What To Talk About On A Road Trip + Fun Car Games

Road trip vacations generally involve sitting in the car for a long time with a friend or family member. It’s more about making memories you’ll cherish for the rest of your lift than getting to your destination. What are some good things to talk about during a road trip?

While the car ride questions you can ask are nearly limitless, the following are to spark conversation:

• What did you want to be when you were growing up?
• Who are the top 5 people who have influenced your life?

We’ll discuss more engaging topics to discuss on a road trip, as well as some other things you can do besides chatting and snacking the entire time.

What are the best things to talk about on a road trip?

We’ve all been on road trips before.

Some people enjoy silence and scenery, while others want to learn more about the people they are with and keep some social energy in the car. 

Our first suggestion here is to read the room a bit: Do your road trip participants plan to put on headphones and listen to a podcast or maybe read, or has it been a while since you caught up? 

Road trips are opportune times to form new connections or reconnect. This is especially true if you plan to have a “talk” with a teenager who is frequently at school or out with friends. 

Another nice scenario is the first couple months after you start dating someone. Read on for more road trip conversation starters and fun road trip questions.

Questions about people

One great question to ask of just about anyone on a long car ride is something like, “Who are the top 5, or top 3 people who have influenced your life?” The question has you explore who you feel has had the most impact on where you are now – usually in a positive way. 

Not that the question is used to set up a particular conversation, but if you know the person being asked this question really well, you might be part of the answer. 

Otherwise, with someone you only recently met, you get to potentially hear a backstory about parents and family along with historical figures or people from work, or friends.

Another question to try that focuses on people is “If you could choose to have a long conversation with a person who is no longer alive, who would it be?” The choice might be quite difficult

People with close family or friends who have passed on will be balancing between someone they loved, and maybe someone they learned about in school, like a great leader.

You could ask anyone a question about their parents, whether or not you know their parents. 

Asking the question “Which one of your parents are you more like, and why?” This is a question that makes you hope that people had a good relationship with their parents because otherwise you could go down a negative road. 

Note that we aren’t sure if we would suggest this question if you just started dating someone and haven’t met their parents yet, because they might not want you to know – and it can be taken as an indicator that you are ready to meet.

One more to try is “Who is your celebrity crush?” When asking parents or older family members, you might learn about some movies you don’t know about – and why your family liked them especially.

Questions to ask about things

A tough question for most people today would be: “If you had to live without the Internet for a full week, what would you do?” Of course, some will answer that they would lay around and take a nap. Others might reflect that they work on the Internet constantly and would need to find a new hobby they’ve been waiting to start for some time. 

The question is kind of like asking, “What do you do in your free time?”

A great thing to ask, especially if your fellow travelers are into crafts or art at all: “Which piece of art has impacted you the most?” The question can be interpreted as music too – but especially if you recently met someone can also help dig into their interests. 

I asked this question once of my girlfriend – who I later married, and it sparked a rather long conversation as she was in art school at the time.

Questions about feelings

One really good question in our experience is, “What are you most proud of doing/accomplishing?” The question is very open ended, and especially for someone you don’t know, can open the doors open to discuss what they feel is the most important. The question might also give you the opportunity to brag, just a little bit.

Depending especially on whether or not your current location is ideal of popular, ask a person where they would ideally live. The question can bring up thoughts about travels and the kind of place they would prefer to spend most of their time, whether its in the city, a farm, or a tropical paradise.

One suggestion is to ask people about good feelings, like “When have you been at the most peace?” The question is kind of like, what makes you happy, but can also help you know what makes a person calm and satisfied with life.

Understanding how people handle stress can also be interesting, so you can ask your co-pilots how they handle stress. 

The best part about asking this question is that they might give you some tips you hadn’t thought about.

Talking about yourself

Unfortunately, this sounds a little like a job interview, but it is also a lot less formal. Ask people in the car to describe themselves in three words or less.This is as much of an exercise in vocabulary as much as it is a learning experience for how everyone in the vehicle thinks about themselves.

Questions About Favorites

Don’t forget that getting someone going about their favorite, well, anything is always a great way to fill out a conversation. Here are some “favorites” questions you can ask on a road trip:

• Favorite thing had in your childhood
• Favorite guilty pleasure
• Favorite movies
• Favorite book
• Favorite city you’ve ever visited
• Favorite place you’ve never visited
• Favorite season of the year
• Favorite song
• Favorite teacher
• Favorite memory from the last year
• Favorite part of travel
• Favorite food

Games to play on road trips, with adults

We suggest for adults, though you could play these games with kids versions of the same ideas.

Name the song

Name the song is a great conversation starter, especially if you are all into music. Connect your phone or MP3 player (who has one of those still) and put the music on shuffle – also, try to hide any radio screen that might give away the answer. 

See who can figure out which song is playing first.

Would you rather

Would you rather is a question game itself, but can have tons of highly specific variables regarding comparisons.

Also, try to read the room a little bit: Unless you are in a peer group with the right sense of humor, you might not want to start with a question like, “If you would go back in time and kill baby Hitler, would you?”. Maybe start with positive choices.

Trivia

Trivia might be a good idea, especially if your driver or passengers enjoy getting a little competitive. 

You don’t exactly need a true “game” so much as the ability for someone to find some obscure questions to ask. This can also help keep the driver awake.

You can find lots of trivia games and apps on your phone, including some that read questions out loud so all can participate.

The Movie Game

Name a movie, and name all the actors and actresses and supporting roles within. Or name an actor or actress and name all the other movies they were in. 

This is more for serious movie aficionados.

Never Have I Ever

You might have seen this game played on the TV show Family Guy a while ago – and they went a little overboard. 

Never Have I Ever involves everyone asking a question about something they have never done. 

If someone else has done that thing, the person asking the question gets a strike. The game typically takes 3 to 5 strikes depending on how many people are playing.

Story Game

Build a story word by word or sentence by sentence by having someone add on something new or different every time. For creative types, this can be fun and make for a funny or weird story.

Car Bingo

This requires a little preparation. Make a bingo card for each person in the car. Fill each bingo card with a few things they might see on the road trip. 

21 Questions

This can be done with adults, though its more fun with kids. 21 questions (any number will do) involves one person thinking of a person, place, or thing and others asking up to a certain number of questions to figure out what the starter is thinking. 

Key Takeaways

• You can talk just about anything on a road trip, it depends on what you know about another person or want to learn.
• A road trip is a great time for a couple or parents and kids to reconnect since they will be in the same place for a while.
• Try to ask positive questions unless you are in a group that handles negative questions well and with a sense of humor
• You can also play some fun games involving asking questions or trivia.