My family loves road trips. It is perfectly normal, especially in the summer, to drive for 8, 10 or 12 hours in a single day, to travel to a destination. We have visited many parts of Canada, all in our car. During a recent 8-hour drive, from our family country home in Quebec, to Toronto, with my husband and son, I thought about the interesting behaviours of people while in a moving vehicle.
I started to chuckle as I remembered the “party bus” with my office colleagues last summer. You can take a group of mature, often serious adults – put them on a bus – and they turn in to rowdy, and silly, toddlers!
So, what happens to people when they are strapped into a car for hours? Does the mix of people matter? How about the intended destination? Or maybe does the length of the trip make a difference? The weather? The kind of road? Traffic?
I put these questions to the test during the recent drive. I will set the scene:
- Starting location: Saint Donat, Quebec
- Destination: Toronto, Ontario
- In the car: My husband (David), my son (Matthew), our dog (Olie), and me
We left mid-afternoon on a Saturday, with clear skies and high temperatures. If we drove without making a stop, it would be a 7-hour drive. But I knew we’d stop for gas or snacks or to change drivers, so we planned for 8 hours.
With just 3 people and a dog in the car, we had lots of room. No one felt crammed. The roads were clear, and we were all set for an easy drive (which it was).
Fifteen minutes in, I look over and see David is already tired. Really? Our first conversation focused on how a grown man, who knew he’d be driving for hours, chose to not have a good sleep the night before. He just yawned. After a stop at Starbucks – which included a five-minute nap – we were back on the road.
While a group bus experience brings out the toddler in adults, that’s not the case of the car. During a long road trip, one has the opportunity – whether good or bad – to discuss topics at length, some of them to exhaustion. What I learned was that when my husband and son are together for such a trip – without my two young daughters – wow do they ever find a way to beat a topic to death. Here’s some of what they discussed:
Who knows more about Math and Science?
This topic lasted well over an hour. Where do I begin? It amuses me, and it brings David great pride, that our son has a knack for math and science. Matthew just completed grade 11, which included two math courses and physics this past year. David grilled Matthew on whether or not he knew this concept or that. I’d include what those concepts were, but it was clear early on that I not only know less than them but also don’t care. Trigonometry? This or that law of physics? Or, can you explain why such and such plus this or that make sense or don’t? Back and forth the two of them went. I felt like that dumb kid in high school who sat at the back of the class and doodled all day.
What is the most efficient energy source?
This was a very exciting conversation that must have lasted at least half an hour. I believe it began as we passed some field that was covered in solar panels. How efficient is solar power, they asked each other. I learned: not very. So, they just had to know, what’s more efficient? Matthew pulled out his phone as they came up with various ideas, to see their percent efficiency. Hydro? Nuclear? Wind? I don’t even know what they decided was most efficient, as I drifted off into my own thoughts, as the conversation became more boring by the minute.
Is there alien life?
I believe the alien conversation flowed from the energy conversation. You don’t even want to know how that happened. They went back and forth asking each other “tough” questions whether each think there is some kind of intelligent life out there, beyond our solar system or universe. That turned into a deeper conversation about just how big our solar system really is. Their deep thoughts included the idea that we (as in people of Earth) have sent out signals that just may not have reached other intelligent life yet. But what if some society, smarter or more advanced than ours, gets our signal? Will they come and destroy us? That was pleasant.
Was Matthew hungry?
I admit, I participated in any conversation that included food. I like to prepare various snacks for our drives. And the food I bring mainly depends on what my starting point is. Sometimes I bake muffins or cookies, if I start from home. Or I like to cut up vegetables or have fresh fruit on the ready. And then there is the bag of snacks. Chips, chocolate, candy and other easy-to-consume foods. Matthew made it clear that he wanted nothing to do with fruit or vegetables, or any homemade baked goods.
Was there a Tim Hortons at the next exit? Did I throw in enough of those small packets of Brookside chocolate? What variety of chips could he grab from the snack bag? Was David starting to nod off again and needed a square (or ten) of dark chocolate? Did the dog have any water? Does anyone need coffee?
University Applications
Since Matthew just completed grade 11, it means that this fall it’s time for him to formally start to apply to university. Let’s put aside this huge life milestone and just get to the car conversation. Matthew is an ambitious kid with aspirations to enroll in a Sports Management program, preferably at an American University. We’ve done our research and already visited some schools. So what’s to discuss in an 8-hour car ride? So much. Even if much of it is repetitive. What are his top five choices? What schools do we still need to visit this fall? On what date later this summer does he need to sit down and formally start the applications? Did he secure the references he needs from school (yes, he did)?
Politics
In 2024, no 8-hour road trip would be complete without a rousing conversation about politics. I won’t go into the nitty gritty details of what was discussed as it may either send your brain into a tizzy or put you to sleep. Let’s just say that over the last year, my son and husband have come together on where they sit politically. They both like to quote all kinds of pundits, writers or other politicians, to convince me that they’re right. I will say that I don’t always disagree with them, but wow, I’m not that kind of passionate.
We jumped around to many other topics during this particular road trip, some light hearted and amusing and some more serious and sometimes upsetting. The conversations were very rich, and I think I will remember this particular drive quite fondly.
The summer is still young, and my family and I have many hours ahead and highways to conquer. Coming up are more back-and-forth road trips on Highway 401 between Quebec and Ontario, a drive East to pick up our daughters in Halifax, and a new special drive after to Boston and New York.
There will be laughs and for sure there will be tears. There will be memories from road trips of old to share and new ones to write. Aren’t summer road trips great?