Road Trip Tips

It seems like a lot of us are getting back to traveling. And we are taking more trips in our car than flying here lately. Last month we had a few trips, one for fun and one for business, that we took with our family. I want to share with you a few tips that make these trips easier. 

1. Bring one pillow & blanket per kid. It never fails that someone is unhappy with the temperature in the car. Having a blanket makes this easier. And a pillow is great for a kid to rest against the window for a quick nap. Another reason we love the extra pillows is there never seems to be enough pillows in the hotel room. I am thankful my kid has their pillow and I can have the extra one.

2. Throw away trash at each stop - even 1 gum wrapper. This seems simple. But oh-my-goodness can a car get messy quickly on a trip. I also start a trip out with a clean car. I like to run the vacuum before we begin. On a road trip you are snacking and my daughter is usually coloring on a note pad, which results in paper trash. If you take 30 seconds to grab all the trash each time you stop, it will make a massive difference.

3. Before the trip, make a stop at the library or shop your own library. We limit media time in the car for our kids. They definitely get more than their share, but I don’t want them on games the entire time. We will make a stop at the library the day before our trip and pick out a few books. If you are worried about your children losing the books, shop your own library. I like to grab a stack of paperback (inexpensive) books that my daughter hasn’t looked at in a while and add them to her backpack. This gives her something to look at that feels new.

4. Play random games in the car. We live close to the Smokey Mountains. While that is a beautiful trip, it is also void of all cell service for half the trip. My kids begin to complain of boredom. We break out a few random games and everyone gets involved (even my teenager!)
   Here are some ideas:
   - The alphabet game. Go from A to Z and see what they can spot. A- Accord (Honda car), B - Butterfly, C - Car, D - Dead tree, E - Elk - Let them get creative. It’s one of our favorite ways to pass the time.
   - I spy. “I spy with my little eye something green.” “Grass!” The little ones love this for it’s simplicity and the older one loves to try to stump us.

5. Speaking of media time - We download music and games to our devices to save on using cell service and to make it easy when we go spaces of time without service. However, we do like to make the rules clear when we get in the car regarding media. We make up things for each trip. We might say, “no media for the first hour of the trip.” Or, “as soon as we enter the Smokey Mountain National Park we are turning all devices off.” This gives us some media free time and some quiet time. :)

6. Snacks. My biggest money saving tips for snacks on a road trip is to shop your pantry and fridge before you leave. Likely, that loaf of bread will not be good when you get home. So go ahead and make a few peanut butter sandwiches. We grab apples from the fridge and put carrots in little bags. We also grab things like granola bars and chips. You will be saving money and not having to throw things away once you get home.

7. Pack light - I always share this because it’s one of my favorite tips. I like to pack exactly what we are going to need and then I keep a laundry pod in my toiletry bag for just in case. If I need to do a load of laundry, it’s easy to do it while still packing light.
   Even for what the kids bring in the car, I like to keep it light. We do one backpack each. This makes the clean up time easy when we get to our destination.

8. Choose a “dirty clothes” suitcase. I shared this on a travel tip blog last year and so many of you responded that you love this tip. We typically each take a small carryon on a trip. Once we arrive at our destination we unpack as many suitcases as we can. With 4 of us, usually that is limited to 2 people unpacking, and 2 using suitcase stands. We use the empty suitcases to put dirty laundry in. When I get home, I just have to dump that suitcase in the washing machine and then unpack the clean clothes. In order to make it easier when we packing up, we will even take the first suitcase to the car as soon as it’s full. This frees up space in our hotel room and makes it easier on move out day.

These are a few of the things that help me keep my sanity on long or short road trips. Have you tried any of these? What is your favorite?