Moving with Kids: Road Trip Edition

This post was originally written on February 9, 2018, in Texas.

Traveling with kids can feel daunting.

Spending five straight days in a car with a three-year-old, while five months pregnant, can feel downright overwhelming (can you ever just be “whelmed”?) (name that movie!)

In May, 2016 we left sunny California for the sunny Hill Country of Texas. We broke up the drive into five days:

1. Southern California to visit friends
2. Scottsdale, Arizona to do a little golfing (ha!)
3. Las Cruces, New Mexico
4. Ozona, Texas
5. New home, sweet home!

On the map, it looked a little like this, with ~25 hours of actual driving time. We added a 70 mile detour in Arizona on day 3 because of a sandstorm to add about two hours to that total:

This is a long trip for anyone, much less a precocious three-year-old. I’m happy to say we survived the entire journey without any meltdowns or tantrums. How? Probably a lot of luck. But here are some things we did that seemed to work:

1. Keep the days as short as possible

We were lucky to be able to take our time with the drive and spread out the trip. Our goal was to spend less than 6 hours per day in the car, and no more than 2 hours at a time.

2. Plan activities for each day

The last thing you’ll want to do after a long day of driving is figure out where to eat and what to do. Plan ahead! Research each overnight location and find 1-2 dinner options and 1-2 potential activities. In small towns, there may only be one restaurant (which makes it easy to choose!). The activity could be something as simple as hitting the hotel pool (have those swimsuits easily accessible!) or a nearby playground, or get creative. Look for kids museums, dinosaur parks, hiking trails, mini-golf, malls with play areas. If your kids are older, look for places to learn about local culture and explore the area. The key is getting away from the car for a few hours and getting some exercise.

3. Provide a sense of autonomy

Our daughter got to choose which car to ride in at each stop, since we drove both of our cars down. But we still had the broader problem of what to do to keep her occupied.

4. Add an element of surprise

Growing up, my family drove from Connecticut to Georgia (and back) to visit my grandparents once or twice a year. As an only child, I was used to entertaining myself, but this meant hours of entertaining myself in a confined space. This could have been torture. (“ARE WE THERE YET?! HOW MUCH FURTHERRrrrrrr….”)

When I was younger, my great aunt would give us a basket of little presents for the trip down, each labeled with a state. When we crossed a new state line, I got to open a new package. The items don’t need to be elaborate or expensive – just enough to introduce something new to the boring ride. Examples of things to add:

• Magic Slate Drawing Pads (like these)
• Activity Books (like these) (magic invisible markers are a plus, too)
• Books
• An Etch A Sketch or Fisher-Price DoodlePro (we lost the shape pieces but this is still a hit!)
• Magnetic puzzles or a Rubik’s Cube (for older kids)
• DVDs (if you have a portable player)

5. Snacks. Lots and lots of snacks

You may sacrifice the cleanliness of the car, but you will be amazed at how sitting all day long works up an appetite. Snacks will vary based on age, but we had a variety of Plum Organics pouches, Goldfish, fruit snacks, Pirate’s Booty, and peanut butter crackers. We also had some raw almonds, granola bars, and bottled water for the grown ups.

What are your long-haul road trip tricks with littles?

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