I hope you enjoyed reading it and found it helpful :D. Let me know your tips for surviving long car rides down in the comments.
What is the longest car ride you’ve been on?
Have an awesome week!
-Rebekah
Americangirlguide 
Ooh, great tips, Rebekah! Our family likes to play the alphabet game on car trips. Have you played that? Also I’ve found that salty snacks really help carsickness for some reason. 🙂 WOW, twenty hours? The longest I’ve been in a car is seventeen hours, but we hardly ever go that long. Thankfully. XD
Thank you! We have played that game. I will let my brother know about the salty snack thing because he gets carsick more than me. 17 hours is still pretty long. Looking back, it was actually nineteen but that is close to twenty 🙂
Yeah, it really helps! Ha ha, well nineteen is still a LONG time. 😀
I really enjoyed reading this post!! My family always travels by car or RV. I like listening to music and drawing while on car rides. :3
~Marissa
Thanks! This was one of my favorite posts that I’ve written. Listening to music is the best! Who are some of your favorite artists?
Hehe, I loved reading this! Wait a second, you’ve drove 20 HOURS?! Wow, my family generally drives 5 hours before we stop at a hotel for the night. o.o
Thank you! I enjoyed writing it 😉 It was 19 hours now that I think about it but that’s still pretty close. I’ve been to Maine four times and this is my second time to Florida so I’m kind of used to long car rides 🙂
Anyway, 19 hours is A LOT! XD
These are great tips, Rebekah! My family travels quite a bit. Listening to audiobooks and music, looking out the window, and playing games are some of my favorite ways to pass the time. 🙂
-Clara ❤
Thank you. Those are good ways to pass time. What kind of audiobooks do you like to listen to?
I like listening to fiction or sometimes biographies. 🙂 I use this app called Overdrive where you can check out audiobooks for free with your library card for up to 2 weeks. It’s really helpful and they have some really well-done audiobooks! 😀
Good tips! We always enjoy playing games in the car. We like playing the alphabet game the most, but we’ve played others too such as pink toads (you have to respond to every question someone asks you with ‘pink toads’ and you can’t laugh. We’ve switched up the words before for something like ‘floppy bathtubs’), and ghost (you go around saying one letter at a time until someone has made a word, and then you start over. When you make a word you loose a life and when you’ve lost three lives you become a ‘ghost’ and try to get people to talk to you. If they talk to you, they lose a life! It’s really fun. :)).
~Megan~
Those all sound like super fun games! I want to try those.
Good tips, Rebekah! One of my favorite things to do on trips is look at the passing cars. Sometimes then we play Road Trip Bingo(a bingo game my brother made up). We have three different types(trucks, signs, and cars), but we mainly play car bingo. It’s pretty fun, but it can get a little boring if there aren’t many cars around. You just have to play at the right time. 🙂
My family has been on a lot of long car trips, but we don’t usually drive more than 12 hours in a day.
Thanks for the ideas! 12 hours is near our limit too, though it is a little longer sometimes because of rest stops.