Without further delay....

Things I Learned On My 30 Hour Road Trip To Massachusetts

1. Use the bathroom every opportunity you get.--I found this one to be of importance when I saw the sign that said "180 Miles to next rest area." That's a lonnnnng ways away. Like, two and a half hours away. Think about it: If you have to pee when you see that sign, you're basically have to have an extraordinarily strong bladder, or you're going to be peeing in the woods.
   
2. Eat when you see places to eat, whether you are hungry or not.--On a slightly related note, when you drive through many states, you tend to take the not-so-scenic route. This means that places to eat could be few and far between. From my personal experience: On day one, we were driving through Meridian, MS, and we were stopping for gas. It was about 7 amish, and I, personally, was hungry. There was a McDonalds at this particular exit, but it was up the road in the opposite direction on top of a hill or something, so my dad didn't want to eat at it. He said we would stop at the next one. Well, there was no next one, not for about 70-80 miles, and then it was a Burger King, who has inferior breakfasts to McDonalds. Anyway, moral of the story is: eat when you see places to eat, whether you are hungry or not.
3. Bring earplugs.--This one only applies if you are stopping to sleep at a hotel and sharing the room with someone. People snore. My father (and let's be honest, my mother, too) snore. We stopped in Virginia for the night, and I shared a hotel room with my parents. Well, I hardly slept at all because of the chorus my parents were putting on in the other bed. It was awful. (Again, to be honest, my father was MUCH worse, MUCH louder, MUCH longer, than my mother.) Basically: If you want to sleep, bring ear plugs. You may not need them, but then again, you may. Edit: They would also come in handy if you're trying to nap in the car. They would definitely block out the noise from the interstate and whatever music the driver is listening to.
4. Avoid greasy food whenever possible.--I know I was just whining about having to eat Burger King, but this point is of special importance. If you are eating breakfast, lunch and dinner on the road for two days, at some point in there, pass up the Whoppers and Big Macs for Subway, Quiznos or something of the like. Trust me, your stomach will seriously thank you. All that greasy food definitely makes the trip an unpleasant one.
5. Even if you have a GPS, a back up map is essential.--We found this out in New Jersey. Since my parents have made this trek many times before, they wanted to go a speficic way once we hit New Jersey. Thus, we took a different route than what the GPS wanted. Naturally, the GPS had a shit fit, and while it was "Recalculating" it froze. We couldn't get it to turn off, restart, anything. So, for a few miles, we were sans GPS until my mom found the reset button. If she hadn't found that, or perhaps it hadn't worked, we would have been up shit creek without a paddle if we hadn't brought a map with us. Luckily, we only had to fully rely on it for a little while, but it pays to be prepared.
6. I learned how to read that map.--Anyone who knows me knows I am a self-proclaimed awful navigator. Put a map in front of me and the best I can do is find you all the silliest street names. However, on this trip, I was taught, and successfully learned, how to read a map. I even know how to use those mile marker thingys now. I know, I'm smart.
7. You can drive with you fingers!--Only if you have cruise control. My mom taught me this one. Apparently, if you have cruise control on, you can hit Accelerate or Decelerate and control the speed of your car from the steering wheel. Of course, this doesn't really work in heavy traffic, but it was good when we were following my dad (whose rental truck had no cruise control, so he couldn't keep the speed really steady).
8. New Jersey SUCKS.--I think most people (except for people from NJ, and to those of you who are, I am truly sorry) know that NJ is America's armpit. It is an awful state to drive in, first of all, and when I was driving in it, it was raining. It pretty much rained from the time we hit the border till we crossed state lines. Four plus lanes of traffic, with a visibility of about a car length in front of me, it's not a drive I wish to re-experience.
9. New Haven, CT, sucks too.--New Haven is basically a suburb of NY. It is also a college town (Yale and Rory Gilmore are there). This plus that equal TREMENDOUS TRAFFIC. The drive through CT should only take 45 minutes or so, but it took us close to two hours because we were stuck in traffic from hell. This is what prompted me to exclaim, "I don't care if it's good enough for Rory Gilmore, New Haven is the pits."
10. There's a bridge in New York called the Tappan Zee Bridge.--And it is truly frightening.
11. People are shitty drivers. EVERYWHERE.--I think this one speaks for itself.