I think it is safe to say I have become quite the expert at road tripping. I had a crash course of how to go it alone (as the only adult in the car these past two weeks). This trip from our home in Wilmington, NC the whole way up to my in-laws' summer cottage outside of Acadia National Park in Hancock, ME totaled more than 2400 miles round trip. I am pretty sure the driver's seat of our Highlander now has a permanent indentation in the shape of me.
Suffice to say, I over-thought and over-planned for every possible scenario that my 5 1/2 year old and almost 4 year old could throw at me during our trek. And let me just tell you, the moment that my youngest said, "this is the best trip ever!" just about melted my heart. Oh, and when they both asked me to turn up the volume on Alanis Morissette's "Head Over Feet", well that was a true cool mom moment for me.
If you are planning a road trip with your crew before school is back in session, I have compiled a list of my favorite ideas on how to make your trip successful and keep your young travel companions entertained while on the road. I have also thrown in a few tips on how to get organized prior to and during the course of the road travel to help give you an all-around organized and stress-free trip.
Going into your road trip prepared and organized won't keep the inevitable "are we there yet?" questions at bay, but it will help you divert attention and possibly even get you a rave review from one or more of your youngsters if you have these tricks up your sleeve.
Pack List
Ensure you don't forget a necessity by putting together an overall pack list as well as individual pack lists for each of your travel companions. If you use an app like Cozi, the list will be stored in your phone and can be used as an inventory when re-packing at the end of your vacation.
Pack an Overnight Bag
You don't want to have to repack the car each time you stop along the way, so determine how many nights before reaching your final destination and pack a shared overnight bag to save you time.
Hit Up Your Local Library
If you haven't already set up online access to your local library, do so before leaving town. You will receive email notifications when books/movies are up for renewal and you will be able to renew right from your phone or laptop.
Take each family member to the library before your trip and select new reading material, look and find books like Where's Waldo?, movies (if your car has the capability to view movies) and audio books that the whole family can get into (Harry Potter, anything by Roald Dahl, The Wizard of Oz and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland make great listening material.)
Clean Your Home
Whether you schedule time to do it the day before you leave or have someone come and clean it while you are away, returning home to a clean house at the end of your vacation is like the cherry on top.
Also, don't forget to go through your refrigerator before leaving and toss anything that will be out of date by your return home.
Make a Travel Trashcan
You can make a lidded travel trashcan for your car out of a reusable cereal storage container (this one from Sterilite works great). Add a plastic grocery bag as the liner and it becomes an instant trashcan!
It will keep all travel trash contained instead of spread throughout your car and will make it easy to do a quick clean each time you stop along the way.
Easy to Reach Diversions
I love these soft-sided totes from Thirty-One. You can pack them full of books, games, coloring books and other toys. It sits easily on the middle seat between 2 riders and they will be able to select what they want without always asking for you to hand them something.
Choosing a tote like this makes it easy to bring your children's books and toys from the car with you into hotels and your final destination. It also helps to keep the mess in the car contained!
Car Games
Depending on the ages of your car riders, there are a variety of games you can bring along for everyone's entertainment.
- Trivial Pursuit or Brain Quest cards
I found these at AC Moore for $1.99 each!
- Spot It! Has a game made just for car trips; it is called "Spot It! On the road" and can be found on Amazon
- Mad Libs
- Car Bingo
- The License Plate Game - there are a variety of variations to this game and you can find out what some of those are by checking out what Edventures With Kids has compiled. They also have a free printable, so be sure to print enough copies for all of your travelers!
Goody Bags
Hit up the dollar bins at Target or head over to the Dollar Tree to put together a few surprises for your little travelers. Include some healthy snacks, maybe a few sweet treats and some other diversions.
For my daughters, I found reusable sticker books from Melissa and Doug that kept them entertained, a Beanie Boo dragon for each of them and Color Wonder coloring books in addition to the snacks. They were thrilled. I saved it for the second half of our drive on the first day and they played with them the whole way up and back.
It is up to you if you decide to give them their entire goody bag at the beginning of the trip or space it out over the course of the drive. Whatever you decide, it will be a guaranteed success!
My daughters on the first morning of our trip to Maine. They were very excited and it took them about an hour before they fell back to sleep.
Leave When it is Still Dark Outside
Whether you decide to drive through the night or get up before the sun rises, either way will put you on the road ahead of traffic and get you a few hours of drive time where your travel companions will (hopefully!) go back to sleep.
The added bonus to leaving when it is still dark outside: You will be spared the "how much longer?" question as long as your younger travelers sleep.
Pack a Cooler
Eliminate fast food and junk food stops by packing a cooler with fruits, veggies, sandwich-makings and your family's favorite snacks and drinks. Throw in some paper plates and napkins and you will be able to take advantage of the rest stops along your drive to enjoy your lunch and get in a little stretch and walk before getting back on the road.
You will feel better by the end of the day in the car if you feed your body the foods it is used to and don't rely on fast food options to feed your family. Bonus - you get to enjoy the outdoors in place of sitting inside a fast food restaurant.
Plot Out Stops Along the Way
Did you know there is a Giant Shoe in Lancaster, PA? In Winston-Salem, NC you can visit the last standing Shell Oil Clamshell station and of course everyone knows about South of the Border in SC, but have you ever stopped to visit? Check out a full list here of roadside attractions from Travel and Leisure and plan your trip to catch a few!
Traveling with a Toddler?
Pack your toddler's potty training potty in the back of the car.
In the event of a potty emergency, you won't be at the mercy of the next exit that advertises a gas station or restaurant. You will be able to find a safe spot to pull over on the side of the road before your toddler has an accident.
I wish you much success and safe travels on your upcoming adventures! You are making memories with your family and they will remember these trips in the years to come.
Happy Road-Tripping!
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