Help for Overnight drives

[PrincessMom4]

Anyone drive overnight?? what are someof the things that help you stay alert?? Any tips as this will be our first overnight drive. My hubby and I are taking shifts driving.

 

[grimley1968]

- Lots of caffeine
- Some sugary snacks, but not too much at once
- Dim as many interior lights as possible, including navigation systems, radios, etc. Trying to clearly see oncoming headlights or brakelights is made much more difficult by excessive interior lighting, and makes your eyes tired more quickly. Tired eyes = tired mind and body.
- Plan ahead so that you're near a hotel chain you like at least every half hour or so, if you find you just can't go on any further than 30 more minutes.
- Just in case you are getting into super-rural areas, make sure you top off your fuel tank by midnight somewhere.

 

[Robert P]

- Lots of caffeine
- Some sugary snacks, but not too much at once
- Dim as many interior lights as possible, including navigation systems, radios, etc. Trying to clearly see oncoming headlights or brakelights is made much more difficult by excessive interior lighting, and makes your eyes tired more quickly. Tired eyes = tired mind and body.
- Plan ahead so that you're near a hotel chain you like at least every half hour or so, if you find you just can't go on any further than 30 more minutes.
- Just in case you are getting into super-rural areas, make sure you top off your fuel tank by midnight somewhere.

ITA with all of the grimley1968 items.
For me, I would also add:
- clean windshield inside and out (similar to the tired eyes item above)
- some snacks that are salty/spicy
- bottled water
- audiobooks on tape/cd, and a good comedy cd as well
- I also break down the trip into mileage segments (by state or highway), and recheck my math each segment (miles driven, miles to go, etc...) Keeps the mind engaged, tends to help maintain alertness.

Everyone has their own tips/tricks, but only you can decide if overnight driving works for you and your group. If you get tired, stop for at least a while.

Travel Safe!

 

[arizonacolbys]

Great tips so far - we're thinking of doing this in December, too with our little ones along - hoping they sleep most of the drive

 

[grimley1968]

Great tips so far - we're thinking of doing this in December, too with our little ones along - hoping they sleep most of the drive

Thanks.

But there's one I forgot to add: if it's been a while since you've driven through the night, know your limits. I used to be able to drive all day, all night, and part of the next day with no problems at all. As I've gotten older, though, I find I hit a much harder wall of sleep deprivation if I don't stop somewhere in the night. If you're not absolutely certain you can do it with energy to spare at 6:30 in the morning, consider finding a place to somewhere on the road.

 

[PrincessMom4]

These tips are amazing. My hubby and I plan on sharing the driving. I drive the first 7hours and he drives the hard part overnight since he is the night owl...LOL...Then when the kids wake up I can feed them breakfast and hubby can sleep for a bit. From then on I will drive.

 

[kydisneyfans]

I will echo the above as we drive through the night, and I often drive several hundred miles a day with a workday starting at 2:30 AM.

My tips are a large Sweet Tea from McDonalds.
Find some music that you really like, I actually only listen to talk radio at night and music during the day.
Try to travel the interstate in small groups, this helps if an animal gets in the way. Last trip to Disney I stayed behind the same semi all 160 miles through TN at 70+mph.
If you get tired, don't fight it. Your life isn't worth getting to Disney an hour earlier. Find a rest area, Walmart, or someplace to pull over and nap.
I also would not eat a large evening meal, and have some fresh fruit handy. Lots of food makes me tired, some refreshing berries will keep me moving.

 

[kevgraub]

The tips for snacks is a good one - especially small items like M&M's, nuts, etc. Its not really the eating that helps me out, it is the reaching down into the bag to get a few more every once in a while that seems to help.

Obviously you don't want to get yourself too distracted, and I'm not suggesting ignoring the road, but finding ways to break up the constant staring at the lines in the road passing you by helps tremendously - day or night. Things like changing the radio station (I will sit with my finger on the seek button and roll through all the options a few times), snacking on something (jerky works well too), unscrewing the cap from a bottle of water or pop, taking a drink, then putting the cap back on, etc. will help keep you much more alert.

Whatever you do, don't try to sit in your car with your hands at 10:00 and 2:00, staring straight down the highway for long periods of time. Mix things up a little to avoid getting into that trance mode.

 

[mousebymarriage]

I am the overnight driver for our trips and what works for me is:

-I try to sleep as much as possible the day we are leaving so I am well rested
-I use my i-pod but with only 1 ear bud in so I can hear other things if necessary (like emergency vehicles).
-snacks(m&m's are my fav.)
-soda or iced tea(but, not too much or I will have to make a potty stop)

*I just make sure I know my limits. If I feel tired I don't try to push it I just pull over at a rest area and sleep for a bit, napping for an hour makes a world of difference.

I usually have no problem driving at night because I have slept the during the day. I like overnight driving because there is no traffic, no kids fighting and everything is so peaceful. Having my i-pod is great because I load it with some tunes that really wake me up!(the i-pod also gives me something to listen to without disturbing anyone else)

 

[Nafinegar]

I think all of these are great tips. The only thing I would add is chocolate covered espresso beans. They are super yummy if you like coffe, they are an instant source of caffeine without the need to pee a lot during driving!!

I really like the idea of a comedy CD, laughing would keep my adrenaline up.

ITA with the concept of knowing your limits. When we do serious driving, I start out so that DH can sleep (he can sleep anytime.) Then when I am pooped around 1-2am, he is refreshed enough to take over.

Be careful and have a great trip

 

[tami82]

We left at midnight once and wont do that again. we werent supposed to leave until the next morning but i couldnt sleep and came up with the great idea to leave. It was horrible for me, i got very drowsy no matter how much coffee i drank. I guess not a great idea especially if you dont get any sleep in beforehand. What we do now is i will go to sleep at 9:00 (with the help of some Tylenol PM) set the alarm for 2:00 a.m. and we are out of the house by 3:00, this way we only have a few hours of darkness and it works out well, we stop around the later afternoon and drive a good amount of time.

 

[bookwormde]

If you can one of you take a long nap (4 hrs) before leaving.

bookwormde

 

[Sleuth]

I think all of these are great tips. The only thing I would add is chocolate covered espresso beans. They are super yummy if you like coffe, they are an instant source of caffeine without the need to pee a lot during driving!!

Where do you get those suckers at!? I've never heard of them and we leave in a week!!!

 

[disneymom06]

So many great tips.... I will add before one driver sleeps make sure that you "spot" a few rest areas or places to spend the night along the way. It gives you options in case you get tired. Snacks with variety, both sweet and salty and the ipod in one ear loaded with a variety of music, podcasts and comedy shows.

As always be flexible.

 

[JenSop]

We did the drive last year from PA - it was rough.

(You can click to my Trip Report in my signature at the bottom - to see the stuff about our drive at beginning of the TR.)

Anyway - we drove from around 9:30pm straight through to Disney at 2pm the next day.

I did the second shift after not sleeping the whole night. We don't have any kids, so it was just DH and I. I plugged my iPod into the auxiliary plug and sang along to my favorite tunes. But what really helped me was the combo of Coke, Red Bull, and a 5 Hour Energy Shot. That really did the trick!

 

[spaceranger1217]

I
Try to travel the interstate in small groups, this helps if an animal gets in the way. Last trip to Disney I stayed behind the same semi all 160 miles through TN at 70+mph.

Thank you so much for sharing that tip..I friend of mine hit a deer once and it destroyed her car

These tips are super helpful since I am taking my frist drive down in August..my plan was red bull and m&ms!! lol

 

[bdoyledimou]

i tired the energy drinks, but found they messed me up much longer than needed.

I have XM Radio in the van (move too fast to stay in a regular radio zone and always lost the signal when it got interesting), as well as a well stocked ipod with lots of podcasts waiting to be listened too.

Fruit and nut mix is a great energy boost. Coffee (i like iced coffee myself) helps.

 

[GranddadTom]

My wife and I have driven through the night from Maryland (13 hours) many times. I'm the only one who drives but I never attempt the trip without taking at least a 4 hour nap before leaving. Never, never try it after putting in a full days work. I try to stay away from the caffine because I feel that if I need that, then I'm getting close to "the edge". We always go straight down Rt. 95 and although it's never a problem getting gas at any hour of the night, finding an open restroom is another matter. No fastfood place are open and most gas stations (in the South) have the lights on and the pumps working for credit card purchases but the buildings are locked up. I make sure to visit the welcome center as I enter each state and take care of bathroom needs then.

 

[PrincessMom4]

I was thinking of having a "really good" nap before we leave. We are leaving around 3pm. That way I can drive for about 7hours which puts us into PA and hubby takes over from there. Pottying will be done every 4hours until there are asleep and then once we enter each state. Once hubby takes over he is hopefully getting us somewhere in North Carolina. I am hoping the kids will have no problems falling asleep in the car. Coffee, some gum and "treats" are on our list. We both know al of our safe arrival is more important than anything else. Either one of us have no hestitation to pull over at a rest centre for a snooze. I will have more than plenty of snacks and drinks for the kids and us. Kids are taking their pillows and blankets.

 

[3mickeymom]

- Sleep/eye mask for the NEXT shift driver to block out light
- ear plugs for person resting to muffle car/radio/DVD noise
- Clean beach towels make great blankets for the car and have dual use

For sleeping kids
-brimmed baseball cap to pull down over sleeping childs eyes during gas stops. Those lights are bright!
-umm- something to pee in, in case of emergency. I have three boys so a jar with a tight lid worked well. We were stuck in a traffic jam for two hours and could not get to a rest stop.

Things you might not think to have in car but I have had to use
- plastic quick ties( used to hold up a dragging car part until I reached a gas station) but they have many uses.
-Plastic knife for cutting fast food into more appropriate sizes for kids
-scissors, I use mine all the time
-batteries for any device you are taking.
Have a safe trip!!