Road trips are exciting, sometimes spontaneous, filled with adventures, singing, and bonding. Well, that's what everyone thinks anyways. People often choose to focus on the fun, adventure part and not on the countless hours of driving crammed in a small space part. If you've ever been on a road trip, you might be able to relate to these 16 stages. Not every stage occurs on every road trip, and some stages happen more than once. But each stage contributes to the overall experience of this long, exciting adventure.

Stage 1: Complete excitement and lots of singing

This first stage is probably the best one there is. You've been counting down the days until you can get in that car and drive to some cool destination with your friends or family. This stage is often filled with lots of laughs, bonding, and road trip playlists. (Check out http://www.theodysseyonline.com/11-things-every-road-trip-playlist-needs for road trip playlist ideas)

Stage 2: Hunger

Stage 2 is more of a constant phenomenon of the entire trip. Snacks are the most important thing to pack. If you aren't equipped with Pringles, licorice, and fruit snacks, you might as well turn back now.

Stage 3: Time for a bathroom break

Stage 3 comes at different times for different people. Some can hold it all day long while others have to stop and pee every 20 minutes.

Stage 4: Movie marathon

Stage 4 typically comes when the initial excitement dies down, and you've been in the car for a couple of hours. There's still an extremely long ways to go, so you decide to waste at least 2 hours at a time and break out the good ole Disney movies, comedies, and chick flicks.

Stage 5: Social media binge

This stage is an extend of the fourth stage. You've been driving for a long time now, and the extreme boredom is setting in. It's likely you've already checked your social media accounts several times throughout the trip, but now you're desperate... so you scroll intensively through every app you own. You get frustrated when there are no new Instagram posts for you to look at, but you check back and refresh the app every 5 minutes just in case.

Stage 6: Sore from sitting

Not only are you bored during stage six, but you're extremely uncomfortable. Your butt is sore, you can't find a comfortable position, and your legs are cramping from sitting for so long.

Stage 7: Complaining

One can only be content in a car for so long, and stage 7 is what typically happens after you've reached your limit. You start to complain about your sore back or the fact that all you've eaten today is junk food.

Stage 8: Car Sick

Stage 8 might not happen to everyone, but after staring out the window of a moving vehicle for hours on end and seeing cars speed past you, you might start to feel a little nauseous.

Stage 9: Directions gone wrong

Whether you're trying to find your way in a busy downtown and you can't switch lanes, or you miss your exit, stage 9 is one of the most stressful parts of a road trip. Plus hearing your GPS or GoogleMaps repeat "recalculating" 20 times doesn't make you feel better.

Stage 10: Gotta pee again

Is it really a road trip if someone doesn't repeat stage 3 at least once? Stopping for bathroom breaks often is a must.

Stage 11: Nap

In stage 11, the boredom finally catches up with you, and you give in to the urge to sleep. Napping makes time fly by and rejuvenates you, so you're feeling awake and less cranky.

Stage 12: Uprising

Stage 12 can be as extreme or as mild as you want, but it almost always happens. The tensions in the car are running high, and people are getting irritated with the constant complaining, choices of music, or bad driving. This leads to some fight and a few minutes of awkward silence. After all, you can only handle so many hours with the same people in such a small space.

Stage 13: "Are we there yet?"

There's always one person who makes good use of stage 13. Some people are impatient and have the attention span of a 6-year-old and others just want to be out of the car.

Stage 14: Traffic and/or tolls

The fun thing about road trips is that it's almost never a one-way street. You have to do it all over again for the ride back. Oh, joy.