Jumping in the car for a long car trip with kids for multiple hours can seem monumental, but we are here to provide you with some tips and tricks to make your next road trip enjoyable.
Often, we are confronted with the decision of how we will travel from home to our desired destination and back. We spend hours agonizing over the cost of airline tickets versus the time, price, and stress of trying to drive that same distance. Many of us consider the dreaded car trip with children a deal-breaker, but while we can’t help you with the time and expense, we can try to help you reduce the stress!
Our family is a small team of Road Warriors. We prefer to drive almost anywhere we go for vacations for several reasons. The cost of trying to fly five people anywhere is the one that usually determines our decision. Because we choose to drive everywhere, we have become very good at life on the road.
To break this down, let’s look at three main categories: first- trip preparation, second – staying busy on the road, and third – breaks along the route.
First – Trip Preparation
I know this may sound funny, but if you want to set yourself up for success, this starts with planning and packing the car. Prior to going on a road trip, I think about what we will need on the trip. I research the topics that we will discuss in the second portion of this post, Staying Busy While on the Road. Now that our kids are a little older, I talk to them about our trip, where we are going, and how long it will take us, and I ask them what they would like to watch, listen to and play while on the road. They are more likely to enjoy the experience if they have a say. We start to put together all this a few days prior to leaving so we don’t forget anything, and we can make sure we have enough while not having too much.
Additionally, we shop for all our snacks for the first leg of our trip, with some leftover for after we arrive. Snacks at gas stations are much more expensive, and we never know if we will be able to find their favorites. We try to buy foods we enjoy eating that are not just junk food, that are filling and could substitute a meal if we don’t feel like stopping or can’t find a restaurant we like along the way.
Having a well-packed vehicle can alleviate many travel frustrations. Anytime a child can do something for themselves on the road, it is one less thing you must do for them. We try to identify activities, snacks, and drinks that the kids can open themselves and place in a small bag or cooler that is within reach for the trip.
To store the pre-made snacks and drinks, we use these bento boxes to keep wet (fruit) and dry snacks in the same easy-to-use package. If we think it will be a while before they can eat from the bento boxes, put it in a Ziplock bag, so melted ice doesn’t leak in and get the contents soggy. A little bit of preparation goes a long way when traveling with children.
Second – Staying Busy on the Road
Books on Tape (Audible) and Podcasts.
One of our favorite activities for over-the-road travel is books on CD from the library or Audible! We average one to two books on each trip, and the kids love them. This trip hack proved our most successful at keeping everyone happy for long stretches on the road. Our older children enjoy podcasts while riding down the street and around town; listening to podcasts on a long drive can get repetitive. To alleviate the repetition, we like to download multiple podcasts. Having numerous choices is especially helpful for small children who may not have the attention span to follow storylines of longer books.
Activities on the Road
We never allow our kids to do any activities for at least the first hour of our trip. As our kids have gotten older, we have extended the time to two hours. This gives the kids time to set expectations, enjoy the drive; look out the window, and have something to look forward to.
As stated in section one, Trip Preparation and Pre-Planning Activities are essential. We are lucky to have a DVD/Blue Ray player in our primary traveling vehicle. For a long drive (longer than one day of travel), I ask each kid to pick one movie they would like. Depending on the drive, sometimes we watch all three DVDs, other times we only watch one. For a shorter drive, they all must agree on one movie. Parents and siblings can veto a choice if it is a movie they do NOT like. We personally only use DVDs towards the end of our drive for the day or if we hit bad traffic.
Our kids have a kid’s Amazon Fire tablet, which we were lucky to get during Amazon’s Prime Day Deals. I ask them to preplan and download games/books before our trip. Our older kids typically use it when our youngest falls asleep on the drive.
The following recommendation won’t work for everyone, but as our children have gotten older, some of our kids love to read in the car. We always have them pick a favorite book to read in the car and before bed each night.
Third – Breaks Along the Route
We try to develop a flexible schedule for our route before we leave the house. We try to work in some quiet time along the way. This time is dedicated to peace, and we always have it before they are allowed to play on a tablet or watch a movie. I can’t emphasize how vital thinking through the trip is for the entire family. It helps manage expectations and lets you think through contingencies if things don’t go as planned. When we first started road trips, we planned to stop for nothing but gas and food. We almost always did both at the same stop. We dreaded getting the kids out of the car at gas stations for bathroom breaks. There is nothing worse than a little kid trying to crawl on the bathroom floor of a gross gas station! Our only goal was to get from home to our destination as fast as possible.
As our family has aged a bit, we learned that travel could be part of the vacation. Finding stops along the route that are enjoyable for the entire family helps to break up the trip and buys you room in the schedule for those unexpected delays. The extra wiggle room keeps the stress away and brings a bit of joy to the trip.
These pre-planned stops should have a way for you and the kids to burn energy. We enjoy rest stops in most states. They often have flyers about things to do and see in a state, information about lodging, and some have updates on road conditions along with your travel. Our kids like to get out and run a bit; sometimes, we have jumping jack competitions. We must remind them to stay away from the parking lot because drivers sometimes forget they have left the interstate.
While at these stops, ensure you are spending quality time with everyone. As close as you are in the vehicle for all those hours, it doesn’t account for the fact that you aren’t engaged with one another. We like to talk about things we have seen along the way, what we will do at our destination or what we think of the book we are listening to.
In Conclusion
We hope some of this information will help you figure out how to road trip with kids easily and hopefully with less stress. If you found it helpful, read our articles: Challenges for parents while traveling with children or Mental health challenges for children while traveling. Check out some of our future articles about audible books/podcasts and specifics about pre-planning food or activities while traveling.