Going on a road trip in Hawaii means driving to the other side of the island, about 1.5 hours total if you’re on O’ahu. Unless you want to drive your vehicle straight into the ocean, that’s about as far as you’re gonna get. Because of this, I’ve idolized road trips nearly all of my life. The movies glamorized them, deeming it a rite of passage and showing how much fun you and your friends can have, cramped inside a little 4 door vehicle. My how the movies have led me astray.
My first “road trip” was when Jarden, his mom, and I drove from Los Angeles to Las Vegas back in 2012. Not a great first experience, as that drive is super straight, boring, and dusty. (Plus it’s only about 4 hours, so I wrote that one off.)
Next was our jaunt from San Francisco to Palm Springs in California. I should have known already from this experience that road trips were not my friend. I was bored, I was antsy, and the wonder of Palm Spring windmills could only excite me for so long. That one was 8 hours. We’re getting warmer.
The next one killed me though, the one that solidified my hatred of road trips. Last October, Jarden and I thought it would be “fun” to road trip from New York to North Carolina, have a 1 week break in between, and then continue all the way down to Orlando, Florida. WRONG. NOT FUN. SO NOT FUN.
“It will save us money”, I told him. “Flights are expensive.”, I said. While that part was true, I didn’t realize how mind numbingly boring hours and hours of driving down almost the entire eastern seaboard would be. It was about 13 hours total from North Carolina to Orlando; that is EXTREMELY, MONUMENTALLY LONG to us Hawaiians. Not to mention the fact that I can’t drive more than 3 hours without being at risk of falling asleep. Driving makes me drowsy. Poor Jarden.
Please don’t even get me started about the return of that trip. Orlando, Florida to Lebanon, Pennsylvania, in one day. ONE FREAKIN DAY. 16 hours. Over 1,000 miles. I think I almost died.
Yes that is me, sleeping with a pillow over my face on said road trip. I don’t know what it is about driving that makes it feel like someone is tugging on my eyelids. I’m embarrassed to admit that out of the 16 hour return trip, Jarden drove about 10 of those hours. I’m a crappy road trip partner, I know.
I’ll admit, road trips have some perks. As mentioned above, it can be a huge financial godsend if flights are ridiculous. I do enjoy stopping along the highways to eat delicious fast food, and the occasional Funyun’s and sour gummy worms run does give me a little pick me up. Maybe I just haven’t done it right. Maybe I need more people in the car with me, a more adventurous and exciting route, with more stops along the way?
I have a short attention span. I can be impatient. I wouldn’t knock doing road trips again (especially if I had a van full of friends with me), but I think some people aren’t made for road tripping, and I’m one of them.
Do you like road trips? What’s the longest road trip you’ve ever taken?
