I’m going to Canada! I’m in a car with more than 1,000 other strangers. There’s a cat in the backseat, and a bear following the car. There’s a baby crying in the back. A fly is stuck in the car. And — uh oh! — I’m car sick.
Neal Agarwal’s Internet Roadtrip takes the idea of Twitch Plays Pokémon and puts it in Google Maps. To navigate, the collective group votes every few seconds by clicking a direction on the steering wheel. We’re listening to a local music station, and a chat on the side of my browser is essentially parents arguing in the front seat. (That’s how I know there’s a cat, fly, and baby in the car; they’re popping into the chat to meow, buzz, or cry.) I hopped in the car a few hours ago, and we’ve been crawling down one long Maine backroad. There’s not a lot to see, aside from trees and power lines. Don’t get me wrong, though, they’re lovely trees.
The Internet Roadtrip started in Boston on Tuesday, according to 404 Media. There’s a map on the bottom of the screen that’s logging the journey thus far. It headed south from Boston, navigating toward Providence, Rhode Island, before cutting back up into Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and now Maine. We’re been on this one long road for quite a while, but we’re coming up to a crucial juncture: Do we turn right or left onto U.S. Route 202? Thankfully, left won, and we’re still heading north to Canada. But now, somehow, we’re driving on the wrong side of the road.
I’m taking this drive as a passenger, abstaining from voting and just enjoying the tunes and the drive while I write. We’re listening to a local college radio station, WBOR, which broadcasts from Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. (The theme of the music right now is cocaine and pills. I’ve listened to several songs about the cocaine blues.) Hours ago, the car passed through Brunswick and successfully navigated into the Bowdoin campus and past the building the radio station operates out from. The radio station DJs, following along, shouted out the road trip as it passed by. It was a very wholesome moment.
After Internet Roadtrip arrived at WBOR, several student DJs at the station gave the game's participants directions to various campus landmarks and took requests
— Soren Spicknall (@sorenspicknall.bsky.social) 2025-05-14T15:01:51.896Z
Every so often, the WBOR broadcaster will make a reference to all the new listeners. “Death to the interstate,” the morning DJ said, addressing a message from the Internet Roadtrippers. “Safe travels if you’re on a road trip.”
Unfortunately, I think I’m getting car sick. I can’t tell if this is a real phenomena or if it’s all in my head. I’m used to getting nauseous while playing video games — a lot of people do. But getting car sick while watching Google Maps refresh is a new one for me.
Motion sickness happens when your brain gets mixed signals from your eyes, ears, and muscles. The Cleveland Clinic puts it like this: You see the movement of trees and signs passing by, signaling to your brain that you’re moving. But your muscles and joints know you’re sitting stationary. The mixed signals make your brain confused, then you feel sick. So yeah, it does feel like it’s possible I’m actually car sick from sitting in a make-believe car.
Despite the nausea, I don’t plan on getting off this ride. We almost got stuck in a ditch. Again, we’re driving on the wrong side of the road. Mom and Dad are fighting about whether we should drive by the lake or not. I’m not sure if we’re going to make it to Canada. What happens at the border crossing? These are questions I’m excited to see answered.
