Traveling Parent Style

• Frequent stops make the trip go faster: This sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s true (at least in terms of how long the trip feels). We try to stop every 2 hours or so in order to stretch the legs, or as a friend of ours suggested to us, make up an impromptu scavenger hunt and obstacle course. Running around for 5 minutes releases a lot of pent up stress.
• Make lists: This applies to pre-trip planning. MOMVENTURE is much more adept at this trick than DADVENTURE in our family. You’re far less likely to forget the charger for the phone, not to mention your spare tire repair kit, if you’ve actually gone through a pre-adventure checklist. Sure it’s much less spontaneous, but it trades the pre-trip spontaneity with on-trip flexibility – and that’s much more important.
• Play games: Growing up my parents took me on roadtrips, often multiple times per month, and although I didn’t have the technological wizardry that children today expect I still survived. It wasn’t that I didn’t get bored, I did, but my mother was a great game instigator. My childhood favorite was a game we called “Truck”. The rules to “Truck” were simple, as soon as you saw an 18 wheeler-box truck you yelled “Truck!” The first one to say it got a point. Points were lost for non-box truck semis, non-articulated box trucks, and anything else that wasn’t a “Truck”. It’s amazing how many hours this game ate up. For more sedate options look for license plates, play “I spy”, try memory games like “I’m going camping and I’m taking an antelope…”, or find every letter of the alphabet on highway signs.
• Have conversations laid out: For the excessively prepared traveler having relevant conversations prepared in advance to talk about future or recently visited attractions can take up hours and provide you and your children with valuable insights into what’s around you. This was particularly useful in a trip we took to Birmingham, AL and the Civil Rights Museum. Our parents were not at all certain that taking a 5 year old on a tour of our racist past (and present) was all that great of an idea. It was, but it was even more valuable for the conversations we got to have afterward. Conversations about what racism is, why it’s important to recognize it and fight it, and what it means to care for your neighbor. This is the reason we’re doing the Kid Tripping posts, to help us prepare.
• Read: This comes in many forms depending on the age of your family. A pair of teenagers can sit in the back and work through A Separate Peace on their own, however a 4 year old will need lots of help getting through even a picture book. We find that reading aloud helps both drivers and passengers enjoy the trip. Audiobooks (ye olde Book on Tape) give the reader a break and allow volume levels to be more easily moderated. You can usually check these out of your local library.
• Rock Out!: Music is one of the things everyone in our family enjoys. We hit music festivals, play instruments, and generally croak out a few verses of our favorite songs daily. Our kids like most of our music, from Handel to Dropkick Murphys they can really get into the groove. What really helps, though, is to have a selection of kid focused music on-hand to put in when they get restless. They Might Be Giants, world music cds, and most of the Peter, Paul, and Mary catalog work well for us.
• Screen time: Yup, I went there. We let the kids watch shows and play games in the car within reason. Limits to screen time still exist, but on multiple day journeys it just doesn’t make sense to withhold all access to technology, especially when one of your little ones isn’t yet a reader. We have a pair of Kindle Fires, which among other things, allow the kids to play minecraft together in the same world (yes, we have a network in our Vanagon – more on that later)
• Eat: Remember HALT. Hungry. Angry. Lonely. Tired. Your kids can suffer from these issues while in the car, even with you sitting right there. Kids need more regular smaller meals than your adult butt does, so keep lots of healthy snacks near at hand.

Most importantly remember why you’re going on these adventures, and what it means to the kids. The purpose is to experience the world, and working to stay happy and healthy is part of that experience. Travel well!