Feb 05 2009
Survival Guide for a Family Road Trip
Family road trips are memory makers…some good, some not so good, some flat out horrible. How can you put three or more members of a family together in one vehicle and travel any significant distance and make it enjoyable? It is possible, but some prior planning, especially if some of the family travelers are under the age of 10, helps make it wonderful. Just make sure you pack some patience in your travel bag!
The Basics of Surviving a Family Road Trip
Pick some travel friendly activities that are age appropriate for your children. If you have bookworms, pick some good books on tape to listen to as a family on your road trip. Not only is this entertaining, this also gives you great conversation material to discuss when you stop for lunch or dinner.
Choose some car-friendly games. There are several games that use Velcro to keep the pieces attached to the game board. There are also games specifically designed for travel, such as checkers, Scrabble, and of course there are always card games.
Pack some blank writing tablets and writing utensils, preferably not pens, just as an extra precaution to avoid ink spills from busted pens. Encourage your children to write about or draw what they see along the way.
Include some disposable cameras. Try to give each kid a camera and let them document their road trip from their own perspective.
Carry along some books that focus on the areas you are traveling through. Which Way USA is a great series of magazines from Highlight that focuses on a different state each month. If you subscribe to this, you can carry along the magazine for your destination.
Bring some word find puzzles or crossword puzzle books or Sudoku. Make sure you have plenty of pencils with erasers. Mechanical pencils are good choices because you do not have to sharpen them.
If your family enjoys trivia, pack some trivia cards or brain teasers. Brain Quest makes some cards that are great to travel with and are easy to keep together.
Make sure you pack some travel friendly snacks such as crackers, slices of cheese, apples, oranges, raisins, Nilla wafers, packages or small jars of juice, and lots of napkins.
You’ll want to have a trash bag or two to store in the car and empty at rest stops to keep the vehicle at least tolerable on the cleanliness front.
Give the kids a timeline so they know when they can get out and stretch their legs, go to the bathroom, eat dinner, and when you will arrive at your destination.
When planning your trip, be sure to give you and your family some wiggle room. Give yourself time to jump off the beaten path and explore the various sites along the way. Try to avoid being on such a tight schedule that you have to bypass a wonderful family fun opportunity.
5 Essentials for Survival!Some essentials:
First aid kit with plenty of band-aids
Extra batteries for any electronic gadgets that are making the trip with you
Anti-nausea medicine, to fight off car sickness at the first sign
Flashlights or book lights for late night reading in the car
Mutually agreed upon music, or at least a wide variety that includes something for everyone
The most important element of having a wonderful family road trip and creating great family memories is just this - enjoy each other’s company!
