I have 27 hours worth of Alan Watt's lectures in MP3 format if you want them! I also have about 3 hours worth of Chomsky lectures on CD that you could rip. I've found that listening to lectures is far less hypnotizing than music. Music is great for energy on a 3 hour trip but on a 10+ hour trip the non-stop music starts to get real old and somewhat transifying (no matter how high energy it is).

Plus with Watts you get the added benefit of being able to chant "Ommmm" out loud in the car and not feel particularly silly about it.

Also check out all the free podcasts you can get from the itunes music store.

Lectures aren't droning if you're tuned into what they are saying and it is very interesting. Watts in particular is very dynamic and pretty funny. Chomsky can be droning in his delivery but what he says is so shockingly brilliant and interesting that it can keep your attention if you actually care about his topics (not everyone does, I'm a total geek for the politics of global imperialism!).

Tips to stay awake (from someone who loves long drives):
Listen to music you don't usually listen to...but not like..classical. Just something that you aren't used to having in the background.
Keep a window open, fresh air blowing on your face.
Don't use cruise control.
Keep some munchies on hand so your body just has 'something to do' so you aren't sitting still for hours on end.

Good luck!

SLAYER!! :> It works. :>

It's too bad you weren't doing this this weekend. You could have picked up some people in DC on the way back.

You might want to post in the nyc and chambana craigslists.

Damn, that's going to be a harsh trip. Here's what I usually do:

Bring a cooler of caffeinated beverages.
Leave the window open, the colder the better.
Bring lots of high speed electronica and dance music. Oakenfold's "A voyage into trance" or anything by Panacea works well for me.
Bring vitamins so you don't start cramping up halfway through.
Did I mention the cooler full of caffeinated beverages?

actually, research has shown that cinnamon and peppermint naturally wake up the body a bit so I would get some mints or red hots. Junk food is good, but real food will help you stay awake longer, like apples, sandwiches, etc. If you do get too tired to drive, pull over and take a short nap. You'd be surprised at how far you can go after you've gotten an hour or two of sleep. Also, try to drive through flat terrain at night. Try to reserve the interesting terrain (forests, mountains, hills) for the daytime when you can actually see them and keep yourself occupied with them. Believe me, I never want to drive through Kansas during the day again. LOL Good luck!

your welcome! good luck!

Next Monday-Tuesday?

I might be up for it, but I have to check my schedule. Do you actually want a road-buddy (and are you driving from Urbana there and back or just from there to Urbana, because I have no way of getting to New York by next week)?

as long as you are eating or drinking -- you aren't sleeping. And that is A Very Good Thing.
One handed foods that are healthy-ish and yummy:
baby carrots
celery sticks (yum, w/ peanut butter, yum)
rice cakes (well.. *I* like 'em)
nuts
granola (maybe granola bars?) or trail mix
whole grain crackers
apples
go ahead and get a box of cookies, too -- you'll crave them, I'm sure, somewhere on those 13 hours
Some caffeine is great. Lots of caffeine it counterproductive.

Also, windows down, frequent stops (try every lookout point and every rest area) to walk around.

My dad listens to books on tape. I can't do that.
Consider bringing a tape recorder and record yourself talking for like... 200 miles. It will be a TRIP when you listen to it later, I promise.

No matter what, DEFIENITELY stop about halfway through and take a serious breather. At least 30 minutes. Call your mom, whatever you need to do to have other-human contact.

And uhh... I wouldn't drive 13 hours to see ANY show (I lie, I lie, I did drive 13 hours to see the Grateful Dead... but *with* two other people, lol)
Have fun and congrats!

Something else to *consider* is maybe trying to get a Drive For Life leg? That way you'd at least have an animal in your car for a few hours.
You never know, there might be some poor doggie or kitty that needs a ride.

Drive For Life is one of those rescue operations where people take an animal that is healthy but about to be put down in an animal shelter.. and drive them (in parts) to a no-kill shelter, rescue organization, or forever home. For instance, there's a leg on Oct 4th that involves driving a dog from Lexington To E-town. After that, it goes from E-town to somewhere the hell in Indiana. Each leg is only a couple of hours, tops, and.. well.. you know.. karmically good.

there's an LJ community, driveforlife, and they reference this as their webpage http://members.cox.net/driveforlife/index.htm

But I'm betting you could google it and find a few different organizations that do similar.

Having done the KY-ME round trip several times now (always straight through, that is around 1100 miles, or roughly 16 hrs including the mountains) I can give the following advice:

PLAN to stop and stretch. Don't just say I will stop when I feel like it. Mark the spots out on your map. There are stretches of highway that just plain don't have rest stops or even frequent exits/gas stations. Know where you are.

KEEP an eye on your gas tank. If you are not too familiar with the car, make sure you know how far you can get on a full tank. When you are within 25 miles of a full tank, start looking for a gas station to fill up at. You don't want to wait until you are down to you last 1/8th to be trying to find a station, especially not after 10pm.

HAVE lots of beverages, but don't use just caffeine and sugar to keep you going. The crash will suck. If you feel really bad, pull over and nap for an hour in a suitable rest stop. You will be so glad you did. Just set the alarm on your phone (or if you don't have a phone, bring a portable alarm clock). Make sure you have a blanket or large jacket, even if it seems warm when you start out.

BRING chewing gum, mints, granola, raw veggies - try to avoid McDonald's and that kind of junk. Your body will thank you later.

PACK an emergency kit (flares, flashlight, jumper cables, band-aids, etc) just in case. You can buy one that is "pre-packaged" at the devil's den or equivelent store. It is almost a guarentee that if you don't have one, you will need it. [I have always had one, and so far, so good.]

If I knew sooner I might have been able to help with the drive. However, as one who drives at least that many hours straight everyday I can recommend sunflower seeds as a pick me up

Bubblegum.

Whether it's Pop Music or Wrigley (preferably both), Bubblegum kept me awake through two semesters of Organic Chemistry and an overnight (10pm-8am) drive from San Francisco to Portland!

Singing:
You can let loose on the really cheesy tunes, which engages the talkie brain while simultaneously allowing you to sing at the top of your lungs to old skool Madonna where/when noone's there to point and laugh.

Chewing:
It's like eating, which so many have suggested, but without much of the guilt or dangerous rustling around in the wheel-well for that lost chip/nut/cookie. I find the act of chewing keeps me awake even when the rest of my body has decidedly voted for sweet sweet sleep.

Good luck!

what kinda car didja get?

haha! a grandmother car! they make great battleships and are a lot nicer cars than people give them credit to be. i loved my old buick. :D it was the same kind of car. :D

look on craigslist or maybe post on RWTO for congenial driveing partners.

I am a veteran Road Warrior, having driven from St. Louis to New Mexico (without stopping), from Albuquerque to Chicago many times, from Albuquerque to LA (and back) (without stopping), and from Madison, WI to Eugene, OR.

The best hint that I've gotten so far was from my father-in-law....eat apples.

Don't know why it works, but hot damn, IT DOES.

Listen to songs that you know and love. The embarrassing ones you sing in the shower. Then roll your windows down (even at night), turn the volume up, and sing at the top of your lungs. It's one of the few things that kept me alive during my many buttcrack-of-dawn commutes between OC and LA, and the drive from Ohio to Colorado.

Yeah I know the Pogues. GOod stuff. :) Them and the Drop Kick Murphies. RAWK

I'd travel with you, but I'm hardly "on the way". Oh well..good luck.

A) Break it up into two days worth of driving if you need to. There are plenty of inexpensive hotels for $30-35, well worth it. Failing that, making good use of a rest stop for anything from a 15-minute snooze to a 2 or 3 hour nap would help greatly. Bring a blanket or warm jacket because it'll get chillier at night with the car not running. (Be sure to keep your doors locked!)

B) As others have said, have snacks on hand. Apples, baby carrots, anything salty or crunchy works well for me (pretzels, chips, Goldfish crackers, trail mix, etc).

C) Caffeinated beverages. Water is also important. Plus, if you drink enough you'll be forced to make pit stops (for the bathroom, y'know) which will encourage you to get out of the car for a few minutes and walk and stretch out the kinks.

D) Loud, boppy music. Pack lots of CDs of stuff that you really enjoy listening to, especially stuff that you maybe haven't listened to for a while.

Have fun, and enjoy your new car! :)

Damn...if you were going two weeks later, I would definitely go with you. I have to figure out some way to get from vermont to chicago.
-Nomad's friend Robert