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This was discussed as a talk back on ABC radio today . I found it facinating.

It started out as being a question of whether you would take your family on a road trip.................but all these people phoned in with memories of their childhood experiences.

we have Ipods and portable dvd's these days . but what do you remember about road trips and holidays as a child.

Like is it a world wide phenonemon that all fathers have a certain language? For instance........ One hand on the wheel whilst the other hand is flailing madly behind him to hit any kid in the back making trouble?

Is the term " don't make me pull over" a universal phrase?

so if you remember the holiday road trip to a destination when you were younger tell us about it .........as traumatic to our sences as it was ...............give us a laugh.

My Dad loved the then newfangled motels and I remember as a very small kid we had a lot of great family wanderings. My Mum was not that enthusiastic, and my sister got carsick, but I loved roadtrips - and still do. My Dad believed in stopping every two hours - like clockwork. We got out, ducked behind a tree, then did ten pushups, stretched and got back in the car. Fantastic! The 'don't make me pull over' does ring a kind of bell. "I Spy" games! Don't remember 'Are we there yet' though.

I have to admit we children used to encourage our father to do stupid things ......like : He overtook you dad !!! Race him !!!

Or dad used to come across really steep outback hills and turn the engine off an basically "free fall" down the hills:-3;):D He told us that was what a rollercoaster was like.:rolleyes: Granted my sister did lose her lunch!!!:-2;) So I suppose he was right.

does anyone remember no seatbelts? vinyl seats that you stuck to in summer? and no aircon?

I was invariably carsick just after Stow In The Wold headed south, always half way through Mrs Dale's Diary on the radio, goodness knows why. I note that the BBC wiped the tapes of over 4,000 episodes so I'm not the only one to have reacted that way by the look of it.

Route 66 and views of the Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, all kinds of stuff. It is too expensive today with the price of gas to go much anymore.

I remember having to listen to Sydney Divine and Patsy Cline :wah:

We would pack up every summer in the Station 57 Belair with a back seat facing the back window (That was my view most of my childhood) loved every minute. We traveled up and down the west coast camping. Then we started to venture out of California east to Arizona, Nevada, even south to Mexico use to camp there lots. Oh the good old days..!! :-6

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but Carla..were they really the good ole days? how many games of "I spy" did it take to get there?

It was great. There were 6 of us, we were very occupied during the long rides. Always a Stucky's to stop at, something new to see.

What a cool car, Carla!

Oh yes I remember I spy.. It took millions of games of "I Spy" to get any where back then. :yh_rotfl :driving:

We were always looking for the "Burma Shave" signs.

oh good lord where to start.

My dad was the master of car trips.

My mother would save prizes out of cracker jacks popcorn, and all the cereal, and as we travelled along in the car she would dole these little treasures out to us sparingly for amusement.

I remember a trek down through California in a rental car and my brother after eating fresh strawberries barfed all over the back floor :yh_rotfl

I also have lovely memories of us leaving at some ungodly hour of the morning before breakfast time and sane wake up time. The oldies figured us kids could sleep and dad would drive. My mother would pack along a bag of "dare" assorted candies and if us kids awoke before the breakfast stop she would offer us a candy.... oh brother I don't know why but those sperement soft taffy kind of candies still make me sick to this day, ugh I just was not an early morning person and either I ate too many as a kid or just have bad association with them.:yh_rotfl

Oh I have fond memories too.

We travelled a lot by truck and camper with us kids in the overhead bed of the camper. I recall one trip south we were in Montana and us kids were hamming it up making faces as the hitch hikers along the way (I think we fingered a few too). Well much to our horror we passed 2 hippies and I think we flipped them the bird well doesn't my dad stop. We were sure we were in trouble because of this. Well nope they were old friends of my dads and he picked them up and took them along with us for a few thousdand miles... boy were us kids poopin our pants.:yh_rotfl

My dad used to make sentences out of other cars number plates . They got ruder as he tired.:wah:

We had a Kombie van and then a holden station wagon, EH I think

I also have lovely memories of us leaving at some ungodly hour of the morning before breakfast time and sane wake up time.


Omg me too always before day light .....why did they do that? Ripped the excitment right from under us.

Before the advent of seatbelts did you guys ever go to your knees and wave or chastise the car behind you?

fuzzywuzzy;1205066 wrote: Before the advent of seatbelts did you guys ever go to your knees and wave or chastise the car behind you?


oh heck ya or have puppet shows in the back window hehehehehe

fuzzywuzzy;1205065 wrote: Omg me too always before day light .....why did they do that? Ripped the excitment right from under us.


it was the grand hope that we would sleep all the way hahaha for me it made me feel nausious all the way

My dad drove a station wagon similar to the one below. He would take my mom and all us kids to the Brookfield Zoo and the Museums in downtown Chicago. We would try to behave and just look out the windows, but didn't always succeed. :wah: I enjoyed those outings.

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Yeah, there were no seat belts yet. We would crawl all over each other, grabbing toys and stuff, or the best window seat.

I recall a trip through the mountains and the thunder storm and the torrential downpour was hellish and because we did not have to wear seatbelts I curled up an a little scared ball on the floor in the back and cried the whole way.

My mom tells a story of how they used to fill the floor area with the suitcases, lay a piece of plywood across that and pile blankets and pillows on that and we had a huge big bed back there. Way too much fun

Ahh the classic :

"Mum he's touching me!!!

"I am not you're touching me"

" Ouggghhhh stop it , mum he did it again."

"I hate you"

" no I hate you"

Then my mum would calmly (in that scary calm voice with gritted teeth, cause she's looking at dad who is about to explode)

"good now you hate each other stop talking to each other"

And that stupid game "the first one to talk loses" ..................It's a trick people!!!! to keep us quiet in the back seat. You know I never worked it out until I had kids and then it dawned on me what they were doing all those years back.

buttercup;1205035 wrote: I remember having to listen to Sydney Divine and Patsy Cline :wah:


Ah sidney devine. :eek:I think you have to be scots to appreciate the true horror of that memory.

Bill Cosby

Simon & Garfunkle

Herb Alpert and the Tijauana Brass

that is what we had to listen to on 8 track ahahahahaha