How to Avoid Going Crazy on a Long Family Road Trip
Are we there yet? How much longer? What about now? I need to go potty! I’m hungry. My milk spilled. She’s bothering me! He’s hitting me! Make him stop!
Taking a long Family road trip doesn’t have to be impossible. In fact, if you plan ahead and approach it correctly, the trip could even be a great bonding experience. What follows are several suggestions to increase your likelihood of having an enjoyable trip.
Pack each kid a car bag. You can’t expect your kids to sit in a car for four or five hours and just watch the scenery go by. And unless they’re infants or small toddlers, they probably aren’t going to nap the whole time either. Kids have lots of energy and need to be kept busy. This is where a car bag comes in handy.
The key is to really sell the car bag. Start talking about it a week before the trip and hype it up as something really amazing. Buy a fun backpack for each kid – like one of these themed backpacks – and then fill each child’s with items from the dollar store. Think of it as “purchasing” your sanity.
And pack your own car bag, too. You can always sleep on a trip (if they let you), sit with your own thoughts, listen to a podcast, or scroll through your phone. So you don’t really need much. However, we recommend packing your own car bag, too. (Mainly so that you’re prepared to handle whatever those little rugrats in the backseat throw your way.)
In your car bag, we recommend carrying things like snacks, wipes, paper towels, plastic bags, hand sanitizer – anything you could need to clean up a mess or quickly diffuse a problem in between stops.
Pack a cooler for meals. There’s nothing wrong with stopping at restaurants or going through drive-thrus for meals, but you can take out some of the uncertainty of mealtime by packing your own cooler and putting it in the trunk. This way you always have a lunch option, regardless of whether you’re in standstill traffic on the interstate or on a 20-mile stretch without any decent food options.
Teach kids car games. Remember old-school car games that you used to play on road trips? Try teaching your kids a couple so that the entire family can have fun together. Here are some options:
- I Spy. This is a classic game that kids love. One person picks something in the car and says, “I spy something…red” or “I spy something small and round.” Everyone else in the car then looks around and guesses. Once there’s a correct guess, that person goes.
- License Plate Challenge. This is a fun game that can easily burn up an hour or more. With this game, each child looks out their window and records how many different state license plates they see over a predetermined period of time. When the time is up, everyone lists off the state plates they saw and the person with the most wins.
- Treasure Hunt. Get a notecard for each child in the car and write down a list of items that they need to find (e.g. a school bus, a crane, a California license plate, a McDonald’s sign, etc.). Once each child finishes their list, they get a small prize or snack. If one child is having trouble completing his list, everyone else can join in to help!
What would you add to that list? Did you have a favorite road trip game that wasn’t mentioned here?
Plan for plenty of breaks. Children can’t go three hours without stopping. Plan for plenty of quick breaks. Truck stops, rest stops, and parks are all great options. Ideally, you want somewhere children can stretch their legs and let some energy out. A quick 15-minute break helps everyone reset for the next leg of the trip.
Be laxer with screen time. You probably have some rules on screen time in your family, but road trips are one time when it’s okay to break these rules. If your kids have tablets or phones, let them play games, watch movies, or listen to music. Better yet, you might purchase tablets for car use only – waiting until a road trip to get them out. This makes screen time very special and keeps kids excited about trips.
Safe Travels!
Traveling with kids is a lot more difficult than traveling alone. But if you plan ahead and prepare for the road trip with all of the right essentials and supplies, it can be a memorable experience for the entire family. Enjoy your trip and stay safe!
