August and September were my months for road trips apparently, I was supposed to do 3 within a short amount of time and they were quick too- only a weekend long each! I ended up having to cancel the third trip due to being sick, but I wish I had been able to go. It's so weird, because back when I used to live in Virginia I would regularly take long weekend trips for concerts or to drive to a better airport for a flight. And I don't remember struggling even when by myself. For these, I did two of them on my own and I struggled to keep myself occupied for the 4-5 hours I was in a car each way. I listened to so many songs and two hours in I was toast. Even with my large music library, the songs got old and I found time passing monumentally slow. What made the first trip especially bad was that I drove right after work so I was tired AND drove in the dark for at least half of it, if not more. Mostly with no lights. It was rough. The ride home was during the day, thankfully, but the weekend had been SO nonstop that I was both mentally and physically exhausted. I actually stopped to rest for 10 or 20 minutes because I was finding that I was having trouble keeping my eyes open.
The second trip I did with my cousin which made the whole thing so much easier. I still left directly after work, but since I wasn't driving I didn't get as tired and was able to stay up and keep him company. We read stupid signs, listened to music, and caught up on our lives since we hadn't seen each other in a bit. Time moved swiftly and we were pretty well occupied. I will admit on the ride home, I mostly slept which I felt bad about. To be fair I had worked a bunch of extra hours that week, we left right after work, and then we got up early and walked around an amusement park in the hot sun all day for a day and a half. I was pretty much done for before I got in that car.
For my next roadtrip sometime down the line, I am prepared to fall off after about two hours and realize that maybe I need to give myself something else to listen to for the remaining 2-3 hours. If I plan ahead and save some YouTube videos to a playlist, NOT TO WATCH, but to listen to a movie analysis or two, episodes of a show I've already watched and can enjoy without having to see it, and practice my Japanese with some listening activities. I think it might be better than the first road trip and maybe I'll even snag an audiobook or a podcast or something too.
If anyone has any other suggestions for keeping busy/awake during longer solo road trips, I'm happy to hear the suggestions in the comments below!
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