Road Trip!!

Like what seems like half of America, we made a trip to visit family for the Thanksgiving holiday. The kid were total troopers, driving about 1500 miles round trip and we were gone just about 4 days total. Whew.

And so I give you ideas for traveling with a youngish crew….

Bring a water bottle for each member of the family and expressly designate the water bottles — the blue one is dad’s. Fill said water bottle with water, but not all the way for the littlest members of the crew. Make sure the water bottles for the backseat have “sippy” lids — i.e. they don’t spill that much when they are accidentally dropped. They will in fact be accidentally dropped.

Pack two sets of books and magazines. One set for the outbound trip and one set for the return. Include books for reading and books like Where’s Waldo?” and I Spy books — books that everyone can enjoy.

Consider eating in the car vs. stopping at a fast food restaurant. Or pack a nice picnic lunch and eat in the rest area. My own children (n = 2) aren’t fabulous at eating fast food: one doesn’t currently like hamburgers, the other doesn’t like french fries.

Travel bingo — print a list (from the internet or that you think up) of things to look for on the trip. Be sure to include easy stuff and harder things.

When traveling in cold weather, where one might encounter snow, bring a pair of slippers for kids to put on their feet or let them take off their boots before they begin to melt all over their stuff that drops to the floor.

Bring a map for your kids and have them keep track of where you are. It helps them learn geography and the picture helps them get a sense of that eternal whiny question, “How much farther…?”

Many of our road trips include driving at night, when the kids are sleeping. Thankfully I have a husband who can easily stay up late (and often does).