Me and 5 other friends are driving from Las Vegas to Chicago in august for Lollapalooza. The drive is expected to take anywhere from 2-4 days and were driving in 2 seperate cars. I cant fall asleep in a car to save my life, so i think im going to take a bunch of sleeping pills..

Has anyone here ever driven for such a long time? Did it suck?
What are some things to take into consideration?
How can we keep from passing out?
Tips?

How can we keep from passing out?


Not take sleeping pills? lol.

Not take sleeping pills? lol.

Well I was actually referring to the driver :p

Well I was actually referring to the driver :p

So...you want the driver to take sleeping pills to PREVENT him from falling asleep?

So...you want the driver to take sleeping pills to PREVENT him from falling asleep?

Capitan Obvious!

Capitan Obvious!

arn't sleeping pills to put somebody to sleep, not to prevent him from falling asleep?

Caffine to prevent the driver from passing out. You should share the driving though. No more than 10 hours straight. And if the driver says he or she is about to fall asleep, pull over, someone else take the wheel and let the previous driver get a bit of shuteye. If they fall asleep at the wheel, you'll end up in heavenpolluza. I'm told Tupac, George Harrison, and Kurt Cobain are performing a set together this year.

It's not hard. Make sure you have music that you enjoy and know the route that you're going to drive.

Chicago to Las Vegas is about 1780 miles. This makes for around 28 hours of driving time. This doesn't sound like a bad drive and it's the right time of year for it. Enjoy yourselves and take your time.

Stop when you see something that makes you want to stop, don't force yourself to keep driving for a long period of time. Setting goals of where to stop for things can help.

Every road trip is unique.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBrshcS3SXs

Super Size Me with Whiskey

Kind of funny.

My bad, I read it as Drinking for 4 days straight.

Me and 5 other friends are driving from Las Vegas to Chicago in august for Lollapalooza. The drive is expected to take anywhere from 2-4 days and were driving in 2 seperate cars. I cant fall asleep in a car to save my life, so i think im going to take a bunch of sleeping pills..

Has anyone here ever driven for such a long time? Did it suck?
What are some things to take into consideration?
How can we keep from passing out?
Tips?

You're not driving in shifts? Things to consider, do you have a spare, bring water for you and potentially the car, some sort of financial buffer to fix the car if something minor breaks, how annoying your car-mates can be, bring a map, stop for gas before long stretches, better to spend too much cash on gas then run out it 60 miles from the nearest town. Things to keep from passing out, driving in shifts, caffeine, non soft music, talking with each other. Tips, take pictures.

I drove from Oregon to Michigan with a girlfriend once, and since I still have nightmares about her behind the wheel I did most of the driving. It really wasn't bad. I've done a lot of long distance driving I guess, most than most people, and I didn't have any trouble going without a break until the Cobalt ran out of gas.

Switch drivers every time you stop to fill up, have music that you like but that isn't soothing or anything that will put you to sleep, and you'll be fine.

If you think you can't fall asleep in a car, you're wrong. Put your seat back, bring a pillow, and stop psyching yourself out. You'll sleep.

If that drive takes you four days, you're doing something very, very wrong.

Google says it's about 1700 miles and should take about 25 hours (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=%22Lollapalooza%22&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B2GGGL_enUS208US214&um=1&sa=N&tab=wl)

Caffeine helps a lot. If you really want to make it easy, take Adderall. Hell, adderall will make you feel like going on and driving all the way to NYC.

Yall do realize that's going to cost yall a few hundred dollars in gas, right? I hope yall are going to be driving small cars.

I cannot be a passenger for long distances, I get very ill. I can drive long distances though. My longest single trip was from Broome to Perth in Western Australia, via Newman (inland route). It took me 30 hours, with a couple of stops and a short sleep. I tell you, the western desert has got to be one of the loneliest places in Australia. Some places I drove for 200km without seeing another car.

I tell you, the western desert has got to be one of the loneliest places in Australia. Some places I drove for 200km without seeing another car.

I envy you. I just picked up a new car and had to take it through the Manchester ring road at rush hour.

I would suggest taking a few more days over it and going to stay in some nice places along the way. I had a great road trip last year, it only involved going from Essex to Edinburgh to Manchester and back but it was a great laugh, each night we went out in a different city

I tell you, the western desert has got to be one of the loneliest places in Australia. Some places I drove for 200km without seeing another car.

There is a certain comfort though, you must admit my friend, in knowing that there is only one police officer for the next 3000 km stretch of road... and he's passed out drunk in his car another 1500 km behind you....

Are you some sort cunt? Only a total jerk would think about driving when tired or letting someone else drive when tired.

Next to alcohol its one of the biggest killers.

You get tired at the wheel and you run the risk of 'second sleep'. Thats where you fall a sleep for just a second or two. All it takes.

Worse than that is when the hallucinations start.

Are you some sort cunt? Only a total jerk would think about driving when tired or letting someone else drive when tired.

Next to alcohol its one of the biggest killers.

You get tired at the wheel and you run the risk of 'second sleep'. Thats where you fall a sleep for just a second or two. All it takes.

Worse than that is when the hallucinations start.

"...suddenly, the air was filled with what looked like huge bats, all screeching and swooping, and diving around the car..."

You get tired at the wheel and you run the risk of 'second sleep'. Thats where you fall a sleep for just a second or two. All it takes.

He's right.

I'm not sure if it goes further than what I have experienced, but the first time you suddenly jerk your head up and realise you nearly fell asleep, get out, because you were probably effectively 'out' for at least 5 seconds, and it's gonna keep happening every minute or two.

Ideally you would actually stop a long time before that, but unfortunately there isn't much objective evidence before that, that tells you you are going to die soon.

He's right.

I'm not sure if it goes further than what I have experienced, but the first time you suddenly jerk your head up and realise you nearly fell asleep, get out, because you were probably effectively 'out' for at least 5 seconds, and it's gonna keep happening every minute or two.

Ideally you would actually stop a long time before that, but unfortunately there isn't much objective evidence before that, that tells you you are going to die soon.

I have had to do a fair amount of long distance, fairly high speed driving over the years (autobahns) and what works for me is:

As soon as you start yawning frequently then you pull into the next service station. If you've got passengers you send them all off to get coffee/food/girl mags or whatever. You give them strict instuctions that they have to be gone at least 20 minutes and that on their return they are to bring you coffee and some chocolate (no heavy food).

Set your cell phone alarm for 20 minutes and close your eyes.

IT IS VITAL NOT TO SLEEP FOR MORE THAN 15 MINUTES.

15 minutes of sleep will refesh you enough to drive safely (assuming you haven't been awake for 24 hours or more). The caffeine and sucrose will give you a little edge. Sleep for more than 30 mins or so and you hit deep sleep and you'll wake up feeling really tired still.

There is only one cure for tiredness at the wheel and that is sleep!

All the other stuff people say , like 'winding the window down, sing along to the radio, drink gallons of black coffee' is crap.

15 minute naps every few hours will allow you to extend your driving for a while, maybe up to 48 hours but thats it.

Opening a window will extend you a good 15 minutes though :)

Opening a window will extend you a good 15 minutes though :)

Only if you mutter the secret incantation at the same time.."Hello Officer, what seems to be the problem?"

"...suddenly, the air was filled with what looked like huge bats, all screeching and swooping, and diving around the car..."

I lol'ed hard.

Only if you mutter the secret incantation at the same time.."Hello Officer, what seems to be the problem?"

lol

And we have 3 people in each car. It rotates every couple hours between the driver, the passanger who looks after the driver and the guy resting in the back getting ready to drive.

I drove with 3 guys from Durango, Mexico to Rumford, Maine.

We blew alot of meth and one guy dissapeared at some point in the journey.

Really memorable, but not in a good way.

I drove from montana to south texas 2000 mile trip on 1 1/2 of sleep, I loaded my truck up with monsters, cigarettes, and sunflower seeds

lol

And we have 3 people in each car. It rotates every couple hours between the driver, the passanger who looks after the driver and the guy resting in the back getting ready to drive.

You can drive forever with that rotation scheme. Anyway be sure to stop for 30 minutes every 4 hours or so, and have a little walk / fresh air.

You can drive forever with that rotation scheme. Anyway be sure to stop for 30 minutes every 4 hours or so, and have a little walk / fresh air.

Sure that rotation would work forever, until the car overheats... So yeah, make sure to stop every once and a while.

Also try not to drive between 1 and 4 in the morning. Those times make it very easy to dose off.

Sure that rotation would work forever, until the car overheats... So yeah, make sure to stop every once and a while.

Why would the car just decide to overheat? Unless the cooling system is buggered.

There's only one small problem with the rotation system. Somehow it always ends up with one person driving at 3AM and everyone else in the car is asleep.

Its real hard for the driver to stay awake if everyone else is asleep. Dunno why, maybe sleep is contagious. Whatever the science behind it, its true.

There's only one small problem with the rotation system. Somehow it always ends up with one person driving at 3AM and everyone else in the car is asleep.

Its real hard for the driver to stay awake if everyone else is asleep. Dunno why, maybe sleep is contagious. Whatever the science behind it, its true.

I thought there will be allways 2 people awake

I thought there will be allways 2 people awake

I'm sure that was the plan...

*co-pilot's snores drown out rest of answer*

I'm sure that was the plan...

*co-pilot's snores drown out rest of answer*

No way!! co-pilot must serve mate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mate_%28beverage%29)!

I drove for 14 hours straight. It fucking sucks if you have to drive the whole way, but if got someone to switch driving with and satellite radio yeah its do-able.

dont bring a girl or else the peeing in a cup and throwing it out the window wont work anymore

I've taken a few very long distance (>2k miles) trips straight-through both by myself and with co-drivers. I prefer to do them by myself, because the things that keep me going-- chain smoking and loud, fast music-- aren't great for people trying to sleep.

One tip:
When you start to get tired, get behind an 18-wheeler. Pick a safe following distance, and focus on the back of the trailer. It looks like a box. Now all you need to worry about is keeping that box at the same size and location on the windshield.

I drove for three days, towards the end I was getting some mild hallucinations, stuff on the road mostly. Meth probably didn't help with that, but it kept me pretty alert. :p

I drove for three days, towards the end I was getting some mild hallucinations, stuff on the road mostly. Meth probably didn't help with that, but it kept me pretty alert. :p

I wish I could fart in your stupid face.

I wish I could fart in your stupid face.
...How old are you? :confused:

...How old are you? :confused:

You're the one on meth. Shardface.

-N-