1) MUSIC
No car ride is complete without tunes. Remember the joy of mix tapes/cd’s with themes like “no one understands” or “freedom” or “he loves me/left me”? With iPhones and MP3 playlists this is infinitely easier. And the playlists can go on forever. This summer the plan is to take turns DJ’ing and see if we can play music the others will like but have never heard before. Thus, I will inflict the genius of Placebo, Barcelona, and Antony & The Johnsons on whomever will listen. If you are looking for inspiration or a great flashbacks, try Farah Goes Bang’s website for some awesome mix tape suggestions.
2) AUDIOBOOKS
Audiobooks are like a delicious taste of golden manna to a starving lady since I have an incredibly long commute. They feed my soul when I’m in traffic.
The hard part this summer will be to pick road trip books that a man would also enjoy listening to while making my inner fangirl squee. My passengers are all somewhat geeky men. On the list so far are The Maze Runner and Ender’s Game. However, I really want to sneak in the Fever series, The Selection, and/or Angelfall. Oh dear audiobook gods, how can I make those choices seem like a great idea for a man to listen to for hours on end? If anyone has ideas, please comment, because I’m taking suggestions.
3) FOOD
Car snacks and local eats practically are the main reason to get in a vehicle and head yonder. When else do you give yourself permission to eat In and Out or Roy Rogers as you drive and then stop for rocky mountain oysters (or a less squeamishness inducing elk burger) at a roadhouse?
Source
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Or pick up a bacon donut at Voodoo Donuts and then hop over to a food truck for organic beet juice? (Seriously, the food in Portland could have it’s own post. It’s weird, beautiful, and amazing.)
The combinations of food ingested on a road trip can feel “oh so once in a lifetime” and are some of the best memories of a trip that stick with us.
4) TCHOTCHKES
Everybody should have at least one tchotchke. You know those tacky baubles that usually used to hold toothpicks or mints at your grandma’s house? Road trips are the best place to find these trinkets for random smiles later in the year or to add your collection of crapola you’ll put in a yard sale one day.
5) CAMERA
Because I need to take pictures of my Edward doll in every state. Trust me. It’s a thing.
What are your favorite road trip memories? Embarrassing stories? If you could go anywhere by car, where would you go and who would you bring? What would you eat? Have you been on a great American road trip?
Written by Aloki
Alokiʼs Current Obsessions: Customizing converse shoes, taking action figures on road trips, prepping for Comic-Con, GRIMM, GoT, Longmire, Finnick Odair, Four from Divergent & Ky/Xander from Matched. Robert Pattinson is my constant and celebrity north star. Follow me on twitter @moviegirl13. Mostly for pictures of Rob.
