10 ways road trips have changed over the years — and they're all for the better

If you embark upon a road trip and don't play at least one classic road trip game, you're missing out — but what's convenient about modern-day technology is that once you tire of playing license plate bingo, you can tap out and turn to your smartphone, or hand-held game to pass the time. Earlier road trippers didn't have that option.

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Most campgrounds were affordable and accessible, allowing families to pull into their site in evening and set up tent. Then they'd pack up and hit the road the next day.

Gradually, roadside motels began to pop up along the interstate, where families could enjoy the luxury of a swimming pool or game of shuffleboard.

Today, Americans have plenty more options when it comes to accommodations. There are plenty of hotels located near highways, making it generally easy to find a place to stay when you are in a bind.

Some of the most timeless advice you can receive is to always use the restroom when it's available to you, regardless of whether or not you have to go.

An old road tripping trope is that the second you pile into your car and hit the road, someone has to use the restroom. While this still holds true today, there are more facilities now for people to relieve themselves than back in the day, before convenience stores and gas stations were so commonly available. Back then, you had to wait for a designated "rest stop," or else just risk an accident.

Global positioning systems (GPS) have revolutionized how people travel and navigate today — but the first commercially-available GPS phone wasn't released until 1999. Therefore, if you wanted to get from point A to point B, you either had to hand-write out directions, take a map with you, or make constant pit-stops to reorient yourself.

Nowadays, the savvy traveler can use them as adapters, or as makeshift-outlets to help charge various gadgets.

These days, you have your pick of what to listen to: from audiobooks to podcasts to entire albums to the radio, ear-candy is available with the click of a button on various apps we can access from our cellphones.

Back in the day, cassettes — and later CDs — needed to be made ahead of time. Once you burned through what you brought, you were stuck with starting the album again from the top.

Imagine driving through a sultry summer day with no air conditioning to help mitigate the unrelenting heat — not so appealing, right?

Nils Bohlin, a Volvo engineer, created the three-point seat belt in 1959 — which means anyone riding in an automobile before that was using more rudimentary safety technology.

Luckily, rather than patent his design, Bohlin prioritized safety over profit, and allowed other car manufacturers to implement his seat belts into their automobiles.

Station wagons were popular choices for families in the 1960s, and the quintessential road trip car — but they were set up differently than cars are today.

For one thing, rear-facing seats were a common feature, which meant that some of the family traveled facing forward, while unlucky passengers — especially those who were prone to getting carsick — were delegated to the rear-facing seats in the back.

Before the 1950s — the decade where fast food truly began to dominate the American culinary scene — restaurant options were limited, and few and far between. Therefore, if you packed something before you hopped in the car, you ate it — no matter how dry or bland.

Though there are millions of miles of road in the world, today people generally have an easier time finding food to subsist on at regular intervals during road trips today.

In fact, countless articles have been written about road trip snacks, rather than meals, to pack, since it's widely assumed that you'll be able to stop for an actual meal during your travels.