Tips to stay awake on a road trip
Every year I have to drive my Grandfather to Florida from Missouri. It can take anywhere from 19 to 22 hours depending on what route we take. I am leaving to take him tonight when I get off of work and I thought it might be handy to write a Hub on ways that I use to stay awake. An FYI I drive straight through without letting him drive at all because his driving scares the shit out of me.
1) I take a cooler with me loaded down with lots of drinks to keep me awake. My favorite drink is a Starbucks doubleshot, this thing has enough caffeine to kill an elephant. Another drink is a 5 hour energy drink. In my opinion these things taste horrible, but it does keep you awake.
2) Listen to music that you do not like at all. I like a lot of old music but I find the God awfullest music that my Grandfather likes, but that I despise. This causes an argument in your head for hours on how much you hate the music.
3) Roll down the window. This can be good and bad. The cold air hitting you in the face does wake you up, but it also makes you want to piss like a racehorse.
4) Stopping off at a rest stop or gas station. This is nice to get out and stretch. I get out and walk around for a few and let the blood circulate. maybe get some snacks.
5) Snacks. I found the best snacks to be things that you can chew on. I usually get beef jerky, sunflower seeds, corn nuts, and/or bubble gum. Another good one is chewing on ice, but I try not to do too many liquids during the trip.
6) Talking. One thing about this trip is I get to talk to my Grandfather during most of the drive. It keeps me awake and it is nice that I get to learn a lot of things about him that I would have never known otherwise.
My Grandfather is 86 years old and refuse to stop off at a motel or hotel. We have to rush all of the way through so he can get to the other end and watch television. I stopped questioning it years ago. But this is the reason that over the past 8 years I have become a master at staying awake during long trips. If I ever started to fall asleep then he would want to take over on the driving, and like I mentioned before that scares the hell out of me. He sees brake lights and punches the gas until right before impact then he locks the brakes up, he refuses to let people in front of him because they might slow us down, he follows so close to the white line that I am scared that we are going to hit telephone poles, mailboxes, or other cars, and as of this year his eyes aren't as good as they used to be. If you have the chance to pull over and get at least a 15 minute power nap, then I highly recommend it. God bless and stay safe out there.
