What’s The Worst Thing That’s Happened To You On A Road Trip?

Photo: Eric O’Connell (Getty Images)

When road trips go right, you can make some incredible memories. Just you and a buddy or 14 (we rented a 15-passenger van for that one) driving down the open road, loaded up on junk food, stopping at roadside attractions, and taking in sights and landmarks you never would have seen otherwise — what could possibly be better than that?

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Even road trips that aren’t cross-country vacations can be great in their own way. My family and I still reminisce about the time I convinced everyone at the last minute that we should road trip to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving. We initially weren’t going to go since flights for five people were so expensive, but it felt like it would be our last holiday with my grandfather, so we left Athens in our trusty ole Honda Odyssey the evening before and drove overnight, stopping only to change drivers and get gas. It was exhausting, but we made it.

Not all road trips go smoothly, though. Sometimes your car (or motorcycle) breaks down in the middle of south Georgia, forcing you to spend the night in a $50-a-night motel that probably should have been at least $25 cheaper. Sometimes you encounter a deranged Mainiac who tries to run you off the road, only to run into him at breakfast the next morning and get yelled at again. Other times, you get your first official girlfriend right after high school graduation, but when you get back from your Colorado road trip, you find out via MySpace that she broke up with you without telling you.

So, as much as we love road trips, let’s talk about bad things that can sometimes happen on them. Maybe you were late to a friend’s wedding because Google Maps sent you down a washed-out dirt “road” that was too narrow for you to turn around once you realized how bad it was about to get. Maybe you once tried to use nicotine gum to stay awake instead of caffeine and nearly gave yourself a heart attack. Maybe your brother who was definitely old enough to know better had a diarrhea incident in the back seat that made the car smell awful even after he changed and your parents attempted to clean things up.

Whatever it was, we want to hear about it. What’s the worst thing that happened to you on a road trip?