Boyfriend-Girlfriend Road Trip

Hello again guys. The title is pretty self-explanatory, but I would like to elaborate on how this blog post came into being. Well, Caleb and I decided to make a semi-spontaneous road trip to visit his family in Mobile so there are two things to take into consideration already. First, it was very much not planned. Second, it was only a four hour drive and to a destination that we have been to several times by now. I drove most of the way, but by the last hour, I wanted to paint my nails and I had grown tired of driving so I let my other half take over. It was during the last hour of our drive that this blog post transpired in my brain and it was just too good of an inspiration to pass up. The purpose of this blog post is just to point out some of the cliches that take place while going on extended trips with your significant other. Not even necessarily extended trips, but extended trips are usually longer than a couple of hours and it gives you a lot of time to "talk." So without further ado, here is my list:

1. You WILL argue. I don't know why I should even have to point this out, but it is a fact of life. You are just going to fight about something and I will point out some of the common things you will probably fight about in the next few points.

2. Music topics. Music is so broad. You guys will probably fight over it, sing along to it, and maybe even get into a heated discussion about how Tool is better than A Perfect Circle (even though both bands have the same lead singer). In fact, this topic will never die because even when it goes away, something on the radio, or your iPod, or your CD will always trigger this conversation again.

3. Are we lost? Yes, even Caleb and I had these same problems going to a place we have been to countless times! I mean for real, he should know this place like the back of his hand by now. The problem is people get bored paying attention to the road sometimes and your GPS cannot always be trusted. Even worse, sometimes when things look familiar, they actually aren't.

4. A/C. Oh, this will never be perfect. It's almost as bad as the music debate except if you get tired of your girlfriend's screamo music or your boyfriend's rap music, you can always just put some headphones in. There is very little you can do about being too cold or too hot except try to reposition the vents or turn them off, but even still, cars are small and air circulates when your cold and even when the other person is hot, you will hate him for it.

5. Sleep. Oh, the sad sad acknowledgment that your significant other needs to sleep, but also the selfishness of you needing someone to talk to. You might try to be quiet for an hour or so, but that's pushing it. After that you're punching him and blaring the radio until he has to acknowledge that you do exist.

6. Who's turn to drive? Trying to be judicial and break the driving down between two people evenly only works for so long then you start questioning variables, such as, who is the better driver and who drives faster. And these always end up in fights.

7. My car, my rules. What I say goes and if you have a problem with it, you can walk. Which "my rules" usually constitute as don't touch my radio and don't touch my A/C.

8. Terrible conversations that seem to last forever and even worse playing I Spy like you're in second grade again. News flash, it's a tree.

9. Can we stop yet? Even when you have so carefully laid out the exact times and places you plan to stop to use the restroom and fill up, you will still always ask when the next stop is and someone will always have to pee. It's just a fact of life.

10. Who is going to pump the gas? I don't necessarily have this problem since Caleb is oh so willing to jump up and pump gas for me, but even still he does so very reluctantly and when he's asleep I have to be either the good guy and pump the gas or the bad guy and punch him till he does it.

Either way, road trips are great ways to test out a relationship and see just how long you really can put up with each other. Life is an adventure and you should always risk it.