Having travelled by car to many destinations with our young children I can confidently say that we have finally started to find ease on our car travels. What was once scary and intimidiating has been fine tuned and has gotten easier every time we have travelled by car.
The furthest we have travelled in a day has been for 14 hours and this was our trip back from the Outer Banks, North Carolina to Ottawa. However we didn’t start out with long trip adventures in the car.
I still remember our first long car trip. It was to Philadelphia and was only supposed to be a 8 hour drive. It took what felt like DAYS! We had a 3 year old and 18 month old and I remember feeling like I just wanted to cry. We learned a lot from that trip as well as several other long car trips after that.
Here are our top recommendations to help you have a smooth car trip with your kids……..
Plan your route and some of your stops
You don’t need to map out your entire route in detail with every single stop (but I did do that when we first started!) but have an idea of some places along your route that you can stop and let the kids run! We have been caught and had to stop at some not so amazing stops because there was nothing else around. We look for a place where the kids can get out and move a bit, can get something healthy to eat and clean restrooms. Oh and a Starbucks is definitely an added bonus for mama! You don’t want to get stuck on the road late at night without any rest stops close by.
Travel Trays
Car seat safe travel trays are great for your kids to have their snack/meal on, colour, play lego and much more! You can purchase yours HERE.
Charge Devices before hand and have chargers handy
Charge all your devices before you leave and ensure that you have chargers handy. If you have children who are a bit older teach them how to use the chargers and where in the car they can charge their devices. With children of multiple ages and stages we like to ensure they have different devices with headphones so there is no arguments over who wants to watch Max & Ruby AGAIN and who doesn’t.
Even better? Check out some of the amazing new GM & Chevy vehicles with in car wi-fii!
Games (scavenger hunt)
Bring some games and toys on the road that your children don’t normally play with. We love our scavenger hunt game for in the car. You can check it out HERE.
Baby Wipes
You can never have enough baby wipes! For spills, spit ups, runny noses, messes and emergency bathroom road stops.
Nausea Killer!
Our doTerra Peppermint essential oil and beadlets come everywhere wit us! These are a great all natural way to help if nausea or car sickness starts to set in! Want some? You can get some HERE.
Get in the car at the BEST time for your kids.
If your kids are early risers like mine then hop in the car and get on the road early. I am not a morning person but by us getting up and getting on the road early it truly makes a huge difference. They are in a great mood and ready to start their day.
Sometimes things will come up on your trip that are unexpected and those moments can lead to some great memories down the road. Roll with it and remember that it is all a part of your family experience.
Happy Travelling!
[…] Travel that far with 3 kids under the age of 8 in a van? Yep! We have actually done many long car rides so we knew exactly what we were getting in to. I wrote about some of our tips for travelling with kids HERE. […]