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Need things to do in the car for adults? Here’s our best tips for things to do in vehicles (with dozens of long car ride trips under our belts).

What Khủng bởi vì on long Car for rent
rides ? For adults ?
I wondered that, myself, after we moved mập the desert ( El Paso ) a few summers ago .
We had no idea how great of a location this was both in và of itself, as well as a jump-off point for lots of day trips & long weekend trips .
Not béo mention, we have family that are all either 7 hours, tám hours, or 11 hours away ( by car ) .
We made the initial 11.5 – hour drive from Houston phệ El Paso, & have since traveled bự :

• New Mexico (3 hours)
• Dallas (9 hours)
• Galveston (11.5 hours)
• Arizona (9 hours)

Needless béo say, in just a short amount of phút giây, we’ve become experts on things Khủng bởi in a long car ride .
And while there are a gazillion articles out there about things mập bởi in long car rides for kids … there really aren’t a lot of resources for things bự vì in the car for adults ( when there’s hours, upon hours, mập fill ) .
Kids fall asleep, pop in their ear buds & otherwise ignore you, or maybe it’s just the two of you on this one ( ooh-la-la ! ) .
And, we adults should have a bit of fun too, right ? Here is my danh sách of best activities for long car rides for adults – both fun và productive ways béo pass the thời gian .

Things to Do in the Car for Adults

Sometimes when I go on a long trip in our automobile, I’m looking for some fun ways béo pass the hours. And other times ? I’m looking mập be productive .
For me, if I can get a few things done while stuck in the car, then it’s almost lượt thích winning some thời gian back in my life .
In fact, for each car ride, I usually :

• Choose 4-5 things we can all do for fun.
• Choose 2-3 things I’d like to accomplish.

Then on the road, I let our moods dictate which I choose lớn vì, when .
Let’s start with the fun side of things, with fun ideas for adults on long car trips .

Psst : và if you happen bự be traveling with a preschooler ? Here are screen-free car activities for bốn – year-olds that we’ve used .

Fun Ideas for Long Car Trips – Things to Do When Bored in a Car

FUN is the name of the game here – why not make a long car trip as fun as you possibly can ( since, they can get stuffy & otherwise boring, rather quickly ) ?
Here are things Khủng vì when bored in a car .

1. Listen to an Adult Comedy Sketch Podcast

Whether you’re driving alone, or with someone else, you can pass a lot of phút giây và miles while snort-laughing together .
In fact, I would venture lớn say a mile filled with laughter passes in 50% the giây phút as a mile spent in silence ( just an observation – math may or may not actually work out … ) .
Go mập your Podcasts tiện ích on your phone ( re-download it if you have bự ), then use this danh sách of comedy sketch podcasts Khủng choose one .

Hint : bởi vì you need your phone for directions ? No worries – when the directions-lady announces what Khủng bởi next, the podcast gets paused, then it automatically resumes afterwards .

Have you ever heard of the road trip game Carpool Chaos ?
It’s a deck of 160 cards filled with challenges, games, hypotheticals, etc. Has pictures on the bottom of each thẻ phệ show who it’s most appropriate for, FYI.

3. Listen to a True Crime Podcast Together

There’s almost nothing better bự pass the thời gian then by listening mập a juicy crime mystery together – with multiple episodes & parts .
Just hook your phone up phệ your car ( ours does this when we plug it into the USB port, or by Công nghệ Bluetooth ), find the podcast you want, và start listening end your car’s speakers .
Some of my favorites are :
Ooohhh the discussions these can create for couples or friends stuck in the car together !

4. Make Weird Jelly Belly Combinations + Guess them

Did you know Jelly Belly has a không lấy phí ứng dụng ? Download their không tính tiền Jelly Belly Shaker ứng dụng for lots of recipes, và grab a bag of 49 assorted Jelly Belly beans .
The driver does the taste testing, & the passenger gets Khủng create the flavor combinations. See how many they can guess !

5. Play Mad Libs

One long car trip lớn Dermott, Arkansas ( tám hours ), I brought along a book of Mad Libs. I must admit that our car passengers – all adults – thought I was a little silly at first … until they started playing along .
Everyone had a roaring good phút giây – và it was only adults, back then !

6. Taste Test a Category of Snacks

Have you noticed how snack brands have been filling up entire shelves with variations of their food ?
Just look at this Reese’s exhibit at our local Walmart :
I used this lớn our advantage và surprised my husband with an impromptu taste-testing session on our last road trip .
I picked out these three products, và we each tasted them .
And it sure gave us something béo talk about .
You could also vì this for :

• Pop Tarts (have you seen all the varieties out there now?!)
• Weird potato chip flavors
• Take your pick

7. Stop at the Weirdest Roadside Attractions You Can Find

Something that can keep the conversation và miles flowing ? Is a good, weird, roadside attraction .
Use this site, or this site, phệ research a few oddities that will be right along your route .

8. Add to a Car Ride Journal

Pick yourself up a small journal lớn keep in your glove compartment or center console ( back of the seat pocket works, too ) .
Each long car ride, bust it out & write xuống dốc things everyone sees và loves, something funny someone says ( lượt thích a good ol ‘ college quote board ! ), & otherwise things you want lớn remember from this long car ride together .
Don’t forget phệ date it, put the destination, mileage, và amount of phút giây you were in the car together .

Psst : got kids ? As they get older, pass the journal around & let everyone take a turn ( well … you’ll have mập write FOR the driver ) viết bài lao dốc what they’d lượt thích bự about the car ride .

What a fun memory journal Khủng create for everyone !

9. Play a Round of Car Scavenger Hunt

Have you ever heard of a road trip scavenger hunt ?
The fun thing about this one is that there are actually “ Smell ” cards & “ Feel ” cards. Like, you have bự smell a skunk, or feel a bump on the road Khủng be able bự discard that thẻ .
There are also swap cards, in case you have one that’s too tough .
Such a fun way mập pass the giây phút — especially if you figure out a cool prize for whoever wins .

10. Read Aloud Spooky Stories

I just loooovvveee this series of spooky stories phệ tell in the dark ( or, on long car rides 😉 ), ever since my aunt & uncle got a phối for us when I was a kid ! Telling spooky stories out loud is pretty fun, no matter if it’s in a car or around a fire pit .

11. Ask Couple’s Questions

Is it just the two of you ? Great – here’s a không lấy phí printable filled with Intimate Pillow Talk Conversation Starters. Just remember béo print them out ahead of phút giây !
Or you could use this really fun gift I got one year for Christmas : the Book of Questions. I was hooked as soon as I looked at it – I brought it on many car rides with my aunt và uncle, my husband, & others .

Psst : here’s my Reviews of best conversation starter decks for married couples .

Productive Things to Do on a Long Drive

Who says you have Khủng try và have fun the whole giây phút ? I lượt thích mập get something productive done with all that thời gian, too ( while I’m the passenger, of course ) .

1. Bring a Mini-Project to Work On

I actually enjoy bringing 1-2 mini-projects along on our car rides lớn chip away at. To me, it feels lượt thích an efficient use of my thời gian !
Some small projects I’ve worked on in our car include :

• Recipe Box Update: I have a recipe box I bought as a teen, and I like to add in recipes that we love and want to keep. As we try new recipes and decide they’re “keepers”, I put them in a pile on top of the box. One car ride, I brought that pile, a pen, and the box with me, and worked on updating everything. That felt great!
• Two-Week Meal Planning: Yes, I actually wrote out a meal plan for two weeks during one of our multi-hour car rides. Then, I wrote an ingredients list based off of recipes I picked out. Boy did I feel super organized the next grocery shopping trip after we got home! To do this, I brought along a piece of paper, pen, my recipe binder of recipes I’ve printed out/ripped out of magazines to try one day, and my recipe box.
• Brainstorm Holiday Gift List: Again, I brought a pad of paper and a pen, wrote down each person on our holiday gift list, and then started brainstorming what we could buy them. Saved a lot of time later by giving me some great ideas.
• Organize Your Smartphone Screen: Organize your smartphone home screen. Make sure you have apps on it that you use each day, and clear off the apps to other screens that you use less often. Also, delete out any apps you no longer want. You can also create folders and organize all your apps on your first screen (and actually get to see half your screen background or so again).

2. Read an eBook

I detail here how Khủng get không tính tiền eBooks, plus how lớn move any PDF eBook tệp tin or other type onto your Kindle phầm mềm so sánh that you can read it from anywhere ( và not just on your desktop computer ) .
Be sure mập pick an eBook out, và load it up on your Kindle tiện ích .

3. Brainstorm Couple’s Goals

Ever feel lượt thích you have NO giây phút bự talk about couple’s goals together ? Wait until the kids nod off ( if you have any ), & start daydreaming together .
Remember that in the brainstorming part of setting couple’s goals ( or any goals ), you don’t filter. Let out exactly what comes bự mind – however unattainable it may seem – & don’t judge when your partner let’s out what is on their mind .
You can keep a danh sách, if you’d lượt thích !

Hands-Free Ideas for Long Commutes

Maybe you’re driving alone. OR, the driver actually wants lớn vì something other than stare at the dash lines on the road ( I’ve found that can be quite meditative ! ) .
How can you entertain yourself on a long car ride … if YOU’RE the driver ?
I’m dedicating this section for hands-free ideas for long car rides that driving adults can bởi vì .
Things phệ bởi vì on a long car ride by yourself :

1. Do a Visualization Activity

I heard this from Carrie at the Female Entrepreneur Association, & it would work beautifully during those long hours of driving by yourself .
At home page, brainstorm different things you want béo accomplish / vì / be in your life. Write each xuống dốc on a small slip of paper và put it in a small box or mason jar. Take it with you, then take out one small slip of paper at a thời gian & vì a visualization exercise around it. What would life look lượt thích if you accomplished that / were that / did that ?
Hold onto that vision for as many miles as you can, then move onto the next slip of paper .

2. Pop in an Old Mix CD (Time Capsule CD)

For kết thúc a decade, my husband & I have taken turns creating set CDs ahead of giây phút for specific road trips in our lives. In fact – I was doing this before he và I started dating .
Like the phút giây I moved from PA lao dốc bự Florida for my second job out of college. Or the first giây phút Paul và I made the trek from Houston bự Arkansas for a family Thanksgiving .
And you know what ? We still have all these CDs. It’s so sánh much fun bự take a trip xuống dốc memory lane & remember where I was at certain points of my life by popping in a time-capsule CD .

3. Listen to an Audiobook or Podcast

You can’t read while driving ( please – don’t bởi vì that ! ), but you can certainly listen lớn an audiobook or a podcast. Check out my article on 11 sources for full-length audiobooks không lấy phí phệ tải về for your next trip .
One podcast I really enjoyed ? The không lấy phí Serial Podcast, Season 1 .

4. Practice a New Language

Did you know you can kiểm tra out audio language courses from your local library ( use inter-library loan – ILL – phệ get access béo resources your personal library doesn’t have ) ? Pop a mới nhất language CD into your CD player & get bự practicing !

5. Dictate Notes on Your Phone

I used phệ drive back & forth each weekend from college Khủng the farm where I grew up, just a 1.5 – hour drive .
I started finding some of my best viết bài ideas và life ideas while making this trip by myself. Back then, smartphones couldn’t be dictated béo with voice-to-text apps, so sánh I actually bought a mini-voice recorder & kept my thoughts that way .
Today ? I just keep a blank note open on my không tính tiền Evernote tiện ích, press the “ speaker ” button when I want Khủng record something, và get béo talking. The tiện ích recognizes commands lượt thích “ mới ra paragraph ”, “ period ”, “ next line ”, và things lượt thích that. And the whole thing syncs with my Evernote desktop ứng dụng – which means I can simply copy & paste my thoughts into mới ra documents for future articles or wherever else I need them mập go .
It’s a beautiful thing !
Sooo … what are the “ essentials ” that will make your long car ride much more bearable ( besides some of the fun activities from above ) ? I’m glad you asked .

Long Car Ride Essentials – Road Trip Survival Kit for Adults

Like I mentioned earlier, my family và I have been on quite a few long car rides end the last decade. Not only that, but given our mới nhất location, we’ve got tons of long car rides on our horizon .
It just makes sense for us bự travel the 7 or tám hours béo visit family on this side of the country, since it costs USD 1500 or so sánh in airfare bự visit family on the other side of the country !
I’d lượt thích phệ talk about some long car ride essentials that have really, really added béo our comfort & enjoyment kết thúc the last decade .

( Hint : they’re not all things you need lớn go out & buy ; many you probably have in your trang chủ ! ) .

1. Get Your Car Washed

Right before each annual trip mập OCMD ( Ocean City Maryland ) as a kid, my parents would make sure our car was cleaned out, vacuumed, & otherwise, shining .
I continue this tradition béo this day. Sitting in a clean, clutter-free car makes any car ride more pleasant. And if you’re going for the long-haul ? It’s practically essential so sánh that you :

• Don’t start feeling claustrophobic
• Can fit all of that luggage/gear from your road trip survival kits
• Don’t have to smell last month’s after-school snack for hours on end

Speaking of odors … let’s talk about putting a NICE odor into your car. I really, really recommend you add a very pleasant smell bự your car. But you know what ? I wouldn’t add a chemical-based smell lớn a small cabin where my family is going lớn be breathing for hours upon hours .
Instead, I found these awesome essential oil-diffusing car vents. Super cute, & a natural way phệ make things smell amazing .
Here’s another natural way bự get those odors out ( without adding additional scents, in ) that you can just slide under one of your seats. Boom !

2. Designate a Trash Area (that’s Out of Sight)

You’re likely going Khủng be creating trash as you travel the long hours it takes mập get Khủng where you’re going … but you don’t want phệ feel claustrophobic .
So, before you take up all the precious space for luggage & such, take a minute phệ think about the most out-of-sight ( yet, reachable ) area where you can stash a trash bag or car trash receptacle .
For us, in our wee-sized Ford Focus ? It’s behind the passenger seat. I can reach it, easily ( as long as I phối it up ahead of thời gian ), or my husband can reach it from the driver side .
If you need all the floor space you can get for luggage or legs, then try this back-of-the-seat, collapsible trash container ( bonus : it’s leak-proof ! ). Works lượt thích a charm .

3. Bring Wipes (And Make them Accessible)

Having wipes on hand is just a good idea ( & by “ on hand ” I mean, within arm’s length of the passenger or driver ), whether you have kids or not. Just be sure Khủng take these inside when you’re NOT on a long car ride, as they tend phệ dry out in the hot sun .

4. Bring a Stash Snacks

You can pack refrigerated snacks & food – just bring a car cooler, lượt thích this one that hangs on the back of a seat, & remember mập freeze some ice packs ahead of giây phút – but I prefer Khủng just pack more “ durable ” snacks. Not only can we snack on them as we go, but when we get mập our destination, we have something bự snack on before getting phệ the grocery store .

I hope I’ve given you tons of idea for how Khủng pass the thời gian in a long car ride. Whether you’re driving alone, driving as a couple, or driving as a family, there are lots of ideas for long car rides for adults lớn enjoy themselves ( whether the kids have fallen asleep, or not ) .

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