When you are in your car, what’s better than listening to music? Well usually nothing, but when you’re on a long road trip music doesn’t always cut it. Don’t get me wrong, we are both enthusiastic music lovers (sometimes we just break out into song in the middle of a conversation because a word makes us think of a song), but we’ve found time doesn’t go by as fast with music alone. Singing the same songs over and over again is second nature so you aren’t very focused on the words of the songs. You’re still checking how long you’ve been driving and how much longer until you reach your destination.
When we are on road trips we start out with music and switch to a podcast or a question book after about an hour of driving. Why, you ask? Because it makes time FLY by! The great thing about podcasts is you never know what they are going to say, so you have to pay attention. Between listening to the podcasts and watching the road you are distracted enough that you stop looking at the clock (for most of the time that is).
The same goes for question books. The ones we’ve completed are for couples and have topics to discuss that you may not have talked about before. It’s a great way to get to know each other even better and have a good laugh. I’ll also note that we can pretty much talk about anything without it starting a fight. There are a few things we chose not to discuss and if those things come up, we just skip them. It’s as simple as that!
Podcasts:
Dr. Death
Without giving away too much, this podcast is about a neurosurgeon, who claimed to be the best in Dallas. We were so intrigued we finished all of the episodes on our East Coast road trip. Dr. Death is equally fascinating and sickening at the same time.
Detective
If you’ve ever wanted to interview a Detective, you should listen to this podcast. It goes in depth about things that happen when law enforcement works a case and how it impacts them personally.
Jam Session
When you are in the mood for something more light hearted, turn on Jam Session. It is a run down of what is going on in pop culture. Find episodes that interest you specifically or download them all!
The Right Reasons
Another podcast about pop culture. They discuss reality TV shows and celebrity drama. This one is no longer being produced, but we found it very entertaining and has one of the same hosts as the Jam Session podcast (Juliet Litman).
Felonious Florida
I’m not going to lie, this podcast creeped me out a bit. Both seasons take place in South Florida (near where we live) and are very bizarre. If you like true crime stories, you should check this one out.
Girls Gotta Eat
This podcast has kept us entertained on MANY trips. The two hosts typically interview a guest and play a game with them at the end. Topics range from one night stands to societal pressures to get married and start a family (they even interview a guy that had a broken penis!). There are great messages for singles in a lot of the episodes, but as a couple we like it because it generates conversations that we’ve never discussed.
We got on the bandwagon for this one a little late (because Joff has so many podcasts he wants to listen to) and are about a year behind, but we are determined to catch up. It makes Joffrey sad to think about this because the hosts started touring and we were so behind we didn’t know until they had come and gone.
How I Built This
In this inspirational podcast, the host interviews entrepreneurs of well known companies. You get to hear how companies were started from nothing and how they made it to where they are now.
WARNING: This podcast makes you want to take on the world. It also makes you feel like you’ve done nothing with your life.
Serial
We’ve only listened to season 1 of this podcast, we plan to listen to the others, but we haven’t had time. The first season is about a girl who is found strangled in a park and her ex boyfriend is the prime suspect. We were very conflicted listening to this podcast and still don’t know what to believe is the truth.
Science Vs
If you want to expand your knowledge, check out this podcast. They use science to determine what’s fact and what’s not. The topics are a good variety so you can pick and choose which ones interest you the most.
Dirty John
Again without giving too much away, this is essentially a messed up love story of two people and the woman’s children get entangled in the situation to protect their mother. Very interesting story that has been turned into a TV show…
The Rewatchables
A rotating group of hosts discuss classic movies, cult favorites, and hollywood blockbusters. They talk about what makes them so rewatchable (get it!) and give out rewards like “most memorable scene” and “who won the movie?”. The Face/Off episode is one of my (Joffrey) favorite podcast episodes ever.
Stranglers
Another true crime podcast, this one is about the Boston Strangler and the events surrounding this case.
3 Girls, 1 Keith
If you like Amy Schumer then you should check out this podcast. It features her, along with a few other comedians and they talk about their lives, pop culture, and everything in between.
Question Books:
Our favorite on the list! Mostly because it has just the right amount of questions for a short road trip and it’s a competition (kinda like The Newlywed Game)!
This is our second favorite on the list. It has a ton of questions (a few are redundant, but not many) and it is easy to fill out. Some questions go back to childhood and others go out to the future. There are a variety of types of questions from fill in the blank to would you rather and everything in between. We like this one because not everything is open ended where you have to write in an answer.
Our Q&A a Day: 3-Year Journal for 2 people
This book isn’t necessarily good for a road trip because it is just one question a day, BUT if you don’t want to talk much it’s perfect for one quick conversation. We haven’t been able to keep up with it on a daily (or even a monthly) basis, so it’s going to be a 30-Year Journal for us, which might make it a little more entertaining to go back and look at since things will change more over a longer period of time.
The You and Me Book: A Love Journal
For a road trip we found this one a little more difficult. It’s a great book for collecting memories, but there are a limited number of questions you’d be able to answer on a road trip. The questions sometimes need detailed answers and are thought provoking, but this can be hard when you’re riding in a car with bumps along the way.
So the next time you’re on a road trip (or social distancing) try one of these to help pass the time!
Where will your next adventure take you?
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