A road trip with your best friends is undeniably one of the best feel-good social activities that exists. Picture yourself driving along a long road listening to good tunes and friends’ chatter as you sip on a drink and idly stare at the landscape zooming past. Exciting right?
Only if you plan it right! What to do on a road trip is just as important as getting to your destination. We’ve gathered some fun and original things to do on a long car ride to ensure zero boredom and high spirits all the way.
Things to Do on a Road Trip
Road Trip Bingo
Download a list of items to check off online, or you could create a custom list. Coming up with items for your list together allows for some inside jokes and can be as much fun as crossing the items off. We’re putting this at the top of the list of things to do on a car ride because the game starts right from the word go. As long as the engine’s running, you should be searching!
Play Word Games
Ward off the boredom with some word games like the” Fortunately, Unfortunately” game—a sure way to crack everyone up. To play, the first person starts a story with a statement after which the next person continues with something unfortunate that happened. The following person then contributes a fortunate statement, and so on. The challenge is to keep everything connected. (Fortunately, he made it to the gas station. Unfortunately, he didn’t have any money… )
Test it Out
Discover your celebrity soulmate, or which fruit you would bear if you were a plant. The self-discovery opportunities are endless—and hilarious—with online tests. If you’re looking for things to do on a road trip that will help you and your travel mates get to know each other better, this is the task. Go a little deeper with personality tests such as the Enneagram Test, or learn more about each other’s zodiac signs.
Listen to Podcasts
Let something else entertain you when you’re all talked out. If this doesn’t make your list of fun things to do on a road trip, you’re listening to the wrong channel. Do some research to find funny or interesting podcasts before the trip, or ask the group to recommend any of their favorites. The best thing about listening to podcasts in a group is you get to discuss them after, like a book club.
Stop Often
Stop to take a photo by every place-name sign. Stop to take pictures in the middle of an empty road. Stop to do a little stretching. Instead of having your meal in a moving car, why not park by a great view and have a picnic? If you’ve run out of things to do in the car, there are a million reasons to stop and get out: it just depends on how much time you’ve got. And while it may make your trip just a little bit longer, it will likely also make it more fun.
Play the Landmark Game
Just like the bingo game, come up with items you’re likely to spot on the way and set a list of actions you have to perform when you see each one. For example, hold your breath under bridges, take a sip of your drink when you pass a white car, touch your nose when you hear a honk and dance when you pass through a toll booth. This game provides things to do in a car ride that keep the body moving and the mind alert.
Search for Signs of a Local Event
You might be tempted to plan out every detail of your trip so you don’t miss anything, but remember to leave some room for the unexpected. A bit of spontaneity can result in the experience of a lifetime. One of the best things to do on a road trip is to attend local events of the different places you pass through. It could be something as big as a parade, or even a simple book fair. Either way, you get to experience a different culture and possibly even make new friends.
Document it All
You’re together with your best friends and have all these fun things to do in the car together: there’s no better setting for creating memories to look back on. Record all the sing-alongs, the laughter, and the games, or take advantage of video-recording apps such as TikTok to give you content ideas. You could even do a timelapse of you going through the motions over a long period. It might be a bit of work to put things together afterward, but it’s worth it.
Road trips are much more fun if you know what to do in the car with everyone. Hopefully, this list of things to do in the car on a road trip solves that problem for you.
Road Trip Iceland With Rent.is
We recommend all these activities (along with browsing our Iceland travel guide) if you’re planning a road trip to the Land of Fire & Ice. Talk to us if you would like to learn more about Iceland camper rental vans that will allow you to take all the detours you want!
