When I first started this blog, I lived in Yuma, Arizona. That meant a few road trips with the two little ones, both my family and hubby’s live in New Mexico. Since we moved back to New Mexico, we have also packed up the kids and traveled to Los Angeles for vacation.
Nowadays, you can keep the kids occupied with their own personal DVD player or game in the back seat. Those distractions, along with a nap or two, can make the trip seem quick. Looking back at my own childhood, I can certainly remember a few road trips without the more modern items to entertain the kids.
Two that standout are trips traveled because we were moving. The first one was from Portland to southern California with cramped space and too much stuff. We traveled down the Pacific Coast, even visiting various beaches. The second one was a little more memorable as I will detail.
Picture this: Dad and Mom, nine year-old me and three siblings – a younger sister and a set of two year-old boy/girl twins. Oh yeah, and a nanny accompanied by her one year-old son. Not sure what we would have done if there had been pets. Dad drove the U-Haul truck that broke on the first day about two hours into the trip. Mom drove the older model station wagon, and the nanny drove Dad’s pick-up, pulling a trailer.
I think we only did about 150 miles the first day. The fun part was keeping three toddlers busy. I remember trading them around between vehicles and letting them eat suckers – way too many suckers. Somehow they still managed to nap some of the time which is good since the trip took three long days. What a memory!
That road trip would have taken on a whole new look these days. DS games, movies and maybe even a brand new car would have helped. However, those memories are priceless and much more interesting to talk about.
Now that I am a parent myself, and have done quite a few Road trips, I have a few tips to share for having a smooth and easy road trip:
1. Be sure that you have a comfortable vehicle that is well maintained.
As I mentioned above. I have experienced first hand having to stop due to car issues. No fun. If you are going to do a long road trip and don’t have a car that will COMFORTABLY fit everyone plus the luggage. Renting is always an option. We actually did that on my last trip and even just the “newness” made it more fun and enjoyable for the whole family.
2. Have a GPS System or Maps!
If you are traveling into any area that you are not VERY familiar with, this is very important. I cannot tell you how many times getting lost has made a trip take a lot longer than it should. One wrong turn on a Jersey Turnpike and you can be driving for an extra hour… No joke!
3. Bring a Cooler for Snacks and lunch!
This will help with saving money AND will be something to keep the kids happy in the car. Don’t buy your snacks at the gas station. They are sooooo overpriced and us frugal shoppers know that you can get free or VERY inexpensive snack items all the time with coupons!
Great items to include are cut up fruits and veggies. Then of course, a few sweets are always good too. Something that the kids aren’t necessarily allowed to have all the time works well to reward them for being good on the trip.
4. Play fun Road Trip games in the car with the kids!
There are so many fun games that you can play in the car that don’t require anything other than participation! Here are a few of my favorites:
The Alphabet Game — there are a lot of variations of this one but the general idea is you pick a subject like… Animals. First person comes up with an animal starting with the letter A, second person has to come up with an animal starting with the letter B and say both. And so on with each turn adding on the additional letter. If you forget one of the items you are out and the game continues until the player with the best memory wins.
I Spy – This is great for all ages, you take turns giving clues of various items that you “spy”. First person says “I spy, with my little eye… ” and give a clue as to what the item is. Whoever guesses the item goes next.
Who am I – Another guessing game. First person picks someone that everyone in the car would know and starts giving clues until someone guesses who it is! The winner of that round does the next.
Color game – For the younger kids, just a simple game of name the colors of various objects that you are driving past.
99 Bottles of Beer on the wall — Don’t shoot me. Yes. I did suggest it 😉 As annoying as this song may be, it will definitely keep the kids occupied for a while.
Do you have favorites?
5. Have a GOOD Play list!
Before you go put the time in to put together a playlist that will accomodate all the passengers in the car. Maybe have each person pick a set number of songs. Depending on the length of the road trip you could add more or less. You will want to have enough to keep everyone happy. Singing along with the favorites is another way to keep everyone happy.
Those are my top 5 Tips for an Easy Road Trip.
What tips do you have to making a Road Trip easier?
Content and/or other value provided by our partner, Kia Motors
Great tips! We’re thinking of a trip next month so these will come in handy. I needed a few new ideas for road games. I Spy gets a little old for my crew. Who Am I sounds like a good way to mix it up! And a good play list – definitely! Thanks for the suggestion!
Great tips! Long road trips with kids can be agonizing without a good plan!
Traveling with kids can be tough. I know for me, the worse part is getting to your destination. You have the kids saying, “Are we there yet?” every hour and that can get frustrating. Keeping the kids entertained is the most important during the travel. The kids have their DS games that they play all the time, and I let them use my iPad. With the iPad, the kids can play games, read, and watch TV live anywhere we can get a 3G or Wi-Fi connection. A co-worker at DISH told me about this option, and with the DISH Remote Access app, the kids can access all our subscription channels. It is such a lifesaver when you are traveling for hours. I love your tip about leaving early in the morning or late in the evening. That way they will most likely sleep for a few hours of the trip.
Great suggestions! We play an alphabet game where each person takes a turn with a letter of the Alphabet saying their pretend name, place they are from and an occupation. For instance, A could be “My name is Annabelle, I’m from Arkansas, and I’m an astronaut.”
Love this idea! Thanks for sharing. I will use many of these on our next road trip.
my favorite road trip is to the mountains, and a good tip is to make sure you have crunchy snacks incase you get tired, so the crunching may help keep you awake!
I think having the right “travel entertainment” is almost necesary when traveling with the kiddos. (Dvd players, Ds, Coloring books, leap frog, Books, ect) & Car games that the family can play together are great too! Also having plenty of snacks/ drinks so you only have to stop for gas, rest room breaks, and to stretch make it a lot easier on your budget and the family 🙂
Be sure to have lots for the kids to do and have a plan. Know which exactly which way you are going.
Bring a handy medical kit with basic supplies for just in case
make sure that you have a good road service policy like AAA, emergency flares, flashlight and jumper cables, extra keys hidden on outside of car and lots of bottled water, toilet paper or wet wipes
Living in TN and having been born and raised in Fl, where all my family and friends are … i am no stranger to road trips. Pacifiying the kids and their boredome is always the toughest part. Great tips. Thanks!
Good pillows and i tunes 🙂
I like the cooler idea. Just a mini one up with the kids so they can get out snacks when needed. I always just throw stuff in my purse and it always ends up melting and the drinks get warm. This way I’ll know where everything is at and that it’s edible and drinkable the whole trip!
If it’s an extremely long trip and we wear out the games and music and your car does not have a dvd player, portable players that attach to the back of the head rest are great, but don’t forget the ear buds or head phones so your child can hear the movie and you can still chat with others in the car.
Make sure that you have packed snacks, pillows and games and activties for long trips..
Always have something to entertain the kiddos…and a pillow; I never leave without mine. Haha 🙂
Always make sure that you have everything such as food, games, pillow, blankets, first aid kit….
Always make sure you bring water, snacks, flashlights, a warmer set of clothes, and a charged cell phone just in case your car breaks down.
Play games. My husband and I play the band name game. Say a band and the next person has to name a band that starts with the last letter of the band the person before named.
A camera! to capture all the fun!
Bring a small cooler to keep drinks in and bring your own healthy snacks or you will end up eating convenience store food!
The The Alphabet Game sounds fun…I wish I had more ideas when I made the trip from NY to TX
I say travel games and lots of snacks and good music
We always make sure to bring fully charged ipods/smartphones for the kids, they get easily bored on car rides.
Lots of music for mommy and lots of awesome movies for the kid(s)! And make sure you have phone chargers and your GPS! Snacks are a must!
you have to have great tunes,no matter what! also,lots of bottled water is good.i got stuck in road construction in the middle of nevada on the way to vegas with no air conditioning and no water for 3 hours! no fun!
Healthy snacks is a must for us or we feel sluggish with to much fast/junk food
If I were to travel I would be something to read to keep my mind off the road because I am a nervous rider
It is important to take breaks and stretch out too, especially with children.
After the many road trips we’ve taken over the years we learned to expect the unexpected. Be ready for car sickness…..it happens and when you have a bucket and wipes and febreeze it can make ALL the difference. That’s with traveling with kids and/or pets!
My favorite tips for a successful road trip involve snacks, music from kids place live (xm radio) and a nap or two 🙂
I always forget about the snacks and kick myself for it. This is a great list to check before traveling. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, great tips!!!
We always try to pack a snack/drink bag/cooler, along with all the electronic gadgets (for long trips) for entertainment. We carry a backpack with papers, crayons, etc. for other entertainment too!
Awesome tips! I always make sure we have a small cooler well stocked in the trunk with snacks and bottled water! I always stock up on magazines too!
Good Tips. We travel from Virginia to Michigan a few times a year and then a few shorter trips in between. I usually make them each a bag of books, small toys, and a few car games. I print off Car Bingo, License plate bingo, I Spy sheets.
Love the tips!! Always make sure you bring tissues- you never know when ur ganna need em;)
Make a Road Trip playlist! Bring wet wipes, snacks, & plenty to drink. Make up a game to play on the way.
:0)
Make sure little ones constantly have something to do, variety of things so they are not stuck with the same toy 4+ hours. Also leg stretching breaks can help a little one not get so cranky.
We make sure we have headache medicine. It’s the worst to be on a roadtrip and to get a terrible headache that will not go away.
Make sure you have blankets, pillows, snacks, dvd player (if possible), coloring pages, crayons, etc. The kids will probably still get bored! Stop for breaks if possible.
leave earlier than planned, don’t stress about when you get there, enjoy the time together 🙂
Get the license plate board game! Tons of fun and good way to pass time!
Always a great idea to bring a cooler with some pre-made lunches and snacks!! Fast Food can add up fast so this is a great tip for keeping a road trip easy on your budget!!
Bring some snacks and lunches and make sure you bring a bag for the garbage! Also, keep the car clean, it makes the trip less stressful if the floor is not covered in garbage.
We travel by car from Lodi, Ca to San Diego CA about every 6 months, and oh what a joy it is with a 2 year old and a 5 year old. I have learned though to pack an extra set of clothes for each kid, and keep it up front with me… that way if either of them has an accident my husband is not having to unpack the whole trunk to get to a suitcase. I also stash toys and color books that are new to the girls in a bag between their car seats, (these are a must have for the hotel also) I also fill their own water bottles up with water before we leave… they think it is so cool to have their own drinks. Not really a road trip tip but more of a hotel tip… if you have a lil one that is at the crawling stage, toss some outlet covers in your bag, for exploring fingers. And bring some Clorox wipes for the tile, I never realized how dirty the tile floors are until my daughters legs, knees and feet were black from all the funk. Oh and if you are PTing your little one bring a travel toilet because hotel toilets it seems to me are bigger than toilets at home LOL
Put away what you take out and have a place for everything! Also – plenty of snacks and drinks will make your time easier to bear!
For road trips, I love to bring something to do in the car, other than listen to music, like Mad LIbs!
Snacks! Entertainment!
Always bring a little cooler with drinks and snacks, and stop to stretch often!
Make sure you have an Emergency pack for your car. We have them on sale for black friday. ugottathrive.shelfreliance.com/black-friday
Road trip is a hassle with kids,what I do the night befor is make about a dozen sandwiiches and put in the fridge,.
I also keep in the freezer two wks before,is bottles of water and also two-liter bottles.I freeze them hard and on the morning of the trip,I put the in a cooler,with lots of ice.I put sandwiches in there too,to keep fresh,I also put juices,fruit cups.It is also very important to take atleast 2 blankets and some towels in a clear plastic bag.In another bag,put paper towels,toilet tissue,and soap.Buy atleast 5 hand sanitizers and a well stocked first.aid kit.Have atleast 3 bug sprays.Coloring books,crayons,chalk,playing cards,lots of games for the kids handheld games.Atleast one board game.
Bring along a portable DVD player to entertain the kids…and adults!
I would travel at night with the kids so that they would sleep most of the way and it would be less traffic.
Make sure the tires are properly inflated and that all fluids are filled before taking a road trip. I like your tips posted. But if you are taking a long road trip, you need to have your car checked out because you do not want it breaking down somewhere where there may not be a mechanic close by!
Just in case, take Dramamine with you. You don’t want to be caught on the road without it.
Diana C
I take our frog potty with us on trips to help my 3yo with his potty emergencies
Something to keep the garbage in!! It seems to fill up whenever we are on a family trip!
always have a pen and paper for little ones to draw or for directions
We travel frequently from LA to IN where my family lives. We like to travel at night because 1) less traffic, and 2) kids sleep most of the time which cuts down on potty-break & snack stops!
we drove from NY to Tx and it was the hardest thing to do with 4 kids….we had all kids of things for them to do and watch and play, but the one thing I learned was to limit the drinks because I swear we were stopping every hour…
I download a bunch of podcasts before I leave.
Bring snacks and water with you, and something to read or a Ipod.
We always bring toilet paper, paper towels, water, snacks and pillows.
i have learned the hard way….always bring stuff to keep them busy.
Make sure to bring snacks, trash bag, paper towels and wet wipes.
This past summer when we traveled practically clear across the US, I made a book of games for my children. It included magic squares, “I Spy” games, Hangman, word searches, Yahtzee, etc. They loved it!
Get lots of sleep before a long drive.
play games like out of state tags, looking for certain objects, letters or colors, etc.
Make sure to bring along your phone charger for your car. Because I know I never seem to remember to plug it in where I’m staying and then it’s almost dead.
when kids were lil we traveled at night so they slept and we didnt have to here are we there yet or I gotta pee or she/he did this or that made it much nicer of a travel
I keep peppermints in the car for long trips, helps me to stay awake if I get tired of driving 😉
My best tip is to travel at night when you have small children. It’s better to drive while they sleep than to have to try and keep them occupied the entire time. We do this whenever we travel.
always bring enough games and toys to keep the kids entertained
Great tips! And if you don’t want to spend the money on game systems or DVD players here are some frugal kid-friendly road trip baskets I’ve made my boys (that sneak in a little learning).
http://www.ready-set-read.com/2012/05/road-trip-reading-activity-baskets.html
Thanks for sharing your tips. I always like to keep a tote bag, that we store in the garage, filled with games and drawing supplies thatonly gets used for the long car trips.
I take snacks and drinks with us. Before we leave we go to the library and check out books on tape to listen to.
My tip is this: Drive is short spurts and stop at all the fun landmarks 🙂
Great tips. With 3 little ones I always have to plan ahead and make sure that they are kept busy.
Plan Ahead!
Thank you for the great tips!
My tip is… be sure not to forget the electronic toys 🙂
Don’t forget to bring a travel pillow and blanket for younger ones to fall asleep comfotably.
Always bring snacks, bags for trash, drinks, fun things to do like music, games, and DVDs. Make sure to make stops once in awhile so you won’t get tired and maybe explore different places and also to stretch your legs. That is my tips. I have been through so many road trips and thanks for your road tips!
Make sure you take an instant charger for your cell phone just in case your car won’t start. Take bottled water a few non perishable food items, blankets, and flashlights.
We always make sure the kids have plenty of games – both electronic and traditional – hangman, car bingo, and the like, are great fun for the whole family!
My only tip is take the GPS, I get lost all of the time. LOL
Great ideas! I always make sure to have planty of snacks also!
Gotta love the GPS!
I always have to bring lots of baby wipes and hand sanitizer! Also, download a good selection of kid-friendly songs.
Good books are a must. And good snacks, not just junk food!
We always play the license plate game – try to find out of state ones or if we’re in another state, try to find other Michigan ones.
Don’t forget the camera, first aid kit and to wear comfy shoes (like flip flops)! 🙂
My best road trip tip is to carry trash bags (in case someone gets car sick), and toilet paper. You never know when the rest stops will be out of TP so I always carry a roll in my bag just in case. It’s also handy if you can’t make it to the next stop!