What to Do When Making a 7-Hour Drive
by: Cadet04
Yesterday i drove out to Columbus, Ohio to visit my girlfriend for her graduation. You may be asking yourself 'Cadet, with the rising gas prices what made you think it was a good idea to drive?' The answer is simple. Somehow, some way, it's still cheaper than flying, but that's mostly because I did not book 2 weeks in advance or try to "negotiate".
Let me tell you, driving by yourself for 7 hours really gives you time to think. For example, I like to make fun of West Virginia all the time for being inbred, but it's a nice state to drive through. Speed Limit is 70 and there are no cops in site so you can easily do 80-90 when you aren't going up a mountain, so you make great time.
The key to any good road trip is a solid music selection. Now, with my iPod broken i had to go back and use CD's, which is fine by me because my iCar player uses up the gas quickly and in the mountains the gas is near $3.80 a gallon. Two things to take note of: One, Big O and Dukes carried me from College Park to Hagerstown, so a solid hour and a half i didn't need music. Two, from the Pennsylvania border on I-79 to Zanesville, OH you are good on the radio thanks to Pittsburgh and Wheeling stations so thats another hour taken care of.
Now me personally, i find Classic Rock to be great travel music. It's tried and true and you know the words to most songs. Which comes in handy on hour 6 or 7. Classic Rock never disappoints. Whitesnake, Kansas, Journey, Bon Jovi, Boston, Foreiger are all great for a road trip. Mix in songs like "The Final Countdown" by Europe and others and you have a great classic rock mix.
Classic Rock can't carry you the whole way, or maybe it can, but i need other music mixed in as well. New Rock, Rap and Techno are also a good way to go. 'Cadet, Techno music for a road trip', yes, Timmy, Techno for a road trip. Maybe not with other people, but by yourself it's a must. Even one song will do. It re-energizes you and gets you pumped up to continue your drive. "Sandstorm" by Darude never hurt anyone.
The New Rock works well too, if you like rock music. Some new Chevelle, Cobra Starship, Against Me!, Apocolyptica, Red are all worked for me, threw in some good Breaking Benjamin, Jimmy Eat World, Linkin Park and Three Days Grace for old time sake.
Rap i kept pretty simple, since i couldn't find the new Pro'Verb song, i stuck with T.I., Lil Wayne, Lupe Fiasco, Common, Mos Def and Kanye West. I don't pretend to know a lot about Rap, and seeing as I have lost all respect for the man who i refuse to utter his name, but we shall call him "The passing lane", I didn't have a lot to choose from, but they were enough to get me going.
Finally, there is the music you aren't supposed to like as a guy, and aren't supposed to tell anyone, but secretly they all like it too. I like Justin TImberlake's music, and if you don't than you don't know good music. He single handidly killed Britney Spears' soul and has turned her into the mess she is today all because of "Cry Me a River". Not to mention, he's the best host of SNL in probably 10-12 years (this isn't me saying this, this is Seth Myers). Everyone loves "Thriller" on Halloween, but how many people actually listen to it the other 364 days out of the year? Great Song. Even better album. Don't do the dance while driving. Three songs that carried me were "The NWO Theme", "DuHast" by Rammstein and "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" by Rod Stewart. All three are sure to get great reactions out of anyone driving near you.
With all this in mind, some songs make you think back to something, maybe a movie or personal experience. I think it's funny how everyone has a different idea for a song. I think my best example of this is "Beat It". I would venture to guess, the thought that pops into 50% of the people that read this was the Walk-Off scene in Zoolander.
Other random thoughts i had while driving:
- The Speed Limit needs to be raised to 70+ everywhere. My car runs best at 75, for the record.
- The Drinking Age should be lowered to 18 again.
- Every State should be forced to improve the state of their highways.
- Police do not pull you over on the highway unless you are going 12+ over the speed limit.
- There are anywhere from 20-35 subways on the way from College Park to Columbus, i lost count at 20.
- Gas is not cheap, even in the boonies.
- Fuel efficient cars are the only way to go right now, sorry to you SUV drivers.
- Morgantown, West Virginia has the biggest d-bag radio hosts in the world.
- I have a terrible taste in music and I could honestly care less.
I'd like to see some other people's Road Trip mixes. Just throwing it out there.
Comments:
whenever i go on any long trip i just go 2 songs on my ipod and play them all. I have a random mix of old and new rap and rock. But if it is nice out there is nuttin wrong with rollin down the windows openin the sun roof and jammin to reggae
i agree with you on classical rock and country is also really good for driving. although i have never driven before its still fun to listen to in the shotgun. reggae is good to
I avoid country. At all costs. That's why i made these CD's. That's really all their is in the mountains and rural ohio.
Classic tale of being young a mobile. These kinds of stories get told and retold many times in the same generation. (At least until gas prices get to the point that the average young man can't afford it anymore.) Good story.
That is not "classic rock" that you listed. If it is than I am really getting old! "Classic rock," consists of the golden age of "hard rock" and that was the late sixties to mid-seventies era bands.
I think the bands that are known as "classic rock" bands, The Who, Led Zeppelin and artists like Eric Clapton would disagree with you as well. The bands that you listed were mostly from the 'big hair' band era of the eighties and were the true MTV generation bands.
Yeah man no offense but your classic rock list wasn't very impressive...no Zeppelin, Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, or The Who???
jimmy buffett and frank sinatra.
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