How to Road Trip With Your Family Without Losing Your Mind
Ah, the open road—wide spaces and wild places, the wind through your car window, a good cup of coffee in the cup holder, and miles upon miles of listening to your favorite music and podcasts while chatting with your significant other.
Oh, and if you’re a parent, also the Cheerio spills, sibling fights, and incessant “How much looooongeeer?” coming from the backseat.
A family road trip is about as American as July 4. The United States is a particularly vast country with a particularly well developed highway system. Ever since the first cars and first roads, but especially since the development of the Interstate highway system in the 1950s, road travel has had a special place in American history. This year, in the wake of the pandemic and related shutdowns, Americans are craving travel. One recent analysis showed that over 77% of Americans plan to travel for leisure in the next three months, with many of them preparing for more than one trip. That increased demand means that travel prices are also surging, with airlines at the forefront. Recent upticks in flight delays and cancellations are also making air travel more difficult than usual, particularly if you have children in tow. Ever been stuck at an airport for five hours with young children? It’s not fun.
If you’re itching for a family trip, but worried about high costs or canceled flights, you may want to consider a road trip. Using your own car will not only save you the cost of flights and a rental car at your destination, but also give you increased control over your travel schedule and a unique chance to explore together as a family. And with a little extra forethought, your family road trips can become almost as memorable as the vacations themselves!
So how to become a family road trip pro? Considering just a few tips will help your family achieve road trip success.
First, plan your route. Don’t just get in the car and plug your final destination into Google maps. Think about how much travel your family wants to accomplish in one day, and space the trip out as need be. Crazy as it may sound, taking a longer route with prettier scenery or more interesting stops along the way may make the trip more fun.
Check out a local museum or aquarium on the route, tour a cave or hike a trail, or even see the World’s Largest Santa (Alaska) or the original London Bridge (Arizona). If you’ll need to stop for a night or more on the way, reserve your hotel accommodations ahead of time. If you can stay with a friend or family member, even better!
Second, plan your space. For the next several hours or even days, your car will be your home, so make it comfortable. Bring pillows or blankets for comfy car napping. Make sure everyone has their favorite water bottle. It might be tempting to start eating like you’re on vacation, but too much fried convenience food won’t help anyone’s mood. Instead, pack a small cooler with a variety of healthy, non-messy snacks—apples or grapes, veggies, nuts or trail mix, cheese, or protein bars. Remember to prepare for accidents or emergencies—some extra clothes handy if your small children are prone to bathroom accidents or spilling, large zip-lock bags for soiled clothing, paper towels or wipes.
Third, plan your activities. Resist the temptation to hand everyone their own screen and headphones for the entire tip. If you have very small children, pack them backpacks or bins full of favorite books, coloring sheets with crayons, or small toys. You could even purchase some new toys or games and surprise them; dollar stores stock tons of small activities for kids, and some local toy shops have special sections devoted to road travel activities.
Toddlers and preschoolers love these dot sticker sheets!
If your kids are a bit older, you might prepare them a travel binder full of coloring sheets, word searches, mazes, crossword puzzles, or even educational worksheets.
Play road trip bingo, the license plate game, or I Spy.
Listen to podcasts together, check out audiobooks from your local library, or create a family travel playlist to enjoy.
If you do watch a movie, try to make it later in the day rather than first thing so everyone doesn’t insist on screens for the rest of the trip. And enjoy the movie together, versus letting everyone watch their own thing on their own screen.
Finally, enjoy the adventure. In Don’t Make Me Pull Over! An Informal History of the Family Road Trip, Richard Ratay writes of his own road trips as a child,
“Before us lay hundreds of miles of open road, and anything could happen. . . . And when things did go wrong, we’d be on our own. On our own but together. As a family. Ready to brave whatever the coming miles and passing hours brought our way. More than anything else, that’s what made a family road trip so special: the feeling of being inextricably bound together in a great adventure. An adventure based less on where we were headed, and more in the moments we shared along the way.”
This year, don’t just take a vacation. Take a road trip. Play games, listen to music, and even be bored together. Wind through the mountains of Appalachia, drive through the fields of Illinois or Kansas, sweat in the deserts of Utah and Nevada.
Have an adventure with your family.
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