How often do you stop on long road trips?

[Lamb]

We just got back from a long road trip (11 hours) and I was wondering how often other people stop to use the restroom, get gas, eat...? We did a better job this time at not stopping every 2 hours but I think we were all dehydrated from the weekend because of the heat. I think we managed every 3 to 4 hours and the stop for gas was because my rule is to never let it go below a half tank.

 

[Josiah]

TOTALLY controlled by our son....

 

[vince284]

If it's a "road trip" I stop for the night after only driving a total of 4 to 5 hours. But that all depends, I try to stop at the bigger attraction towns so I have something to do and see during my short evening and morning stay. If it's a destination trip and I need to be there and it's over 6-8 hours of driving, I try to fly. Even if flying is a total of a 5-7 hour ordeal (transportation to the airport, checking in, boarding, renting a car, driving to the hotel, etc.), I'd rather not drive the whole way. Also, on road trips I try to rent a vehicle and leave mine at home.

 

[tango]

We just got back from a long road trip (11 hours) and I was wondering how often other people stop to use the restroom, get gas, eat...? We did a better job this time at not stopping every 2 hours but I think we were all dehydrated from the weekend because of the heat. I think we managed every 3 to 4 hours and the stop for gas was because my rule is to never let it go below a half tank.

As infrequently as is humanly possible. It's been a while since I did a long road trip but in the past when I've driven 500+ miles I try and get away with a single stop. The stop serves a single purpose and works at the maximum efficiency we can achieve - I pull up and park, check what I want food-wise, then go to the bathroom. Then I get back to the car and fill up with gas while my wife goes to the bathroom and orders our food. Then we hit the road and eat on the move. On a good day we're in and out in 10-15 minutes.

If a journey is short enough to do it on one tank of gas I usually fill up within a mile or two of home, then just drive it. We take food and water with us so we don't have to stop and most times it's easy enough to do a 5-6 hour trip without a break.

One thing that really irritates me with signs on US interstates is the way you see what facilities there are at an exit but when you take the exit that's when you find the gas is 2 miles one way and the food you wanted is two miles the other way, and somehow both require you to turn left across six lanes of heavy traffic or something.

 

[Lamb]

One thing that really irritates me with signs on US interstates is the way you see what facilities there are at an exit but when you take the exit that's when you find the gas is 2 miles one way and the food you wanted is two miles the other way, and somehow both require you to turn left across six lanes of heavy traffic or something.

YES! I hate that! On the PA turnpike and Ohio Tollways there are Service Plazas that are so great because it's right there all in one for gas, food and restrooms.

 

[tango]

YES! I hate that! On the PA turnpike and Ohio Tollways there are Service Plazas that are so great because it's right there all in one for gas, food and restrooms.

I've only ever stopped at two service plazas on the PA turnpike and never in Ohio.

One of the plazas was somewhere near the junction with 476 (I was on my way to Philadelphia airport at the end of a vacation) and I wanted to fill up the rental car so at least it would be mostly full. It turned out to be a good decision, I didn't pass another gas station between there and the airport. The other was heading westbound and I don't even remember where it was, other than that it was somewhere east of Harrisburg. That was at the beginning of a trip, and I stopped to rest because it had been a really bad flight and I was tired. The only food they had on offer was Burger King. I hate Burger King. Still, I got to rest my eyes for a while before continuing with the drive.

 

[Forgiven1]

When with my husband, every 1 to 1.5 hours as that is what he does. When by myself, about every 2 hours or when my bladder tells me too. We have only had one road trip this year. The rest have been flying due to distance or time limitations.

 

[NewCreation435]

When I was younger I drove for many hours without stopping but now being older and type 1 diabetic probably not longer than three hours straight