Travel tip: road trip preparation

We’re all about getting out of the car on long road trips and stretching little legs and exploring what the local community has to offer, but what about all those quality hours spent in the car? My family and I are leaving tomorrow for a two week road trip through the American Southwest (with three kids ages 10, 8, and 4), so all that hard travel time has very much been on my mind.

Arches National Park...aka, day 3 of our trip!

I’m pleased to be linking this post to The Mother of All Trips Mondays Are for Dreaming segment, because we all know that trip dreaming can turn into trip planning, and we’ve been dreaming of this trip for some time now.

In preparation for our current trip, my mother helped them make personalized travel journals (see photo lower in post). Since their ‘job’ is to write in them everyday, I think they’ll make for a great car activity between destinations.

But writing about the previous day’s activity will only buy the adults in the car some peace and quiet for about 15 minutes or so. What about the other 5,984,398 hours? What do you pack for travel entertainment? What distance per day is ideal? Where do you stop along the way? (That last question I’m hoping to have answered by the time I return, so that you can read an abundance of new pitstops here!)

Mesa Verde National Park...what I

The following is a list of items we never fail to take with us on road trips, no matter where we’re headed (and yes, these are listed in order of importance, thank-you-very-much:

1. Water bottles, one per person, plus a gallon jug of spring water for refills. It sure beats someone wanting to stop at a drive-thru every 20 miles! And hydration is even more important while traveling, no matter the season.

2. Portable DVD player. Some of you are brave enough to face endless miles of road without one. Not me. We rent or check out a few new titles at the library before leaving, so that there’s a good mix of old favorites and exciting new features to watch.

3. Headphones for the DVD player, with an adaptor to accommodate at least two sets. This way, the four-year-old can be watching a movie while the older kids are read to, or vice versa. Also? By Hour 6 into a trip, I no longer want to hear the theme music for the Backyardigans.

4. Snacks. Fun snacks, that is, like Jelly Bellys and gummy worms. Healthy ones too, as long as they’re still fun¦our favorites include precut carrot sticks and ranch dressing, Babybel waxed cheeses, Annie’s Organic Hunny Bunnies. Oh, our kids also light up at the sight of Ring Pops. Remember those things? They still exist!

5. Audio books downloaded onto our iPods. My middle son and I both get motion sickness if we so much as glance at a book in the car, so this is a lifesaver. Cost saving tip: check audio book CD sets at the library, then download them and return them before leaving. At our library, there’s a good selection for all ages (even toddlers with read-along books) and by downloading them and returning them before the trip, you avoid late fees, too!

6. Pads of paper and pencils. So simple. So effective. And no crayons melting in the heat. When the kids were younger, we packed stickers instead (making sure they didn‘t end up on the car windows!). Wiki Sticks are also mess-free.

Travel journals are a must for us!

7. Cooler with ice, if there’s room. By packing lunches, we avoid the cost and the fattening foods of at least one fast food meal per day. Also, picnic meals are almost always a more pleasant way to dine with kids who have been cooped up all day.

8. Tube or baggie of cheap, plastic animals or action figures. Let the kids set them up on their pillows or in the folds of a jacket on their lap.

9. Wet wipes. Doesn’t matter how old your kids are¦they’re necessary, aren’t they?

10. Trash bag. You’d think this would be obvious, and maybe it is to everyone else, but we never fail to forget one, leaving us with a mountain of trash after the first in-car meal.

A great resource for travel games and downloads/printables is www.momsminivan.com. We also go old school and play various versions of I Spy and license plate bingo…but only if the iPods go dead and we’ve forgotten the charger for the DVD player.

Please share your own road trip survival items in the comments, and be looking for new pitstops coming soon!