7 Tips for Traveling with Children
April 6, 2012 by Aimee • 14 Comments
We drive to Lubbock, Texas a few times a year. Perhaps the least scenic drive on the planet {although there is one tiny canyon that’s kind of pretty}. Those 300 miles have always lead me to believe that my sweeties would never make it on a “real” road trip! Then…my husband changed jobs and had a MONTH off work. Combined with us having spent a year studying the fifty states. So while the kids were in their once a week class, we filled up the gas tanks and packed 4 suitcases {the boys shared one}, jumped in the car, picked them up and kept on driving. And kept driving 3700 miles! Stopping at some of the most amazing landmarks in America. As crazy as it seems, those 3700 miles were absolutely awesome and relaxing! No, really! I mean it! Here are a few tips we learned along the way.
1. Take the Road Less Traveled.
- Have a general idea of where you’d like to go and what you’d like to do and then use this book to plan a route that will allow you to see more true country than just the freeway.
2. Pack Light.
- Make sure you have plenty underclothes for everyone, but other then that, 1 pair of jeans, 4 casual outfits, 6 tshirts, 1 polo shirt for boys/2 skirts for girls, 1 pj, a pair of tennis shoes and a slip on shoe is plenty for each person in the family.
- Some hotels have laundry and every town has a Target. {We did stop by Target at our second to last town because one of us…not mentioning names….didn’t have enough underclothes packed…LOL.}
- The less luggage you bring with you, the more stretch room for your sweeties and the more room you have to bring home fun trinkets!
3. Bring Drinks and Snacks.
- Fruit, goldfish, trail mix, granola bars, etc. Some times the travel between towns is long and the only thing you see reoccurring on the side of the road is a Cracker Barrel. If you have snacks, it may stretch your travel time one more town.
- A package of water bottles from Costco is a much better deal then picking up water bottles each time you fill up the gas tank {which is expensive enough}. And if you really want to ghetto it…you can even bring in three empty water bottles and refill them. Yep, we did that! Is that “green” of us!!? I kind of think so!
- Chewing gum and bubble gum is always fun, too! I have some GREAT bubble makers…and some GREAT bubble poppers.
4. Hotel Stay.
- It really can work out to just call the night before and book a hotel room. If you go that route, check the best rate online and then call and ask for an even better price. When the rates are the same, ask to be upgraded to a suite for the same price. It never hurts to ask. Although we’ve always been Marriott travelers, we found the Hampton Inn comparable in price to the Fairfield Inn, but much more updated and since we were traveling with kids, knowing the blanket and the sheets were all washed was comforting.
- We enjoy staying at places that include breakfast in the morning. My kids tend to eat the most at breakfast and then taper off as the day progresses so we definitely get our money’s worth. I also bring down a travel bag and fill it with fruit, box cereals, and in the travel bag I keep large ziploc baggies and I fill one bag with waffles and the other with muffins. Tons of snacks make for happy car trips.
5. Plan Entertainment.
- Pack pipe cleaners and Wiki Stix in assorted colors from your local craft store. My sweeties like making necklaces, swords, bracelets, towers, animals…!
- Take along Find It Games Kids Version. It’s a lot of fun. A barrel of beads that you shake and twist to try and find all the items listed on the included scavenger list.
- Bring a journal and colored pencils for each sweetie to scribble, write, or draw about their experience.
- Bring story books along to read as a family. Lots of hours in the car make for a great captive audience.
- Throw in a bottle of bubbles for moments you’re stuck in traffic and the car just isn’t moving. Crank the a/c to high and allow the air to blow bubbles from the wand…in the car! Perfect distraction.
- Grab a map and let your sweeties help you figure out where you are currently and the route you’re traveling. Knowing how to read a map is a valuable life skill.
- My kids LOVED watching the GPS and changing the voices.
- iTouches are a lot of fun and at the hotel most nights we’d change up the games they had so that it was always new. They also LOVE turning on their music for all of us to enjoy. We had some fun dance times in the car.
- Roll the windows down on back roads. There’s nothing like being out in the middle of no where and soaking up the fresh breeze. There were a few times that they got so excited about a site they saw outside, that we pulled over to let them see it and experience it!
- Hoot and Holler when you past state lines! It keeps the travel exciting!!!
5. Stay Connected.
- Travel with an iPad or Laptop. Popular chains such as Local Public Libraries, Starbucks, Borders, Panera, and even most McDonald’s have free wi-fi. Even some rest areas have free wi-fi. There are tour attractions that you’ll need to get updated information on such as seasonal open times and a lot of times getting a hold of a voice for that information is difficult. Virtually all information can be found online.
- For an extra $50, you can upgrade for one month and have your iPhone become a wireless router on the road and through bluetooth have wireless on your laptop on nearly every road in America {some backroads don’t allow access}. This is AWESOME…a TOTAL treat!
6. Allow for stretching.
- Our kids were fine with traveling 300-350 miles per day, especially when we broke up the drive time with an activity. Most days after exploring the site we had planned to see, we would drive halfway to the next stop to stay for the night. Have a little late night swim and then hit the sack.
- And under this same category, when the car stops for gas or meals, insist EVERYONE gets out to stretch their legs and take a restroom break. Stopping three times in a row within an hour really bugs… just sayin’!
7. Flex a LOT.
- We normally drink only water, watch a TV show at 5pm, and start our bedtime routine at 7pm each day. That’s our regular routine and it works well with our daily life. But, with traveling go ahead and throw all sense of normalcy out the window and be ready to go with the flow!
- At breakfast in the lobby there are tons of juice options. My kids usually will have a glass and then on their own grab some milk or a large glass of water. Mine are at the age 9,6, and 5, that they can only tolerate a bit and they know it.
- If you’re going to get lots of miles traveled, you’ll have to throw sleep schedules to the curb. If your kids are thoroughly exhausted they’ll eventually pass out and catch a few zzz’s! I was surprised how well my kids functioned the entire trip with so much less sleep than usual. They made up for it and slept late a few days in a row when we returned home.
- When we made it to the hotel room, my kids thought it was AWESOME to have a TV in front of their bed! We usually don’t do TV at night, but we hadn’t watched it all day and so each night when we got in and after our late night swim, we’d try to find something they could watch on ABC Family, Nickelodeon, Qubo, Disney or one of the Nature channels. A part of me really wanted them to get some sleep, but they came in with so much energy, having the TV on gave them a chance to jump on the beds and wrestle with each other before transitioning to lights out and bedtime!
8. Take Care of ALL the Details at Home.
- We had the mail stopped and a friend picking up packages and junk flyers, but the grass started growing earlier this year and despite calling three lawn services while away, we didn’t find anyone that would be willing to cut our overgrown lawn. Bad planning! Not only did our house look a bit vacant, mowing lawn grass when you return home is a PAIN. Thankfully everything remained untouched and we have things looking pretty again!
I’ll add more to this list…so definitely if you have tips for other families, leave a comment!!!
Great ideas!!!
We did a lot of these things earlier this month when we drove from TX to NYC and back in 2 weeks with our 4 year old. For us (unfortunately) the in car DVD system was also very important when we were driving 8 hours or so a day. We would rent a kid’s movie from a redbox and return it to the one we found at our next destination
I’ve always wondered if you could do that with redbox. That’s sweet! I’m taking a mental note of that for sure!!! XO, Aimee
Great tips! My kids hate car travel (or plane travel for that matter) so I don’t think this is in our future any time soon. I’m all for letting things slide when you are on vacation and actually enjoying time with the kids with ess of a schedule and more time to be together.
Jessica
stayathomeista.com
Great ideas!! Love this post!
I LOVE the bubbles idea! That sounds like so much fun!
Great tips! Never heard of Wiki sticks before. Gonna have to give them a try. (Say your link up at A2Z link party)
Great tips! It sounds like you guys had an amazing time! Thanks for sharing with us this week!
Take care,
Trish
We broke down twice on the way to our Easter holiday. Make sure you have roadside assistance! Thanks for the great tips.
Wow! This is very timely for my family! My husband wants to take us on a cross-country road trip this summer and your tips and suggestions are awesome! Thanks!
Great tips! About the water bottles: My son at age 7 is still willing to drink from a sippy cup when in the car. We have a bunch of the semi-disposable sippy cups and bring 2 of them along, one to keep by his side and one to stash in a shady part of the car so it stays cool until he’s ready to swap out. We parents use a stainless steel canteen for water and travel mugs for coffee. If you’re buying coffee (or anything else) most convenience stores will let you fill up on cold water for free.
I might be misunderstanding…are you saying you steal an entire bag of food from the hotel breakfast buffet for snacks later in the day?! I don’t think you’re supposed to do that! If my kid has taken some food and then doesn’t have room to eat it right away, I’ll bring it along for later, but I don’t swipe food for later. Buffets are supposed to be all you can eat NOW.
About wi-fi: I have found that if I leave the wi-fi setting “on” on my iPad when traveling, it uses a lot of power searching for a wi-fi signal and can run down the battery in just a few hours even if nobody is using it. But if I turn that “off” until I’m in a place where I’m going to use wi-fi, the iPad is good for many hours of offline fun. We especially like a free drawing app called Doodle Dandy.
I don’t like this idea of taking food for later from a hotel buffet. That’s not how a breakfast buffet is meant for, please think about it. You are a role model for your kids.
Other tips I like.
If you plan to drive anywhere on I-95 this summer, pick up this new book called What’s Great About I-95. It’s full a fun facts and trivia about the places you drive through. It’s really family-friendly, keeps the kids out of electonics (for awhile at least) and keeps the driver alert while everyone’s looking for the next mile post. http://www.interestinginterstates.com Believe it or not, it makes the drive more fun!
They have several options on the iPad such games, read, movies, and watching TV. With the Dish Remote Access app through Dish and a Sling Adapter hooked up to my receiver, the kids can access live TV from anywhere we can get a 3G or Wi-Fi connection. The kids love being able to watch all their favorite shows on the road. A co-worker at Dish told me I could now stream my Blockbuster@Home service through the same app.