Tips for Long Road Trips

CowboysWife04

As many of us embark upon long road trips for the holidays, hoping to get some tips & tricks from those of you who are more experienced than myself. 

This year will be our first road trip to Texas for Christmas so I'm really trying to plan ahead for things to bring along in the truck.  With a 13 hour drive for a 2 and 5 year old, not sure what will help make the time go by easier.

Any and all suggestions are welcome!

buzzeroo

For us, all bets are off; normal rules don't apply. The kids watch movies like there's no tomorrow, play on my iPhone, eat whatever they want. You know, happiness at any cost. One day of free-for-all isn't going to hurt anyone.

Our longest trip is 9 hours (DH's parents). A couple times we've left in the evening so the kids can sleep overnight. But that has its obvious pitfalls too, namely a sleepy driver and a tired first day at the in laws.

ss+el

Just take as many toys as you can stand to have in the car and dole them out one at a time. We drove to Colorado this past summer and I took a little of everything, even a bag of his Duplos. I'd have a few new little toys ready to hand out every so often. For DS, I brought things like cars and mini coloring books. If you don't have a mini magna doodle or aqua doodle, I'd recommend getting one of those as well.

eriness`

Pack new toys, wrapped

Trader Joe's sells shelf stable 8 oz "cans" of milk in both white and chocolate.  much cheaper than buying it at gas stations

pack a ton of snacks.  we usually pack some grapes, cooked carrots, and then crackers, cereal, cereal bars, fruit snacks.  we also allow some funds for gas station purchases. 

we find that William, age 3, adores to just talk to us, as we're a captive audience.

scope out the road beforehand.  DH and I made sure we know where all the rest areas are, which exits have kid friendly restaurants, about how long between major cities that have stuff to eat at.  keep a map handy so you can find exits for pee stops when needed.  use the internet to find any McD's/BK/etc with play lands.

put the kids suitcases near the top, or wherever is handy to reach.  and put a change of your and DH's clothes handy as well.  because you just don't know what may happen

fun kid CD's

we don't have a DVD player, but if you have one, lots of batteries, cords and movies

MagnaDoodle is a must

We let William pack a small backpack with his chosen toys.  he's in charge of putting them away and such.  the handle makes it easy for him to grab when we stick it between the car seats.

plan on the trip taking twice as long as normal, set expectations low, so you can exceed them. 

Like buzzeroo said, sacrifice rules for sanity and harmony.  the less tantrums the better.  one tantrum ruins the whole trip.

Let me know if you have any questions.  We make a 8-10 hour trip back to nowhere KS at least twice a year.  Ick.

ss+el

eriness`:

scope out the road beforehand.  DH and I made sure we know where all the rest areas are, which exits have kid friendly restaurants, about how long between major cities that have stuff to eat at.  keep a map handy so you can find exits for pee stops when needed.  use the internet to find any McD's/BK/etc with play lands.

This is a great idea. We just played it by ear on the way to Colorado and probably could have done a little better if we'd planned some of our stops. If you see a rest area with a good sized green space, let the kids out to RUN for a bit.