Road Trip Tips for Kids

The Boring Stuff: Trying to Prove I Know What I'm Talking About

I am a freelance writer, not that you can tell by this blog since it is mostly for my own amusement and not at all for income. When I am paid to write, the subjects can be extremely varied. I have supplied web content for a lawn maintenance company in Australia. I have written a detailed history on the Hollywood entertainment industry. I have provided product descriptions for some very well known companies, with items from hand creams to garden hose nozzles. I love different types of assignments because it gives me the opportunity to research subjects I might never have learned about otherwise. A few months ago, I wrote a complete guide to maintenance and safety concerns of garage doors and it was fascinating to me. However, despite my desire to explore a myriad of topics, my specialties lie in travel writing and finance.

Printable Maps are Necessary for Road Trips

Despite what many people believe, travel writing does not require travel. Mostly, it requires research. That is, very thorough research. Regurgitating a few sentences from Wikipedia simply doesn't cut it, but climbing Mt. Everest isn't necessary for a travel piece about Nepal either. What is necessary is knowing which web sites to visit, who to contact, and how to ask the right questions to get the answers needed as quickly and as accurately  as possible. Often, I have a one-day deadline for my writing assignments. More often than that, I have only a couple of hours to find everything I need to know before I move on to the next job.

On the other hand, traveling does help with writing, particularly when I am asked for advice pieces rather than informational ones. Last year, we planned a trip to Walt Disney World, and since I have written a number of articles, blog posts, and guides on how to save money at Disney, how to make the most out of a trip, what to pack, etc. This requires not only research, but also personal experience. The more experience I have and the more research I conduct, the better my articles are.

The Helpful Stuff: Tips for Traveling with Kids

Knowing that we were planning a road trip this summer, I spent several weeks researching and writing articles for road trips for various places around the country. I discovered quirky and exotic locations, great deals that can be found by those willing to put in a little extra time, and the best ways to entertain children who are stuck in the backseat for hours on end.

Duplicate the Packing List
I am a list maniac. I make lists for the lists that I need to make. I make a list of items that need to be accomplished before a trip, marking things off as I go. I also make a list of everything that needs to be packed, then I make a copy of that list. A copy of the list goes into my luggage, so that when we are packing everything back up at the hotel, I know for certain that we have left nothing behind.

Print a Map (or Two, or Three)
Do your kids ever ask where you are, when you'll get where you're going, where is the next restaurant, or what's the next town? This is the perfect time to tell them to look at their map and figure it out themselves. Despite the prevalence of GPS systems, it's a good idea for kids to know how to read maps. For younger children, it gives them something fun to follow along with. Parents who are a bit more ambitious can highlight their travel route and even add notes marking the sites they may see along the way.

Snacks
I have already covered my list of healthy (and not so healthy) travel snacks. What I failed to mention is where to keep these snacks. Rather than transporting the oversized cooler that sits in our garage and we have used exactly one time, we will be carrying the more easily accessible over-the-shoulder coolers that can be placed at our feet, and therefore opened and used during travel. I keep items cold using Fla-Vor-Ice instead of ice packs. I find they fit better in the coolers and can double as a snack, provided they don't melt first.

Road Trip Activities
The length of the road trip should determine the number of activities planned. The age of the children should determine the type. I'm not here to tell you that there is a one-size-fits-all approach to road trip activities, but I can tell you what I have planned and what (I hope) works for our family:

License Plate Game

The License Plate Game
Printable Paper has a printable map of the United States, complete with license plates for marking off those vehicles that you see from far off places. Print one off for each player in the family, or provide copies for trips to and from the destination.

Travel Tickets
Give kids Travel Tickets for every 30 minutes or every 30 miles of travel and let the games begin. I offered my son a Travel Ticket for every 30 miles of good behavior, and tickets can be cashed in at the end of the trip (or along the way!) for a whopping $1 each.

Scavenger Hunt
Mom's Minivan has great resources, including this scavenger hunt game that works for readers and pre-readers alike.

Of course, not all activities involve an Internet connection. Both kids have travel bags filled with story books, coloring books, crayons, and travel toys. Gus has recently discovered Legos, thus a trip to the hobby store, a couple of cans of spray paint, and a hot glue gun gave us a travel friendly Lego carrying kit that will work on  the road, at home, and on the plane when we visit Disney World again later this summer. The kids also have DVD players and an embarrassingly large collection of movies and television programs to keep them mindlessly entertained for hours.

Get Out and Stretch
One of the biggest problems with road trips is not factoring in the need for potty breaks, stretch breaks, and sanity breaks. For younger kids, plan on stopping every couple of hours at minimum. Older children can last longer, but why make them? Plan on enjoying the journey as well as the destination by finding places to stop along the way. One of my favorite sites is Roadside America, where you can find unusual and quirky places to see as you travel. Without Roadside America, I may have never seen this:

The Cherokee Trading Post, El Reno, OK

 Or this:

El Sanctuario de Chimayo Shrine, New Mexico

Or this:

The World's Largest Rose Bush, Tombstone, AZ