From Mr. Handsome…
Traveling has become much more challenging with children. This was particularly obvious when we took a trip to Florida this spring and the drive took five hours longer than it should have. We had planned to leave first thing in the morning and get to the beach by early afternoon, but things didn’t quite go that way.
We knew it would be a long day when we got on the road one hour later than we had initially hoped. We decided to cook a big, healthy breakfast so we wouldn’t have to stop for two meals on the road. But the problem with cooking a big breakfast is that you have to clean up from a big breakfast, which takes a lot of time, especially with two children vying for your attention.
When we finally got on the road, we made it about 90 minutes before we had to stop for gas and a bathroom break. If we had been traveling without children, this would have been no big deal. But unfortunately, Littlest Buddy had been asleep and woke up immediately when we turned off the engine. So we took both kids out of their car seats and walked around inside the gas station for a few minutes to burn a little energy.
We got back on the road again, but after another hour it was lunchtime, and our stomachs started growling. Apparently the big breakfast was not enough. It seems like no matter what you do, you are always hungry when driving. I think it’s because you have nothing else with which to occupy your mind, so all you can think about is food.
When I traveled as a kid, lunch was quick and easy. We would pull our 15-passenger into a McDonalds drive-thru, order McDoubles, fries, and waters for everyone, and eat on the road. But we try to eat a little healthier these days, and a one-year-old and four-year-old plus ketchup doesn’t work well in the car…unless you like stained seats.
After enjoying Chipotle, we continued on our journey. I’ll spare you the boring details, but we had to stop multiple more times for diaper changes and snacks and to console crying children and stretch our legs. Then when we were finally about one hour away, we ran into unavoidable traffic that added an additional hour and forced us to stop for an unexpected dinner. We ended rolling into Florida at about 9:00pm.
Have any of you had challenges driving long distances with children? Do you have any tips or tricks to help the ride go more smoothly?
If we are driving a long distance we usually start at 4 or 5 in the morning, so the kids sleep a majority of the time. Then with that we only have to stop for breakfast and gas. Maybe once to stretch our legs. It’s a little rough waking up at 3 am to get ready and make sure we have everything packed but the kids sleep most of the way.
To help keep minds occupied my parents started a game with is when we were kids. We called it the Alphabet game. We had to find all the letters in the Alphabet, but we couldn’t go to the next letter until we found the letter we were already looking for. J, Q, and Z were usually always the hardest to find. It also helped us recognize our letter when we were little.
We haven’t tried yet, I’m too scared to. 😂 Where we live, it’s an hour to get anywhere so I have an inkling of what a long road trip would be like and I’m not up for that right now haha
That sounds so rough ☹️
We’ve taken long trips with the 5 and it’s just never easy. Our van has a tv and so that has helped a little. I’d buy some new paw patrol DVDs for the longer trips 😝 but yeah, no matter how prepared you are there will always be something to stop you. I remember packing so many snacks for the road and we’d still end up stopping and you are so right about always being hungry on the road, there’s just something about eating and road trips 😝😜
Traveling with young kids is just rough for everyone! I feel you!
One tip/trick we use for every road trip is pull ups during the trip for the kids – even potty trained kids! It cuts out pee-pee potty breaks – makes it a lot easier 🙂
Out kids are now 20 and 17, but seasoned travelers! We’ve driven from OK to Southern CA every year, since they were toddlers. (About 20 hours of driving time.) What worked for us – 1. pack snacks 2. Pack some new, fun activities (we would print off coloring sheets, mazes, etc.), pair with a new package of crayons or colored pencils, also consider Hot Wheels, books, fidget toys, etc. We packed all of their “supplies” in a plastic shoe box. You can also put stickers in there for them to decorate their boxes. 3. Pack a rest stop bag: sidewalk chalk, bubbles, ball or frisbee. Plan on 5-10 minutes for playing. 4. Get gas when stopping for a meal. 5. Make a rule everyone has to get out at rest stops and everyone has to try to use the bathroom. 6. Have snacks and drinks for you. When the kids fall asleep, get as far as your bladders and gas tank will allow! 7. Play music and/or audio books the kids enjoy. 8. Play age appropriate games – instead of “I Spy”, try, “The First to Find”. In the latter, it’s the first to find a particular object – for instance a red truck. Whomever finds it gets to name the next object. There’s also all kinds of alphabet games you can play. 9. Consider silly games or contests you’d never, or rarely, do at home. We’ve had burping contests (yes we talk about this is only for the car), worst jokes, silliest song, etc. 10. Pray – a lot!
Those are some great ideas! I’m going to save your comment for our next trip. Thank you 🙂
I pray they work for your family as well as they did for ours.
What a nightmare! Yet another reason I am so happy that I chose not to have children.
Leave your sons home next time and do an adults-only trip. It’s much better that way! You don’t have to involve your kids in every single thing.