Hacker News Reader

Hacker News

Comment by JKCalhoun | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

JKCalhoun

> The problem (psychologists discussed) was that kids need to be bored...

Yes. It is why I made my kids endure road trips several times a year.

I love road trips. All my good ideas come from the boredom of the open highway.

View on HN

There is being bored and free to explore, and being bored and stuck in a car.

I enjoy road trips today as an adult, but as a kid they were kinda torture.

Agree...I would enjoy road trips if I wasn't so bad with traffic, noise, and being in a running vehicle. I prefer a bike over walking or being in a vehicle any day. The AC inside the car makes me nauseous like there is no tomorrow. The constant shaking and pressure you can feel by focusing (unintentionally due to having nothing else to do) makes me feel anxious af. I get a headache and want to vomit if I eat anything heavy inside the car. I just want to get out of that box...ASAP. It feels like a big prison. I feel disassociated too when there is different weather outside and I can't open the windows.

>There is being bored and free to explore, and being bored and stuck in a car.

It's just as good a version of boredom for the stated purposes.

People also need to learn to explore their mind and thoughts, not just their surroundings for the next thing to distract them.

> as a kid they were kinda torture

I'm sure I was just as big a pest as my own kids on road trips, but I don't have any bad memories of them. Quite the opposite, actually.

My last lonely motorcycle multi-day road trip through South America took almost a month, taking more than 10kkm. In those trips there are some distinct parts: the torture part when you are worried with the trip itself (counting each kilometer to destination, when will it be the next gas station); the wandering random thinking part (when in the middle of nothing and the landscape simply does not change at all) and the contemplation part (when you are in the middle of the mountains and begin feeling strangely good).

This last good part sometimes come unexpected and can be better than the destination of the trip itself.

As a former child, I can't help but point out that one of the most common pitfalls parents make is to think that what's best for them is best for their kids. Being bored can take forms other than being locked in a car for hours on end. After doing many road trips in my youth, I vowed never to take more than an hour or two on a road trip with my family. I'd rather just not see my family than relive the torture of sitting in a car for an eternity.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com