Road trips have to be the best form of transportation on this planet! They are so peaceful for a teenage mind to wander all whilst gazing out at the fields of cows passing. I’ve been on countless road trips in my entire 16 years of life, so I feel pretty experienced in my road trips, and I know how to maximize my time in the car. It is safe to say that I have had my experiences of fun-filled road trips that leave me wanting to go on another, while also having many others that I desperately wish I could forget. All this to say, I have perfected my method on how to have a road trip that you fondly look back on and think back to as you grow older. 

Firstly, the preparation for the trip is the make or break of the enjoyment of the entire road trip. This list starts with something not even in the car, which shows how important it is. The snacks, playlist, and overall comfortability of the trip is riding on this step’s shoulders. The snacks are an obvious and clear approach to begin with. You want to get a solid mix that combines sweet with salty, but ensure the mix contains something each person along for the ride enjoys. My go-to is beef jerky, specifically the sweet and spicy jerky from the popular gas station Buc-ee’s. 

Then, we must move our attention over to the playlist aspect of the trip. Playlists determine the entire vibe and mood of everyone inside the car. If you pick a depressing playlist, then everyone will be in a depressed mood, but if you pick a lighter mood playlist, then everyone will be in a happy and joyful mood. My playlists solely depend on who the intended audience is; if it is intended for only my headphones, then I have a mix of multiple different genres of music. I listen to country, depressing, joyful, empowering, and thoughtful music all in the span of three hours. However, if the playlist is intended for the entire car full of people, I tend to keep it to one or two genres to keep the mood consistent. 

After the preparation is underway, having things to do off of a screen is essential in order to make this the best road trip yet. Being on screens for long periods of time causes my motion sickness to take full control of me. The only way to completely combat this sickness is by not looking down at screens at the beginning of the trip. So, in order to keep me entertained, I have compiled many different non-screen related activities to do in order to ensure I don’t ruin my trip before it even begins. Firstly, I love to bring coloring books with colored pencils to doodle while sitting in the car. This keeps my fingers and hands moving, so it distracts me from fully realizing my brother is sitting two inches away from me. 

I also love to find different games to play with the other people in the car. My all-time favorite game is the one where you have to find all the letters of the alphabet on road signs as you pass them, and the only way to finish the game is by going all the way to letter z. This keeps me entertained while also keeping my head focused on the road to ensure I do not get motion sick. Also, just doing something simple like listening to music or a podcast while looking out as the road slowly passes by has to be one of the best feelings, especially if you are listening to music that reminisces on the artist’s life. Moments like these truly show you just how important the first step of preparation is for road trips.  

Finally, the final step in my guide to the most amazing road trip of your life has to conclude in a geographical sense. It is vital to ensure you plan your rest stops in advance and with careful consideration. This step varies from car to car, since the amount of time spent in the car differs. Sometimes, I want to spend as little time as possible in the car, so I plan to not take very many rest stops along the way, and other times, I want to immerse myself in the places we pass. If we are still driving by a meal time, then I like to go to a local restaurant we pass instead of a chain gas station since you never know what to expect.

Road trips are solely what you make them, so it is crucial that you make them entertaining, or you may be sitting in a packed car with boredom crawling through your mind.