9 Reasons To Roadtrip With The Fam
If you’re a young, adventurous girl with a case of wanderlust, I’m sure you’ve either gone on a road trip or, at least, dreamed of going on one with your friends or even by yourself if you’re comfortable on your own. While I have never personally had the chance to go on one of these road trips, I’ve gone on several road trips with my family. On our most recent trip, we drove over 3,300 miles and visited 10 states. Though the thought of spending hour upon hour in a car with your family may sound cringe-worthy, there are several reasons why you should take a roadtrip with your family at least once in your lifetime!
1. First and foremost, it will make you spend good, old quality time with your family.
In a world where you can physically spend every waking moment with your family but be somewhere else completely because you’re on your phone or the Internet or watching TV or whatever, being in a car with them makes you be present.
You’re stuck in the middle of nowhere with no Internet connection, no other people, nothing except your family. I mean, yes, you can take breaks by putting on your headphones and listening to music or reading or something of that sort, but it makes it a lot harder to block out your family.
2. You will learn something new about your family members.
For example, I learned on my last road trip that my parents and my brother have much dirtier minds than I thought. Yes, I’m 21. Yes, my brother is 16. Yes, I realize my parents are actual people and not the strict, saintly people I thought they were when I was younger.
Still, it was shocking for me to hear them and my brother make (what they would’ve not too long ago deemed inappropriate) jokes and sexual innuendos. It was even weirder, now that I think about it, that I didn’t bat an eyelash at the time and readily joined in. My point is, you may actually learn something from your family members and bond over something weird (or maybe serious, who knows) if you are cooped up in a car with them for 30 plus hours.
3. You will have truly exceptional jam sessions.
Of course, you can have memorable jam sessions and mini concerts with your friends. However, you can have a great time doing this with your family, too. My advice is that you make several playlists with varying genres and artists from the Dixie Chicks to Nelly to Breaking Benjamin to Lady Gaga to Mumford & Sons.
Make sure you have something everyone will like and, as painful it might be for you, try to limit how much music you put on the list that only you like. With the perfect playlists, lose your inhibitions and sing as loud as you can, play all the air instruments you can think of, and dance the best you can while strapped into your seat.
4. You will have plenty of time to catch up on your TBR pile.
I know I said family road trips are good because they make you spend time with your family. However, at some point, you’re going to need to a break from them. On this break, you can read. Even better, you can read and put on your headphones and get totally lost in your book. This is wonderful because, if you’re like me, you sometimes get distracted when you read, especially if you’re starting a new book. With miles and miles on your side, you can read a book or 10 on your trip.
5. You will have the perfect opportunity to annoy your siblings.
So, you’re cramped in the backseat of the car with your brother. Boredom has struck. You don’t want to talk to your parents at the moment, even though they’re being cool and making pretty decent jokes. You’ve had your fill of goofing off to the music. Your stomach’s turning, and you couldn’t possibly read another page of your book. You can’t sleep because, let’s face it, sleeping in a car is just not comfortable. So, what do you do?
You look over at your brother who is doing just fine, reading or listening to his own music, and you think how fun it would be to poke him or stare at him until he looks at you or take pictures of him while he’s not paying attention and post them online or use them as blackmail against him at a later time.
That’s just too good to pass up, so go ahead and be the annoying sister. God knows he’s been the annoying brother enough, and he deserves to be messed with. That being said, I suggest not being too bothersome or you might start an actual fight and make everyone mad, which, obviously, would not be good.
6. Your parents will (probably) pay for things.
You know, like hotel rooms and gas and food and maybe a few souvenirs. (Or maybe you can buy the souvenirs since your parents paid for the necessities.) You may like to think of yourself as a grown, independent person but that doesn’t mean you’d be upset if they paid for some of this stuff since it is a family vacation.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJyF3Ubgk5d/?tagged=souvenir
7. You will get to do nerdy things together because the family that nerds together stays together.
Okay, so maybe not every family is into something that is generally considered nerdy, but I think you can be a nerd about anything you love, whether it’s baseball, 80s hair bands, Star Wars, or reading. Your family can pick whatever you all love to nerd out about and make your trip all about that thing.
For instance, my family, with the exception of my father, loves books and history, so on our most recent trip, we visited The House of Seven Gables and the childhood home of Henry Wadsworth-Longfellow and took a Stephen King tour in Bangor, Maine, which is where he lives. We also went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame because we all love music, and I guess my dad deserved to do something that wasn’t all about literature.
8. You will reminisce about your childhood memories.
Like the time you and your best friend dressed your two-year-old brother up in a tutu, put makeup on him, and paraded him around the house. Or the time your dad ran into the screen door so hard that he knocked it off the tracks and was stuck outside for an hour. Or the not-so-long-ago time when you dropped your phone and shattered it at Disney World and your dad yelled at you and you cried in front of little kids and princesses and those princes who are actually pretty cute in real life (AKA the time when Disney World wasn’t the happiest place on Earth). It’s great because everyone will be made fun of.
9. You will make new memories you can share with your family forever.
Of course, you’ll remember seeing the big, touristy things, like the lighthouses in Maine or the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., but you’ll also remember the small things that don’t seem so significant when they happen- the things like midnight runs to McDonald’s when you laughed so hard you cried or repeatedly (and accidentally) running into hotel walls and almost knocking furniture over with luggage trolleys.
While you still have the opportunity, you should go on a road trip with your family. I promise you will have an adventure just as fun and entertaining as a trip with your friends. After all, your family members were your first friends and are your best friends.
