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[interstellarowl]

On the tip to Otakon, we started a tradition to listen to some awesome classic rock the entire way down, trust me it helps with the NJ and then Baltimore traffic.

[RobbyKun]

Since I'm the one usually driving, I just deal with the long drives by telling myself, "Don't crash, or everyone dies." That's usually good enough incentive to keep myself occupied.

[ToroSonyCat]

The longest for me is about 4 hours and I can easily pass that time just listening to music and spacing out or talking. Just like any other car ride, really.

It's always sorta fun to play those car spotting games in groups though. Like spotting Minis or double letters/numbers on licence plates.

[Clockwork_Ducky]

A group of my friends who travel to Dragon*Con each year (a 10+ hour drive), and they usually run a mini RPG campaign in the car. I know they have done White Wolf's Mage, Vampire, and I think they did a mini D&D campaign last year. Using the dice roller app on a smart phone makes it tons easier to not lose dice in the car.

Sadly, we won't be able to participate in this, since the car can only hold so many people, and my husband and I are driving in a separate car.

Other options include books on tape, or getting the mini magnetic board games - I have a whole host of those which can be amusing at times. Or, pick up a handicraft... Learn to knit, crochet, embroider... It can actually be really rewarding, and comes in handy for some costumes.

Personally, I'm going to be swapping between working on my 4th Doctor's scarf and making friendship bracelets to hand out while on my upcoming trip. When I'm not driving, anyway.

[Dollicon]

I bring a good book, DS, and a pillow. d:

[ShaylaTheRoo]

My group has about a six hour trip to Otakon, give or take. We ALWAYS stop around halway in Hagerstown to get a full meal, and stop about once an hour to use a bathroom and get a drink. We'll stop pretty much anywhere, gas stations and fast food places are everywhere, so once you start feeling like you need to move around, just start looking for those signs before interstate exits that tell you what food and gas places are coming up!

Also, if you do a pit stop, make sure you try to find exits where the place to get back on is fairly obvious - nothing more annoying than getting off the interstate to pee and then having to spend an hour navigating some unknown city to get back on the road!

We'll generally just listen to music the whole way by filling my boyfriend's MP3 player with music we can all agree on (or popping my phone onto Pandora and hooking that up), and the occassional conversation.

Aside from just enjoying the drive, I'll usually sit and read on my Kindle, or play something on the DS. I feel silly dragging lots of stuff in the car when I know very well (after years of traveling for band/choir) that I will use NONE of it and it's just taking up space!

[MotherSilver]

I haven't had a long car drive to a con but I did take two day long trips to my family. Four days for when we moved from Missouri to Florida. Granted we stopped at hotels but still we were in the car for 10-12 hours at a time. My siblings and I often had books, our portable game boys (we had been given game boy colors coming from England to keep us occupied on the plane.) or even an mp3 player.

Another fun thing to do, especially with our sibling rivalry, the alphabet game. You look for signs that begin with the letters of the alphabet and you go all the way to z. It's not as easy as you think and it kept me and my siblings going for at least an hour due to us being stuck on certain letters. There is plenty to do to make long car rides less miserable, just remember to get out and stretch your legs every few hours, maybe 3-4 hours because by sitting still for so long you can risk clotting your legs. Don't try to take the 10 hours in one stride, but by doing these little things it'll make the trip go by a lot faster/smoother.

[Loveable-Eve]

Final Fantasy Tactics: Advance for the GBA saved me during a insane road trip to southern California. It's rather slow so it took up a good amount of my time in the car.
Be sure to stop and get out! Fresh air and stretching will help out everyone.

[coralsheep]

I'd read, listen to music, talk with my car-mates, play my 3DS, sleep, etc.

[Pocketfightr]

For the 19 hour car drive to Otakon, we played the license plate game. I think we ended up only missing one state and had 4 Canadian provinces (?). We also played name my friend's future child's name with some of the goofy town names we came across.

I think it just really depends on how well you get along with the people you're traveling with. I enjoyed my group so much that the books and video games I would bring didn't get touched much despite the long drive.

[ItsTroy]

Car ride from Florida to Wisconsin was 21 hours in total spread out over 3 days. This was back in 2008 or something, so we didn't have any fancy tablets or satellite internet. I brought a blanket, pillow, and a portable DVD player. I borrpwed my uncles DVD collection and found the entire series of Evangelion within. Completed the series while on the road. Best long car ride ever.


Also, don't drink a lot of water. I happened to be seated next to a large case of water and just downed bottle after bottle due to boredom. Having to stop every 20 mins at a dirty gas station wasn't fun.

[SweeneyTodd]

SLEEEPPPP lol
I can sleep for hours in a car, so I usually just turn on my iPod and go to sleep

[epicserendipity]

Headphones.

[belligerent]

Make sure you guys stop every two hours (or so) to stretch legs, etc. Have dramamine or other motion sickness medication on hand just in case. You probably won't need it but you will be glad to have it in case you do.

Music is a great idea. I do solo drives only so finding classic rock stations and singing along is about the only thing I can do when I've been going for four hours already and have another three to go...

If somebody needs to pull over, do it. Making good time is less important than the needs of people in your carpool. If I had the option of carpooling, I would probably sleep on legs I wasn't driving, but it's also a good idea to have at least one person stay up with the driver in case they get drowsy. Sometimes if I get really tired, I'll call people I know are awake (like other people driving to the same con) and we'll talk for a bit until I can stop to get caffeine.

[daylight]

I love long car rides

but thats just me I grew up in the car, when I was little my mom would take me on 1-2 hour trips about twice a week

I can just stare out the window for hours and be happy it gets me to go into really deep thought, then I never get bored

I wold say to stop every 2-4 hours get a little snack at a McDonalds or something and stretch your legs


also good driving music is important

the pillows are really good for road trips