How to Survive a Long Car Ride (for Only Child Teens)

Last Updated: July 24, 2021

It's that time of year for road trips with the family. Mom, Dad, and you are traveling to wherever, and you've been told to prepare for a 10 or 11 hour trip. Fun, right? Not really. Following these steps, you can learn how to survive your road trip.

Steps

1
Create a packing list. A few days before the trip, make a packing list (which you need to take with you on the trip) and wash all of the clothes you're going to take with you. This will help you to stay organized and make sure you don't forget anything.
2
Start packing the day before the trip. Fold, or better yet, roll the clothes. Rolling the clothes instead of folding makes for tighter packing and no creases at the fold lines, which means you won't have to iron your clothes.(Pack a plastic garbage or mesh bag for dirty laundry.)

Advertisement
3
Be creative with games. Okay, now we're down to the main attraction: the car ride. As an only child, you can hardly play those little magnetic travel board games, so you have to get creative. You can play Tic Tac Toe with one of your parents, or by yourself even. Or make your own game.
4
Take books you love, or ones that you need to read for school. Magazines bought at gas stations help, too, because you haven't read them yet.
5
Make sure that you charge everything before you leave! It totally stinks to have your iPod or CD or DVD player die and it's still 5 hours to wherever you need to go. If you cannot charge it before the trip or it has a short battery life, take a portable car charger.
6
Wear comfortable clothes and go barefoot. (Have some flip flops or crocs in the floorboard for rest stops.)
7
Take a blanket and a pillow or two, and use those and the luggage to make a sort of nest in the back seat. (Weird, but comfy!)
8
Stay up packing and then get up early to leave, so you can sleep in the car.
9
Schedule stops about every 60-90 minutes to avoid total insanity and/or bladder rupture.
10
Pack a lunch box or small cooler with snacks, juice boxes, Capri Suns, bottled water, etc. and stick it in the floorboard where it can easily be reached.
11
Unpack as needed and enjoy wherever you are when you arrive.
- If you're well-mannered, respectful, and generally pleasant to be around, your parent(s) will much appreciate it, and the trip will be an overall more enjoyable experience. (Plus, it aids in leniency in the context of money lending or activity preference. "Well, you HAVE been pretty good... Okay.")
- Okay, it's time to go home. Have everything charged up for the drive. Remember that packing list? Use it to repack so you don't accidentally leave anything and check off as you go.
12
Do the same for the drive home.

Community Q&A

Question

What can I do if reading makes me carsick?

Community Answer

There are some medications available at drug stores that can help prevent and/or treat carsickness. Otherwise, it's probably best to look out the window for most of the ride, as the disconnect between the motion you're experiencing and the corresponding visuals of the motion has a lot to do with carsickness. In the meantime, you can daydream, listen to music, download an audio book (Audible.com usually lets you download one for free as part of a trial), or listen to some podcasts.
Question

What to do if you need to go to the bathroom on a long car ride?

Community Answer

Tell the driver so she knows to stop at the next opportunity to use a restroom.
Question

What if I'm already in the car and I have nothing to do?

Community Answer

You could listen to music or talk to the person driving. Play I spy if there's people with you. Whenever you stop at a rest stop, see if you can find news papers or magazines to keep you from not being bored.