How to do a 3666km(2278miles) road trip…
Writing by Doogie on Wednesday, 30 of July , 2008 at 9:02 am
…with 6 people in one car… without killing each other after 6 days 
Ready for the road
I never thought it was possible but it was a real challenge. Yes I am a proud survivor of a roadtrip in a car with 6 people for 3666km in 6 days!
First of all, being packed with 6 people is mentally very though. Frustrations build up quickly. Very quickly. It starts with someone who doesn’t want to change his awful music choice(hihi that would be me), unhealthy fast food, bad sleep, stopping every time someone wants/needs to stop for peeing or taking pictures and after a few days ends up with smelly feet in the face, snoring/drooling on your shoulder, bad breath, smelly food(beef jerky someone;) ), powerdrink burps or hey why not changing the plans we didn’t really have. Above that you have every democratic decisions always making someone unhappy and then if you stick to your somewhat to an agenda for the trip people tend not to follow that agenda at all. And of course again and again waiting for someone to do something while all the other people are all ready for 15minutes.
Everybody knows this feeling right. Well I noticed that in a road trip like this the frustration is following an exponential curve doubling with every person you add to the group. And while a road trip for so long the maximum capacity is 4 people… well, we tried it with 6…
Dirt, mud and moosepoop all over the car. Hell yeah!
And when you think its psychologically though… travelling with 6 in one car for 3666km seems physically impossible too. How do you do that? We did 3666km in 6 days! How do you sit and sleep in that car? Where do you put your luggage? The food? How do you sleep in the car. Need personal space? hah, forget that! Above that half of the Dalton Highway(from Fairbanks to Deadhorse) is dirt-road and has loads of potholes. And yeah, with 6 people in one car breathing the same air for 6 days you go nuts right?
Here is a little overview of our trip with all the tips I can give for people who are crazy enough to ever try the same thing. This on first sight “hell of a trip” is a trip I will tell my little nephew Alexander about when he is a little older.
Homer Alaska to Deadhorse in 7 days!
Day 0: Thursday Night: driving to Fairbanks(579 mi).
After jet another incredibly good dinner at the house(thank you Donna) we left for Fairbanks. Andrew, Nick, Patricia, Laura, Shonali and me we jump in the car. I’m behind the wheel, lets gooooo… good good good vibrations is playing on the radio… … …. ….euh, how the fuck does an automatic car start? Where is the freaking hand break? Laura explains and I learn it in 5 minutes. Again, 2nd try… vrooooommm lets goooooo. Good good good vibrations indeed!
Do:
- Tie as much stuff you have on the roof! Every backpack on the roof is a little more of that little precious comfort in the back of the car.
- The 6th person goes into the back! The back looks a bit like the dungeon or the dog-seat but actually the back is the chill out zone of the car! You are away from everybody and have enough room to sleep, rest or read. If you need some personal time, that’s the place to be!
- Pack before dinner, leave after!
- Have a good dinner, it might be your last one.
- Everybody takes his Ipod and don’t forget an Ipod device to play it through the cars radio.
Don’t!:
- Drive at night, certainly when you have 6 people in the car and a little moving space. The day you think you win you will lose it with your sleepy head.
- forget to put plastic bags around your luggage in case it rains. And in Alaska at night, it almost always does. :s
- Energy drinks in the states really are super-sized. A crazy air drummer behind the wheel drinking these is the last thing you need when you want to have a good night sleep.
Day 1 & 3: The World Eskimo and Indian Olympics!
So after some 10h of driving we arrive at the closed doors of the Eskimo Olympics. We are too early. A half of us puts up a tent to sleep, the other half goes looking for our couchsurfer where we will spend the night.
A few hours later the W.E.I.O. starts.
Eskimo dances
Eskimo Olympics is a bit strange but very interesting 4 day event where Alaskan natives/Indians/Eskimos/Inuits/etc. come together to compete in extreme physical games against each other. Having no idea what to expect I was quite surprised they took games like earpull, greased pole walk, blanket toss, sealskinning, knucklehop…. so serious. Even more amazed we all where when we saw how trained they where in the disciplines.
Nice
For me the 2 most interesting events where the earpull, where 2 people sit opposite each other with a rope tied on both contestants ear. Then they pull as hard they can until one gives up or can’t keep the rope on his ear. Screaming, blood and tears. Really, I’m not kidding but still fun to watch.
I made a little compilation video about this event. This is not a game for Eskimo pussies. Here you have the Eskimo earpull on the Mortal Kombat soundtrack for your enjoyment
:p…
[youtube 5louoFzNCsI]
The most impressive was by far the 2feet high kick where contestants jump in the air and kick a ball hanging on about 2m with their both feet at the same time and landing on both feet again.
The not to miss event was the seal skinning competition. Not for vegetarians Also a lot of native dancing with drums and a Miss Faibanks election. Good thing we stopped here for the weekend.
Seal Skinning
Ear Weight
2 Feet (Very) High Kick
Blanket Toss
Head Pull
