It's one of the biggest college traditions of all time.

Being broke? No.

Having an English teaching assistant who doesn't really speak English? No.

I'm talking about road trips. To a college student, a road trip is like the commercials during this past year's Super Bowl: a welcome break from something you got tired of.

And with Spring Break coming up, that's what many of us are looking forward to.

Well, with most of Purdue being Hoosiers, you don't know much about long drives, as home is relatively just across the river.

Now a 10-hour drive home to New York is by no means a cross-country trek, but I've learned many of the basics you should expect to encounter while taking a trip.

So here's my guide to getting very far away from West Lafayette, Ind.:

1) "I'm thirsty" — Traveling with women? Well your half-day trip now just became a week long, because it will be followed a half-hour later by, "I need to go to the bathroom."

Normally women are very cool to take along with on a trip because, unlike guys, they actually like to talk instead of falling asleep before you get to State St.

It is a scientific fact that the average woman has the bladder of a Chihuahua. On a road trip I've witnessed a woman needing to pee twice in less than half an hour. So unless the passenger seat of your Cavalier doubles as a potty, gauge the intake of fluids because if you don't, 10 minutes after you hit the road, you'll be stopping again. And unlike you, she doesn't want to just pull over to the side of the road.

2) Fuel for you and the car — About every five hours, either you or your car will get hungry. It saves time to make sure you fill both up at the same time. Always stop at a gas station that has a store along with it.

Just stay away from the generic egg-salad sandwiches; trust me on that one.

It's definitely a cultural experience stopping at some gas stations that double as truck stops. They have showers and beds. Some even sell appliances.

One even had a barbershop in the corner. They had this cool special: Mullets were half price.

Too bad I had gotten a haircut the week before.

3) Truck drivers, the work of the devil: I hate anything on the road that has more than four wheels. Not only do they drive at a jogging pace, but also they don't realize that there are only two lanes. So they always pass each other going 0.0000001 miles an hour faster than the other guy. I constantly try to remind them that I want to pass, so I flash my lights.

Being quite naïve, I think this actually works. Nope, it just pisses off both trucks so they slow down to a now walking pace.

You know they use those CB radios to coordinate how they can tick off as many travelers as possible.

Anyway, seeing that they are much bigger than we are, there isn't much you can do. And don't flip one off after you pass them because the next semi-driver down the road who has his CB on the same channel will have your number.

Just get used to it and hope a hole will develop. Then you might have a chance to pass and get stuck five minutes later behind a new pair of trucks. Yeah!

4) Sleep — If you want to last more than half a day driving, you need lots of sleep. Because once it gets dark, your car automatically starts veering for the rumble strips on the side of the road. If you get bored, they actually do a good job of massaging your lower back.

On a serious note, a lot of people die every year from falling asleep at the wheel. So when you start dozing off, stop the car and take a power nap. Just make sure you pull over to the side of the road first.

5) Music — A steady supply of good tunes is vital to a road trip as alcohol is to a frat party. Sure you think you can survive on the FM band, but 10 hours of the radio sucks. Unless you like repeated country music and boy bands, you need to supply your own music. It's one of the few things that makes a long trip bearable.

So with common sense and these few things in mind, your road trip should be more of an adventure than a hassle. It's a great experience to get from point A to point B while actually seeing the points in between.

So fuel up, go to the bathroom, bring the CD's and then hit the open road. Enjoy the opportunity while we're still young because soon the term "road trip" will change to "Family Vacation."

"Dad are we there yet?"

Till next time guys.