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Published: June 24th 2016
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So many movies romanticize road trips: we see windows down and friends smiling as incredible landscapes whiz by. Unfortunately, they’re pretty heavily edited — who has ever taken a less-than-two-hour cross-country road trip? — and don’t show the less exciting lulls in travel by car.
Even without the movie star buzz, you can do your best to eradicate these boring moments from your next road trip. The following XX ideas will help you and your passengers to stay entertained as you trek from coast to coast — or anywhere in between.
Bring a New Kind of Bingo
You’ve probably played the license plate game on a road trip in the past: you and your fellow passengers look for and call out all of the different license plates you see on the road, and, whoever finds the most exotic one leaves the trip with a bit of an ego boost. You can make the game more official, though, by printing out a license plate bingo card for everyone in the car. Put a variety of states’ license plates on the cards and make everyone’s different so that it’s a real competition to get to Bingo. You could even up the stakes by purchasing a little prize or special snack for the winner.
Make an Old School Playlist
Nothing brings people together quite like music. Your road trip’s tunes should be planned far in advance so that they encompass all of the music you could possibly want to hear — you’re driving a long, long time, after all. You can choose your
songs based on the road trip theme, or whip them up according to the decade in which the songs were released. Either way, it’s best to go with lots of old school tunes with lyrics that are widely known so that everyone in the car will be able to sing along and pass the time.
Be a Quiz Master
Who doesn’t love a good game of trivia? A friendly match on the road is a great way to kill time. You can purchase pre-made trivia sets to suit your passengers’ ages and level of knowledge, or create your own. For example, every state in the nation has its fair share of
silly, outdated or simply ridiculous laws. Do some research into them, find the best ones, and ask your fellow travelers from which state each law originates. You’ll be sure to inspire a few laughs amongst the crowd, as well as a few surprises.
Find Out What’s Weird Along the Way
You’d never travel to Iowa simply to see
the World’s Largest Frying Pan, right? But it’d be a fun stop to rest your legs — and maybe take a few Instagram photos — if it was on the way to your final destination. It turns out that there are tons of these
weird and wacky roadside attractions throughout the United States, so do a bit of research to find ones that are along your route. Even if they end up being silly, you’ll have a great story… and an excuse to get out of the car for a bit.
Go Off of the Grid
With GPS, it’s so simple to follow the shortest, fastest route to your final destination, without so much as glancing at an atlas. On your big road trip, we suggest that you forgo technology in favor of mapping your journey the good, old-fashioned way. It’d even be fun to outline the roads as you go so that you’ll have a memory of the paths you traveled once the trip is over.
To that end, we also suggest that you don’t necessarily stay on the right road for the entirety of your trip. Instead, veer off-course and simply explore what’s around you. Ask locals for things to do and places to eat (and directions back to the main highway). However, a bit of exploration will add a bit of intrigue to your drive, which, after days on the road, will be just what you need.
Ultimately, you can’t go wrong when it comes to your road trip entertainment. Find the right balance between passing the time and exploring your surroundings, and, before you know it, the drive will be over — until your next road trip, that is.
Photo:
cocoabiscuit
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