Road Trip Madness!

When I was little, we almost always took vacations by car. Planes were too expensive, trains didn’t go where we wanted, and besides— who doesn’t want to spend three days looking at billboard advertisements from over the top of a younger sister’s head? :P

But we had a lot of fun on those trips, and it was always so cool to plan for them beforehand— to get out the old National Geographic atlas (oh, the pre-MapQuest days!) and trace out our route with a highlighter, to get travel guides from the library (what did we do without the internet then?), to gather up new books and tapes and snacks and get ready to see America. There was always a surprise along the way— an unexpected vista or photo op, a dime-store puzzle book from my mother to keep me occupied, a game to invent with my sisters (many of which ended in tears for them, which was half the fun for me!), and a hotel pool, some cable TV, and a continental breakfast to be thoroughly appreciated.

The last long car trip we took wasn’t all that long ago—my parents and sisters drove from Ohio to New Mexico to see me graduate from high school, and then we all drove back again. And while there were a few squabbles (“She’s listening to her music too loudly!” “She’s eating in an annoying way— make her stop!”) it was still a trip I’ll never forget.

Which is why I’m so eager to start our adventurous trip down to Florida! I’ve been doing some research, and I came up with some cool info for car trips:

-Road snacks don’t have to be greasy! In order to save money on food, Adam and I are planning to make some meals and snacks beforehand and then eat them on the road. I liked this site’s suggestion of veggies, roasted nuts, and string cheese, and this site has got me interested in making ANZAC biscuits, which sound both yummy and able to withstand two days in a hot car.

-Even with the free continental breakfast at our South Carolina hotel, we’ll probably have to break down and have at least one fast food meal (and who can afford to go to sit down restaurants anymore? Pfffff!). So I’ve been researching which fast food places are the healthiest; while I’ve never actually seen a few of the listed restaurants here in Ohio, they might exist down South, so we may be able to find them there, after all.

-I have a lot of trouble with car sickness. Maybe it’s a defective inner ear issue, or maybe it’s because I’m just sort of a whiner, but I often get queasy on long trips— although this will be my first time actually sharing the driving responsibilities on one of these trips, so maybe that will help.

Anyways, I liked this little blurb on how to avoid car sickness. Blech…hopefully I can skip over it this time around.

-I found these general tips, which included some small stretches to do at rest stops, pretty helpful.

Oh goodness, I’m so excited! Let’s do this!

Anyone have some road trip advice/experiences/tips to share with me?