Road Trip!

 Traveling with a large family...is it only for crazy people? Here are a few tips we’ve learned over the years:

1) pack four outfits each, no matter how long you plan to stay. As long as you have access to a washer/dryer, that’s all you need. Extra points if you can make eight outfits out of your items, but most of your kids wear the same four outfits at home anyway, right? If your kids are little, put them to bed in their traveling clothes the night before.

2) if you have younger kids who can’t tell time, put a piece of washi tape on the ceiling for every hour of your trip, and take one down per hour. Our trip today was 11 hours long, and even the big kids find a weird satisfaction in counting down the hours.

3) pack individual snacks bags for each child and let them pick something every time you take a piece of tape down. No more whining, passing, complaining that all the best snacks are gone. Which I’ve heard happens in some families. I let the kids splurge on trips, and our favorite snacks include: jerky, Chex mix, fruit, dark chocolate, granola bars, fruit snacks, cheese crackers (raw milk cheese and almond crackers for mom), and gum and mints.

4) leave very very very early. We like to leave before 6am. Not because we like to leave at 6am, but because then I can make a rule that no one talks before 8am, at which time we will eat breakfast. I can’t say it always works, but I always try. Sometimes the kids fall back asleep, other times they read. But this gets us two hours down the road in peace and quiet.

5) pack breakfast and lunch, and keep it simple. Include fresh food to balance all the hourly junk everyone is eating.

6)Stops are only for gas, bathroom breaks, and a quick lap around the van. Maybe this sounds utilitarian, but we all know that whatever is at our destination is better than the time we spend on the road. 

7) I make myself several hot/caffeinated drinks in travel mugs before we leave (since I’m usually doing all the driving), and we all pack a water bottle. Today we bought a cup of ice to add to everyone’s water...having something ice cold is refreshing on a long trip, but it doesn’t have to be fancy.

8) download or bring your favorite audio books, and each child packs a backpack with their favorite toys and books. Some of our favorites: Little Britches, Adventures with Waffles, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Penderwicks, and Anne of Green Gables. We do usually watch movies on a trip, but we try to limit them to after lunch.

9) Know that once your children get older, it gets SO MUCH easier to travel!