Hi! I’m currently in Bald Head Island, NC, at the beach with a friend’s family, typing this at 7 a.m.
My friend happens to be one of my favorite running buddies, so as soon as she wakes up, we’re going to head out for a run around the island. But first, I wanted to ask for your help.
On Friday, I’m leaving on a 14 hour roadtrip from North Carolina to Arkansas, where I’ll be living with my grandparents for my summer internship. The first leg of the trip is about 7 1/2 hours, and then I’ll stop for a couple of days in Tennessee.
I’ll start driving again on Sunday and will get to Arkansas on Sunday night after about a 6 1/2 hour drive. Since the farthest I’ve ever driven is 3 1/2 hours, I’d love your roadtrip suggestions!
Podcasts or audiobooks you love? Any tips for staying alert or making time pass by more quickly? Any funny roadtrip stories you’d like to share? I’d love to hear them!
I haven’t gotten into the whole audiobook thing, but I LOVE podcasts. Some of my favorites that I think you would like to are Blissful Bites, The Runner’s World Show, Runner’s Connect Run to the Top, Ladies, Who Lunch, and Balanced Bites. They are all an hour or less so I am sure you would make it through a bunch, but they always help make the time fly for me 🙂
Those all sound great! Thanks so much for the suggestions, Brie. I can’t wait to check them out!
I love the blissful bites, food blogger pro, and balanced bites podcasts!
I totally forgot Food Blogger Pro has a podcast- thanks so much for the reminder because I’d love to listen to it!
I LOVE Maddy Moon and the Wellness Wonderland for podcasts. Make a killer playlist too. Do you have spotify premium?! That may be a good idea as well. Get some good snacks too- trail mix, dried fruit, lara bars, crackers, something to sip on too like a coffee or Kombucha!
I do have Spotify premium so I’ll get to listen to lots of good playlists! Lots of snacks will be essential and I love the idea of something to sip on besides water. Maybe this’ll be the time I try kombucha!
You might want to stop in Memphis to go to Graceland and see how Elvis lived. You will be surprised!
If you liked Making A Murderer you have to listen to the podcast Serial. OMG! The most entertaining podcast ever. My boyfriend and I were actually upset when we couldn’t finish season 1 on our last roadtrip haha.
I actually did listen to Serial last year, usually when I was walking to class, and really liked it. It definitely made the walk go by more quickly!
haha i’m glad you posted this because i myself am HORRIBLE at road trips. stick me on a plane for 7 hours and i’ll be okay, but a car – NOPE. good luck my dear!! hopefully those podcasts will get you through it. the only advice i have is to pack a MASSIVE drink (like a tea or coffee) and slowly sip at it. that’s what i do when i’m on any sort of trip to pass the time, hehe.
Packing a big drink to give you something to do to help pass the time is a great idea. Thanks, Beverly!
I always try to stop at least every 2 hours. Maybe try to find a cool restaurant close to interstate so you don’t have to stop for fast food. Good luck with your internship!!
Thanks, Sam!
I never used to like road trips but after traveling across Louisiana and Mississippi I found that I actually love them – so when we went to New Zealand in January we travelled across the entire north island.
I always like to put together an awesome playlist and then we usually make up silly little games as we’re driving along. In New Zealand one of our favourite games was trying to guess the names of towns on the signs we passed. They have some weird town names and weird ways of saying things so it was hilarious. One town was called Whakatane which is pronounced fuk-a-tah-nay and so we would try to figure out the other weird ways of saying things 😛
Fun!! And that town name is too funny. Hopefully I’ll grow to love road trips after this one, too! 🙂
ah sorry i’m late! i guess this can help for the second leg but i’m sure you’ve leanrned from the first leg.
BUT what i’ve found that helps are 2 things- 1) podcasts! i listened to 2 podcasts. 1, NPR stuff like this american life and moth radio hour. they’re awesome story tellings! also health podcasts because that’s what i’m interested in! i think i listened to a podcast on the nerdist and another one. kaila from healthyhelperblog had a ton of suggestions and i had a question in the BGB group back in january if you search for “podcasts” that list a ton!
also i listen to the radio and jam out 🙂 it’s my favorite thing to do in the car. i turn on iHeart radio on my phone so i can listen to my favorite station (92.3 country 🙂 ) and just sing with the windows down haha.
okay 3rd thing- call people! i love talking on the phone while driving. i usually cal my parents but you can also call friends.
good luck and have fun!
Thanks so much for all of your suggestions, Priya! I did end up calling a few friends and listening to some podcasts. The iHeart radio app is a great idea since I never know what the local stations are as I’m driving through different areas!
When Michael and I have a long drive, we usually stop every 2 hours to switch drivers. I know you have to do it alone, but having a set time to look forward to a short break might help.
I always have an audiobook when I go on a long drive by myself. I loved Peter Pan by JM Barrie. The narrator was great. Otherwise I have read quite a few duds in audiobooks.
One of the things I didn’t try on my roadtrip was audiobooks. I may look into getting one for the way back! Do you get yours from your library or iTunes or is there a better way to get them?
Usually the library. They are super expensive. You also could get one free from audible and then cancel your membership. Audible is cheaper than itunes or amazon.
Oh awesome, thanks for the tip! I’ll have to check out my library’s selection!