We just got back from a beautiful family vacation. This year we road tripped out east to spend some time in Rhode Island and Massachusetts, with a stop in Pennsylvania to visit family, as well! It was a 22 hour road trip each way and was the longest road trip we had all ever done together! We ended up taking a detour on our way home, adding several hours on to the trip home, but it all went very well! Travelling with my family is my favorite thing, hands down. I often hear parents talk about their kids being too young to travel and I hate that they are missing all these fun years of memories they could be having if they would just give it a shot! I can tell you that at no age were my kids too young to travel and at every age it has been a joy! Over the years I’ve learned a lot about making trips as smooth and fun as possible, so I wanted to share a few things that we have found help!
Tip 1: Drive through the night! We have done this with almost every trip, but the only reason we can make it work is because my husband is a rock star and can always stay awake! His ability to stay awake and drive through the night means we usually can cut the kids amount of awake travel time in half. This trip Ryan went to bed early in the evening, slept until midnight and then when we hit the road at 1am, the kids were out like a light for almost the first 8 hours of our travel! When they started to stir, we stopped for a potty break, got out our breakfast food, and then I took over driving for awhile. If you aren’t good at night driving, safety is obviously more important…but if you are a night owl, it really does make the trip more bearable for the kids!
Tip 2: Pack fewer clothes and leave room for a cooler!! It is amazing how much better we all feel when we aren’t grabbing fast food all the time, not to mention how much time we save not waiting in lines at the drive through! We save a ton of money bringing our own water, drinks, meals, and snacks and we never have to buy a thing at the convenience store except the occasional coffee! Also, if you have any food allergies (Ryker can’t have gluten) eating out can be exhausting – so this helps avoid some of that, as well! We managed to avoid all drive through’s on our way out, but then on our way home we didn’t take the time to re-stock our cooler with meal food and ended up getting fast food twice. I felt terrible that day and all of our energy levels were greatly affected! I won’t make that mistake next time!
Tip 3: Let your kids pick out toys to bring! I give each of my kid a bag to fill with whatever they think they will enjoy the most in their car seats. I give them advice, but ultimately let them make the decision as long as it fits in their bag. When they have the task of choosing their own toys they are always excited about what they have packed and eager to get out their toy bags. I always pack them each a dry erase board, coloring books, a few regular books…and then movies, of course! We don’t watch a ton of tv at home, but during road trips they can watch as many as they want! This trip we borrowed a bunch of movies from our neighbor, so that we would have new ones! It was so fun to pick which movie was next! They had watched so many on the way out that they hardly watched any on the way home and mostly just played with their toys!
Tip 4: Your attitude really does set the mood for everyone. Kids are simple, nothing makes them happier than just having their family together and relaxed. They really don’t care about half the stuff you are seeing…what they care about is seeing that you are having fun together.We saw so many beautiful places and sights on our trip…but if you ask my kids what their favorite thing was Ryker says, “all of it” and Cecilia says, “just being together”. This has been the case with every single trip, every single year. So take a deep breath, relax, and keep your sense of humor intact…if you want your kids to be able to ride with the punches – show them how!
Tip 5: Set your expectations before the trip begins. Think about the things that your family struggles with on vacations and what would make your trip more stress free. For example, for us, money can be a stressor. In order for us to be able to take vacations we have to be thrifty where we can. I don’t want to spend my vacations buying junk from tourist shops and I definitely don’t want to spend it with kids pouting that I’m not buying them junk from tourist shops! So before our trip I reminded our kids that the gift we take home from a vacation is the experience and the memories we make together. I told them that they could collect shells and rocks for free and if they got anything else it would just be a bonus. We did end up buying them a couple small items (stuff they would actually use) and they were completely spoiled by our generous friends! But because they knew up front we wouldn’t be shopping on our trip they weren’t disappointed each time we walked by cute stuff and we weren’t frustrated. Buying stuff may not be an issue for you…but the point is to know what you expect out of your vacation and your kids behavior and then have these conversations before you hit the road!
We have a goal to visit all 50 states with our kids before they leave the nest, so far we have spent time in 23 states! If finances ever allow, we will definitely travel internationally with them, too! I used to wonder if maybe these trips were being wasted on them…but then I started noticing a trend. About six months after a trip, suddenly things we had seen or experiences we had together would start to come up in their conversations. They would notice a picture in a book and it would remind them of a boat we had seen or they would just start talking about places they loved and wanted to go back to. It takes time for them to process so much, but it will all come full circle, eventually. Maybe it’s the homeschool Mom in me…but I think it’s really pretty magical to witness! And truly, there is nothing more cherished than the memories we’ve made seeing this beautiful world together! So, don’t wait for them to get older…get out there and see the world together!
