Today Josh and I are venturing down south.
The majority of my extended family lives in Georgia and I think it’s about time to introduce Josh to a little southern hospitality. He needs to understand on a deeper level my love of really good BBQ, fried okra and grits.
We are roadtripping down from the midwest to visit one of my favorite friends in South Carolina, then on to see family in Atlanta, Savannah and then down the coast of Florida until we reach Key West!
Before we leave I’ve listed out our rules of the road, what I think makes a successful road trip and leaves everyone in the car happy!
- The driver gets to control the radio and the volume of the music
- Only one bathroom break per 4 hours
- If you can’t keep to rule #2, no drinks for you!
- The navigator isn’t allowed to sleep, whomever is sitting in the front seat next to the driver has one job, to keep the driver awake and alert
- Snacks. Lots of them. Make sure to include food you would never eat on a regular basis (ex. cheesy poofs, beef sticks and lots of slushies)
- Car games can be fun, but should never be forced on other road trippers
- If you can find all 50 state license plates during your roadtrip…you are awesome
- Everything on the trip should be split. Driving, gas money, music choices
- Caffeine. Lots of it.
- Know your strengths. If you’re a good city driver, then offer to drive through the traffic. If you aren’t a morning person, then don’t offer to drive in the early AM.
- Fast Food Drive Thru’s are inevitable on roadtrips, but there is no reason you should ever have to drive thru a Burger King, White Castle or Jack In the Box. 🙂
These are my rules – what are yours?
I am pretty sure no one in Germany knows what okra is and you just sure made me miss it – such a good southern treat!
Ha Fried Okra is unfortunately so good! it’s a guilty pleasure I indulge when I go south 🙂
We’ve gone from BC to Quebec (5500 miles) so far… we use “rock paper scissors” to determine who gets first shift, and we have a stash of Mad Libs and crossword puzzles in the glove box for entertainment. Have fun!
Good Tip to keep an entertainment stash in the glove compartment – I need to add this to my car
Ha ha, love these rules. It took me 3 whole months of road tripping the U.S last year to photo every licence plate but I did it, even Hawaii! What’s with the hating on Burger King?? It kicks McD’s butt 😉 We also had to have a constant supply of Lifesavers as a rule.
Ha I have a stigma on Burger King – no idea why!! 🙂
Never go on a roadtrip when the radio is broken. I did a road trip through Germany once and since the radio wasn’t working we started singing to entertain ourselves. It was THE worst karaoke ever! 🙂
ooo The worst.. I can’t imagine road tripping without music!
Our big rule is that we’re not allowed to stop within the first 3 hours. We find that starting out on a road trip we tend to stop a lot at the beginning and that just makes the trip looong.
We always leave ridiculously early in the morning to get out before the roads are busy 5 – 8 am and then pull off for a coffee and breakfast stop!
If you ask how much longer you will hear, “5 hours” no matter how close/far away we are.
Yes! This is so true – that question quickly wears itself out! I like the 5 Hour Rule!
Haha, I’m not sure my new wife is going to like having me in control of the radio when we head off on our honeymoon road trip next month! I completely agree about the navigator not falling asleep; you’re supposed to be a team!
What’s your compromise music? Josh and I have completely different taste in music so we have this trouble too!