road trips – Topical Fruit

Husband Forgets Wife on Road Trip, Drives 186 Miles

If you’re out on a road trip this summer with the fam, make sure to do a headcount before pulling away from the gas station.

A 62-year-old man from France is making headlines – and likely sleeping on the couch – after he accidentally left his wife behind at a rest stop during a family drive from Paris to Morocco. He didn’t realize she was missing until nearly 200 miles later.

Yes, really.

It happened on Day One of a 27-hour drive.

The trip was meant to be a relaxing and scenic multi-day journey. Their 22-year-old daughter was along for the ride too, sleeping in the back seat when things went sideways.

Around 4:30 a.m. on July 5th, the husband pulled into a gas station to fuel up. When he hit the road again, he somehow didn’t notice his wife wasn’t in the car.

Not ideal.

The oblivious husband just kept on driving.

To make things worse, he didn’t realize what had happened until around 8:30 a.m. – a full four hours and 186 miles later.

At that point, he called the police but couldn’t remember which gas station he’d stopped at – or even which city it was in. (Clearly a man who does not plan the family vacations.)

His wife was okay, if maybe a tad annoyed.

Fortunately, police were able to locate his 60-year-old wife by checking her cell phone records. It turned out she’d been sitting at the gas station the entire time, waiting patiently for her loving husband and daughter to notice she was missing.

How did he not realize?

Authorities didn’t explain how the husband failed to notice she was missing for such a long stretch of time. Maybe she’d been sleeping in the back, and he didn’t realize she got out to use the bathroom? Or was he just way too focused on making good time?

Police initially suspected he may have ditched her on purpose, but eventually concluded it was a genuine – if completely bonkers – mistake. No legal charges were filed, but we imagine his wife will be bringing it up every time they have a fight from now on.

After backtracking nearly 200 miles, he picked her up and the family resumed their drive. There may have been a few awkward silences along the way.

Should You Give Your Kids Screen Time on Long Road Trips?

The short answer is yes. What are you crazy? But not everyone agrees.

Did you know that 73% of U.S. travelers would prefer a road trip over flying? And 83% of people plan to drive to their summer vacation destination this year.

Everyone’s talking about how expensive airfare is nowadays, so it makes sense more people are hitting the road. But here’s the million-dollar question for parents: How much screen time are you doling out for your kids?

A lot of parents out there are strict with screen time.

There’s one lady that says she only lets her kids listen to audiobooks. If I was that kid, I’d be looking at my emancipation options.

But apparently being strict is far from the norm. According to the CDC, here is the average amount of screen time given to kids daily. Not just on road trips, but every day:

8-10 years old: Six hours
11-14 years old: Nine hours
15-18 years old: Seven and 1/2 hours

So if an 11-14 year old is averaging nine hours on screens per day, surely for a 500-mile road trip, they get to be on an iPad the entire time, right?

Why 500 you might ask? Because I need advice. I’m driving from Tennessee to Michigan and my wife thinks the kids need a break for their eyes. But I think I might need a break from all the questions. I love them, but is nine hours really that bad?

I would have played nine straight hours of Game Boy when I was their age, but the batteries would’ve never lasted that long.

Why You Shouldn’t Use the Bathroom “Just in Case”

You’ve done it. You’ve maybe even told your kids to do it before walking out the door. But according to health experts, the precautionary act of going to the bathroom “just in case” might be doing more harm than good.

The term for it is “proactive voiding.”

A recent article in The New York Times dove into the science behind a habit called proactive voiding—that is, going to the bathroom before you actually feel the need. While it may seem harmless, urologists say it could mess with your body’s natural signals if done too often.

Your bladder is a muscle. And just like any other muscle, it adapts to routines. If you consistently go before your bladder is full, it may start telling your brain you need to pee sooner than you really do. And over time, this can condition your body to feel like it’s constantly time for a bathroom break, even when your bladder is only half full or less.

How much pee can my bladder hold?

To put it in perspective, a healthy adult bladder typically holds about two to three cups of urine—closer to two for women and three for men. But even under normal conditioning, we feel the urge to go at just half that volume.

Add habitual “just in case” trips to the mix, and you might find yourself sprinting to the restroom way more often than necessary.

Another reason to not do it: incontinence

Sure, using the bathroom 20 times a day would be annoying in and of itself. But peeing when you don’t need to can also cause some real physical consequences. Namely, you might eventually not be able to hold it.

Trying to pee when there’s not much in there can cause straining, which may weaken your pelvic floor muscles over time. And that, ironically, can lead to even more urinary issues.

What if I’ve already trained by bladder to pee too often?

The good news is if you’ve developed a “go now just in case” reflex, it’s not too late to undo it. Experts say retraining your brain is possible, and cognitive techniques can help.

Think things like simple distractions, deep breathing, and self-talk. (Yes, literally talk to your bladder and say, “I’m the one in control here, not you!”) As one expert put it, it’s not just mind over matter, it’s “mind over bladder.”

TL;DR

In short: go ahead and take that preemptive pee before your next road trip. You’ll probably be fine as long as you don’t make it a daily habit.

But unless you’re dealing with limited bathroom access, or a medical issue, it’s better to wait until you actually have to go.