What do you do to stay alert during long road trips? (van, best)

[Surrey Jack]

Music (whatever interests you but upbeat helps)
Drinks (water and/or pop/energy drink/gatorade)
Food (eat whenever you need too and/or have some snacks if that's your thing, chewing gum)
A/C or fresh air (rotate between the two, cold air from the vents helps keep you awake for long drives...16+ hrs)

I think the most important thing is to keep going and when you need to stop, just stop and take a break or sleep in the car/book a hotel room. Try to have your stops aligned with gas stops.

[Litefoot]

Ditto to all of the above. You cannot be too safe! Stops, rest, coffee, audio books all are great way to keep you awake.
sometimes a quick nap is the best solution to being too tired..... Best of luck on your trip..

[jayway]

1. Fear of death via auto crash and news reports saying I probably feel asleep - pity the fool!

2. Cold air, caffeinated soda, loud music. No heavy meals, like the all you can eat "original" KFC in Salt Lake City - sleepy time for sure.

3. I don't push it anymore like in my younger days. Like others have said, the power nap - beats the perm dirt nap or maimage of self or others.

[ukrkoz]

Originally Posted by JBPisgah

A long day of solo driving is staring me in the face. I have the usual - coffee, light snacks, high energy music. But I'm sure there are things I haven't thought of.

What's your method for keeping alert and safe on long road trips?

I had Nashville to Seattle done 6 times. Chewing on something rubbery keeps you awake. So, baby carrots work great. Honestly, I ate so many of those due to long trips I did, I should be their honorary customer.
Beef jerky used to be another choice, but now that they jumped fourfold in price....
Apples. Chewy and juicy. I also developed a taste to tomatoes, as refresher.
Be careful with music. It may lull you into day dreaming.
Oh, Tropic Mix. Dry fruits.
Chewing improves cerebral circulation. Hence the effect.

[Tenebrae]

I just did 2 road trips in a row. Last week I drove from KCMO to Round Rock, TX (11.5 hours) on Thursday...
Then from Pharr, TX (border town) to Austin, TX in about 6 hours on Friday. The trip back would have been shorter, but I was by myself for the trip back and took it easy. (Take it easy, take it eaaaasy...don't let the sound of your own wheels drive you craaaazy! -- The Eagles.)

My tips:
1) Get an overview of the route ahead of time and plan according to the weather.
2) Get a good night's sleep the night before.
3) Have a good filling breakfast, but low on the sleepy-making carbs! Eggs and bacon are a classic.
4) Coffeeeeeeeee...
5) Have some bottled water on hand up front. It's also a good idea to pack yourself a hand-held lunch that you can grab out of a cooler and eat, as well as appropriate snacks like boiled eggs, nut bars. I made deviled eggs. Don't laugh.
6) If practical, take the scenic route as others have mentioned. It can help keep you interested and alert.
7) I have Sirius XM in my car and listen to satellite radio because Pandora disappears on me way too much. The cool thing about that is being able to flip between stations. If I'm jamming out to some electronic music but then it starts getting too repetitive, I can flip to 50's music or Howard Stern or something. Miss having my industrial music CDs on hand, though -- that stuff's great for keeping me awake on a drive.
8) Having a driving buddy is also VERY helpful if possible. If not, make sure SOMEBODY knows your route and ETA!
9) Be sure to dress comfortably! You're seriously going to be miserable if you're all cramped into some horrible tight jeans for a long road trip.
10) Plan your stops. If you have a deadline, this is imperative. Too many stops can REALLY slow you down. I kind of didn't plan my stops on the way back from Pharr and it cost me an extra hour. Oh well - I still made it home ok and was comfortable the whole way.

I know some folks say they like to drive at night. Personally, I have night blindness issues and have to plan accordingly. I try to leave at the a--crack of dawn and get as much driving in as possible. If this is going to be a multiple day road trip, my folks always taught me to plan to stop AFTER you get through a big city. If you stop on the "near side", then you're going to hate life trying to get through that city's morning rush hour the next day.

Be safe. Remember, the white line on the road is your friend at night. Look at it, not the oncoming headlights.

-T.

[raveabouttoast]

Originally Posted by Maya Blue

Sunflower seeds.

I was also going to say this. Apparently chewing (and cracking open sunflower seeds) keeps you more awake. And it's not an extremely high calorie food like fast food, so you can chew on them for a while without getting full.

[HappyRider]

As soon as I pull over to take a nap I am right awake.

[ncole1]

Caffeine pills. Truckers use 'em quite a bit. Fortunately I have not had to drive more than 7 hours on any single day since 2008.

[cheapdad00]

Originally Posted by HappyRider

As soon as I pull over to take a nap I am right awake.

This used to happen to me, be very drowsy at speed, then slow down to pull off and wake right up. Now I have trained myself to be able to fall asleep in the car quickly in order to facilitate napping. I bring a book to take my mind off things and usually fall asleep in 5-10 minutes (mindless cell phone games - i.e. solitaire, have the same effect). I do find now there is a time of day that I am naturally craving a nap, whether on the road or just at work (usually somewhere between 12:30 and 2PM), so if I can plan to get to my destination before then I am usually OK. Also, set an alarm and limit the nap to no more than 30 minutes (for me 15 -20 is ideal). Also, helps if you drink caffeine before the nap, as it takes 20 or so minutes for the caffeine to take effect, that way when you wake up, you are fully alert.

[cheapdad00]

Surprised no one has mentioned this yet but if it were just you and your significant other, I can think of a few activities which could help keep the driver awake. :-;