A Guide To Making Family Road Trips More Fun
If you’re not sure what type of vacation to plan, family road trips are a great idea! Here’s a quick guide to make sure your family road trip is more enjoyable!
by Troop Atomic Mommy
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Having a family road trip can either be a great bonding experience or a total nightmare, so it’s vital that you take the opportunity to plan out the most amazing adventure so that you and your kids stand the best chance of having a brilliant time.
Fortunately this guide contains some of the most effective tips and tricks that you can make the most of to make sure your family road trip can be as fun as ever, and it doesn’t have to be as difficult as you might expect to start organizing your adventure today. So if you’re ready to plan a fun and amazing family road trip, keep reading!
Never Pack Light
First things first, it’s absolutely essential that you don’t make the mistake of packing light. Failing to pack enough clothing, food, entertainment and more for your family road trip will have a disastrous impact on your overall experience. It could raise your stress levels during your adventure up to levels that you simply can’t afford.
Take the time to plan what you need to pack. Make a list if that helps. Try to include more than just the essentials, without compromising the space in your vehicle. If your trunk space is a tad small, you can always use a roof bag that holds everything.
While some tips may say not to overpack, this isn’t the reality for family life on the road. In fact, it’s actually better to overpack when it comes to a family road trip. The reason for this is because you don’t want to end up not having enough of what you or your family needs. You also don’t want to spend a great deal of your road trip budget on things you could have brought on your travels.
Take Regular Breaks
Another key step that you should bear in mind if you want to have the best road trip with your kids is to take regular breaks! Although you might want to reach your destination in the fastest time, being seated in a car for hours on end without any room to move or let off some steam, is not going to be fun for your children.
They need the chance to get up and run around, even if you stop on the side of the road. Choose rest areas or areas where there is not so much traffic. This could be in a rural area where you and your children can wander around before you get back in the car. Or perhaps stop at one of the best seafood restaurants in San Francisco to sit down and enjoy a meal together. Regardless of where your trip takes you, taking regular breaks will decrease driver fatigue.
Try to plan out your road trip so that you aren’t driving for more than 3-4 hours at a time, as this will be beneficial for both you and your children. It can even be a risk for you as a driver to remain at the wheel all morning and afternoon, as you can expect to experience fatigue along with lots of aches and pains from sitting down in one spot.
Bring Entertainment
Being stuck in a vehicle with the whole family can cause some tension. Naturally, this can bring on arguments between siblings, between parents and their children, stress, and maybe even some sentiment towards never attempting another family road trip again.
To avoid all of this from happening, you will need to bring ample entertainment into the vehicle. The types of entertainment will vary between age groups. If you have little children, having an iPad attached to the back of the head rests will help them stay focused on whatever is playing. Don’t worry about figuring out how to watch youtube tv outside US if you’re taking a longer road trip, as it’s more than possible to access all of your kids favorite films and programs even if you’re out of the country. You can also bring crayons, coloring books, toys, and even a board game (if you have the space).
For adults, it is a good idea to bring books, magazines, playing cards, and even a neck pillow, as a quick nap can be the best form of entertainment. Remember, if each adult takes shifts driving, then each adult will also have time to decompress with their forms of entertainment.
Bring Snacks
Stopping to grab a snack or other foods on a family road trip is a given. But if you don’t want the bulk of your road trip budget spent on fast food and restaurants, then it is a good idea to bring some snacks and food with you.
Now, the size of your family will determine just how much you bring with you. If you have a smaller family, then you’ll only need a few food items to last the length of the road trip, especially if you have a final destination planned. But if you’re traveling for a lengthy period of time, with many stops and no final destination per se, then it is a good idea to plan your meals and snacks just right. Remember to pack enough for each individual or you may end up making large food purchases on the go.
Don’t Be Afraid To Veer Off Your Plans
If there’s one thing that makes family road trips more fun, it’s veering off plans to have a little spontaneous fun. Or at least that’s what the kids will think it is. When you’re mapping out your road trip, be sure to plan for a few surprise pit stops that your kids don’t know about. Look for short adventures like visiting the world’s largest cowboy boot, stopping at swim hole, or even stopping at a farm to milk a cow. Wherever your travels take you, there’s always a quirky stop you can take to give the kids a fun memory that they weren’t expecting.
The Takeaway
Making family road trips as fun as can be has never been such a simple task when you can utilize some of the brilliant ideas that have been detailed above. There’s no time like the present to arrange an awesome road trip with your nearest and dearest, so make the most of these recommendations to have the most memorable adventure ever.
