While in college, the only road trips you would want to go on are those with your friends only. This can include a cross-country trip to the depths of the Grand Canyon or explore the endless seafood that the East Coast has to offer – yes, this all sounds very enticing.

We all know that college is the only time that you have your closest friends at your disposal and while this is very true, it may also be the only prime time to enjoy a road trip with your family. Think about it - you work after college and realistically, would you really want to take PTO for a road trip with your family?

While you're weighing out between the two road trips, below are some *should knows* before making any decisions.

What they don’t tell you when going on a road trip with your friends:

• The first 3-4 days can be super fun, but everything can go downhill from there

• You start getting tired dealing with everyone’s s***

• Everybody has their own opinions and reaching a decision can take up to an hour (including what to eat for dinner)

• You start getting to know the REAL them (*ahm* like living with them is totally different from just simply being friends)

So there you go. I spilled the truth for you and I'm sure there are a lot more reasons why road-tripping with friends is not better than going on one with your family. I recently just finished a 10-day road trip throughout California with my parents and my little sister and I have to say, I would very much do it over again.

I only see my parents once a year and this concentrated time being together with them gave me the opportunity to share first-time experiences with them with limited access to the outside/online world. Having spent the most of our trip in the woods allowed for more movie watching together, laughing at the silly things we say, breathing in fresh mountain air together, being in the same car together for 10+ hours, etc. The list goes on.

All these activities spent together brought back the bond we grew distant to within the last four years while I was in college. This road trip not only brought us closer together but developed a stronger bond, trust, and love between all of us. This, I believe, is what you should be getting when going on a road trip and is the value I see in driving long distances with your family.