Five Simple Tips for Amazing Summer Road Trips!
We do a lot of traveling in our family. We go to Disney World at least once a year, make one or two trips to Michigan to visit my husband’s family, and we love going on road trips! Traveling successfully, especially if you have a big group or kids with you, can be challenging. But we have a lot of experience, and we’ve found some sure-fire ways to make road trips enjoyable for everyone! In our family, we don’t only look forward to the destination on our vacations, we enjoy the journey. Here are 5 terrific tips to make your next vacation on the road easy and fun!
1. If You Are Driving, Plan Options for Stops Ahead of Time
If you are traveling a long distance, you need breaks. Sure, that means it takes you longer to get there, but adding in some stops throughout your journey will make everybody happier. These could be short stops, like 15 minutes at a local park or rest area. Or it could be an hour break at a museum or a fun place to eat lunch. Before you go, map your route to your destination and research places you might stop in the cities or towns on the way. I always search “things to do in [name of city]” and decide on a couple of options that my group will like.
For example, we traveled last year to a beach in lower Florida. I found a cute kids’ bookstore with a play area in Monroe, an Air and Space Museum in Warner Robbins, a cute lunch spot near Tifton, an ice cream place in Valdosta, a park in Gainesville, and dinner options in either Ocala or Tampa. We ended up stopping at the bookstore, the lunch spot, the ice cream place, and then had dinner in Ocala. Even though we didn’t stop at them all, it was good to have a list in case we needed a break at any of those points. A little legwork and planning in this area can really help make a long road trip more fun!
2. Build the Anticipation in Your Group
A good attitude is the most important thing to pack for road trips. This is so important and there are so many ways to make sure your party is super excited about the trip before you depart. Here are just some ideas:
- In the months or weeks leading up to the trip, have everyone get together to plan and make decisions about stops you’ll make, places you’ll stay, where you’ll eat, and things you want to do.
- Take shopping trips together to add pieces to your wardrobe or to buy things you’ll need.
- Start a group text and make sure you are all talking about the trip and whatever else to stay in the loop and build anticipation. Talk about your trip like it’s an adventure! It will build excitement about the journey. For more thoughts on this, check out my post 5 Simple Ways to Add Adventure and Excitement to Your Lives!
3. Bring Stuff for Kids (and Big Kids) To Do
Depending on the age of your kids (or adults), take things with you that they will enjoy on the way. Include a variety of things and alternate what you do about every hour or so. Here are some of our favorites:
- Coloring books: For kids, I recommend color wonder sets like this one with animals or this Paw Patrol one or this Frozen one. Or if you are an adult, find an adult coloring book you love!
- Books: My seven-year-old loves this Who Would Win book with 5 animal books in one and my four-year-old is partial to this set of read to me books with an electronic reader since he can’t read yet. And for the grown ups, check out an audiobook you’ve been wanting to read.
- DVDs you will enjoy and a dvd player. We have this one and love it!
- Tablets/iPads if you have them.
- Printables or road games, like a map to color in for license plate bingo or this road trip bingo game.
4. Pack Purposefully
It is important when traveling on a road trip not to overpack. If everyone doesn’t have room, the trip will not be pleasant. The solution is to pack with purpose. Make a packing list, know what container you will store things in, and work within that.
For example, for all of our in the car fun stuff mentioned in #3, we use a caddy like this one to hold it all. I never pack more than the caddy will hold, so I have to be selective about what I bring. This is a good strategy for packing your suitcases as well.
5. Be Flexible
This one is hard because it’s more a mindset than a strategy, but it’s so important! When you travel, you have to embrace the unexpected. There will be unplanned potty breaks, fights between kids, traffic, and who knows what else.
You have to be willing to adjust your expectations, your plans, your stops, and even your ETA. Be willing to roll with what comes and you’ll find yourself feeling less stressed. Your fellow travelers will be less stressed too! Be flexible and you will enjoy the journey a lot more.
I hope these tips make your next road trip easier and more enjoyable! Drop a comment below with your own travel tips or your favorite destinations.
For more suggestions for kids’ books to take along on your travels check out Children’s Books That Your Kids Will Love to Read!
If you want to bring along some board games for when you reach your destination, check out The Best Board Games for Big Family Fun.
For book suggestions for adults, check out the books we’re planning to read this summer in What’s On Your Summer Reading List? Here are Our Picks!
Have a good day!
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These are great tips, especially the flexibility mindset!
We have a few car games we play as a family:
-I Spy was a hit when my kids were smaller
-20 questions
-The alphabet game (“I’m going on vacation and I’m taking an Apple….” taking turns going though the alphabet)
Also…podcasts! Some great kid oriented ones we like are:
-Brains on
-Smash Boom Best
-Forever Ago
-Million Bazillion
They so fun, the kids don’t realize how educational they are, and even the adults learn something!