My Wife and I would do that in one day. We will often listen to audio books which helps a lot. My Wife has no problem with it, and enjoys these long, long drives.
It gets to be a bit much for me. Depends on how much time and $ you have.
Though I can see the appeal of 2 days. Stop somewhere and have a relaxing dinner.
For me & my wife, I think it would depend on the actual end points of the trip and places in between. If there was somewhere around the middle point that had something of interest for a brief stop, or perhaps a decent restaurant recommendation we thought we might try, then 2 days. Otherwise, get it done…
Getting to my destination after 16 plus hours on the road I’d be wiped out even with two drivers.
Anticipating a road trip to Colorado this summer. Drive time to Loveland is 16 hours, not counting rest breaks. If we’re leaving Michigan in the middle of the night, dawn will be breaking well on our way into Iowa. And sunrise is always energizing. Though we want to stop in Chicago 1 or 2 nights to visit family so we might be able to drive straight through from there in 13 hours.
We used to drive 18 hours non stop to get to So Fla and back again. Not a fun time.
How’s this for crazy?
Every other summer in the '60s, we’d pack up all five of us and head for two weeks in glorious northern Alabama (from Baltimore). This was pre-interstate days. We’d leave at 4 AM, the 'rents would take turns driving and we’d arrive just after midnight (their time – clock gets set back an hour). Twenty-one hours on US roads. Today, they make the trip, via interstate, in just under eleven hours.
I once did 21 hours on interstates with a car full of kids. I don’t have any memory of the last several hours, during which I had to transition LA. I just sort of came to in my driveway and everyone else in the car was asleep. Scary.
What’s-a behind me is-a not important!
I would break it up unless I had a compelling reason not to. I have done many weekend road trips from the LA area up to the Napa area, about a 7-8 hour drive usually. Even for that short a trip, my preferred strategy is to break it up a little by driving ~3 hours to Kettleman City on Friday night, driving the rest of the way Saturday morning, and then doing a straight shot home on Sunday or Monday. Sitting for long periods hurts my hips and lower back. Plus, stopping to explore along the way is part of the fun of road trips!
I’ve done trips like this both ways. Twice I drove a 2400 mile route by myself in 3 days, with only one stop at a motel, but other stops to sleep in the car as needed. Just take a lot of music, snacks and drinks to minimize restaurant stops.
In contrast, I recall a 300 mile trip I made with friends a few times when we were much younger. 300 miles seemed like a piece of cake for two or three drivers, and we weren’t in a hurry, but one of us suggested a planned stop at a good motel along the route, one with a nice lounge, reasonable rates, and a good indoor pool (this was in the winter). It turned out to be a great idea to make it more of a mini-vacation than an overnight trip. And planning in advance allowed us to make a reservation at the hotel with a guaranteed room instead of taking a chance with a desk clerk awake at 2AM.
It really depends on a lot of factors:
What time do you want to arrive?
Can you and your co-driver sleep in a moving car?
Is traffic a factor?
Can you drive at night (lots of people have bad eyesight at night)
When going to Spain (14h drive from here) we like to do the trip down in two days — leave ~ 10 and arrive at the hotel ~ 20:00 next day arrive around 14:00.
Driving home we pack up after dinner and start driving at 20:00 - I don’t mind arriving home a bit knackered.
As The_Librarian mentioned, there are a lot of moving parts.
Typically, I’m good with 2 days to get there as long as the overnight is incorporated somehow into the trip. And I prefer to go further on day one and less on day two. But it really depends on the intermediate stopping point.
On the way home, I’m usually raring to get back and want to do it one long haul with minimal quick stops.
A great line from one of my favorite movies.
I haven’t seen it in years. I wonder how well it has held up.
Gumball! Gumball! Gumball!
It still holds up. I have the DVD, and watch it a few times a year.
“Why me? Why me?”
“'Cause you’re an asshole, Roscoe!”
When I was in grad school I’d drive from Champaign to NY all the time without stopping, about 13 hours according to Google. Sometimes I had other drivers, sometimes not. The only time I ever got a motel room was when I was sick and just couldn’t do it all at once.
However at 70 I’d definitely get a room. Just before Covid we drove from the Bay Area to Connecticut, and usually left at 9 am and checked into a hotel around 5, stopping for lunch, gas, and sometimes coffee. That was sustainable, even at 66.
I miss Raul Julia.
Definitely.
Sixteen hours is definitely two days for my wife and me. Assuming I can get her into a car for that length of time in the first place.
15 hrs down w/ no weather/traffic/construction issues was absolutely no effort. GOr there around 7 p.m., in fine mood/state to chat until 10-ish. Next day woke close to our normal time. No hangover. For us (and all that matters is that we each do what is best for us) it was a no brainer.
Home, we had 1 construction detour, 3 pretty bad accident delays, and rain the last 2 hrs. Still, only 16.5 hrs, and not bad at all. The worst was the rain at the end, especially since the @#7$^ Chicago drives fewt no reason to reduce their speeds in rain/dark/construction zones! Fortunately, my wife was driving and alert at the time.
We’ll definitely 1-day it our next trips absent huge weather issues.
I think people who would drive 16 hours in the first place are nutty unless you are moving or something - I’d fly. So I picked other.
Two days, for a couple of reasons. First, ten hours in a car in one day is the absolute most I can manage and even that is difficult. Second, sixteen hours is about the maximum I can be awake - and I can’t really sleep in a car. Add in a couple of hours of being awake before leaving, stops at rest areas, and after arriving and it mean I will crash as soon as I can - which will mess up my sleep schedule for at least a couple of days.
As far as losing a day of vacation, I’ve learned not to worry about that. My husband once booked a 7am flight because he didn’t want to “waste a day”. We arrived at our destination at around 10 am - which sounds like we didn’t waste a day. Got something to eat , checked in to the hotel and decided to take a nap since we didn’t get much sleep because of the early flight. Slept till 4 pm - which meant we actually had less useful time that first day than if we had taken a later flight that would have arrived at 1 pm.
You made it! Even though 2 days was the slim vote leader. Cool.