( ; Design: Ayana Underwood) Prepping for long road trips can feel exhilarating. Packed bags and itinerary set. Salty, sweet snacks stashed in a handy spot?
Plush interior, blankets and pillows, blasting A/C, and a carefully curated cruising playlist ready? Check, check, check, and check. Of course, even the coziest upholstery and upbeat bangers can’t always shake that aching, exhausted feeling that sets in after the third or fourth hour on the road to your favorite trailhead or camping grounds.
You’re not lifting heavy things or solving complex math equations in the car: you’re just sitting there. Why do long road trips make us feel so utterly blegh? Basically, a whole lot of nothing and everything is happening simultaneously when you’re stuck on the car for hours.
His main area of expertise is studying how humans interact with vehicles and how impairment, distraction, and other factors affect driving ability; one of his current projects focuses on alleviating drowsiness during long overnight drives. If you can relate to feeling pretty terrible during a long drive on your way to your ultimate outdoor destination, experts explain why and exactly what happens to your body on a road trip. Reading a book or doomscrolling for hours on end is a piece of cake.
But focusing on the road for extended periods, however, is a totally different ballgame, Gaspar told Outside. Even early in a road trip, drivers start to shift in their seats and do what they can to stay awake. This describes that antsy feeling you get while sitting in the driver’s seat.
People may amp up the music volume or blast the A/C, Gaspar said. These changes happen pretty quickly, especially when drivers are somewhat sleep-deprived,” he said. These microsleeps, Gaspar explained, can occur within the first hour to 90 minutes of a long drive.
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