By thedihedral Posted on

Road Tripping with Kids

Winter break is approaching and this only means one thing… Road trip!!! We are trying to create a family/dihedral tradition, which would be to embark on an adventure every December. However, we are still debating the logistics and reality of it. T already started kindergarten and I am soon to graduate from college, which means: we’ll have less time to squeeze an adventure in.

We are still determined and “exploring” has slowly become our motto. Therefore, we will continue to plan ahead and ignore time constraints (as of now 😅). If you have read us up until this point, or even if you are new to the blog, you might remember (or not) that last year we went on a month-long winter road trip. This posed a challenge on T’s patience and predisposed him for the trips that followed. To be honest, this experience “predisposed” us too.

The winter trip was T’s first long adventure and hour-long car ride. We did not know much back then. Therefore, we had to learn along the way on how to make the trip smoother for him. After that experience, we understood the importance of rest stops, multiple snack options, and yes… The dreaded “Song that Never Ends.” Months later and we drove 17 hours to Florida smoothly! Therefore, I will share with you our Top 10 -still developing- Recommendations for Road Tripping with Kids! 

Note: T still says “Oh no!” every time we mention him we’ll go on a long car ride. I guess, we do our best? 🤷‍♀️

Top 10 -still in the works- Recommendations for Road Tripping with Kids

DIHEDRAL Style

  1. Always, ALWAYS have snacks in an easy to reach spot.
    1. If you are road tripping with the intention to camp, you might already bring stacks of food with you. HOWEVER, when loading the car, please remember to put the snack bag in an EASY to reach spot. (Yes, we are guilty of playing the Tetris game wrong)
  2. Make sure to bring toys or coloring books for the ride.
    1. This will keep them entertained, for a while at least! Which takes us to Tip Three!
  3. BRING A DVD PLAYERš (If you still do those)
    1. This changed T’s whole experience and I still don’t know how I did not think about it before. My car does not have included screens, so we bought a portable one and some movies on my local Goodwill store. It has definitely made the hours feel shorter!
  4. Bring a neck pillow or seatbelt covering for comfortable sleep
    1. If your kid falls asleep with a wobbling head that gives you anxiety and has you repositioning them every minute, this tip is for you! I suggest a neck pillow if your kid is still on a car seat- we used one that supports the chin to prevent the leaning of the head. If they have moved to a booster seat and beyond, I recommend a seat belt covering/pillow. This provides them with a comfy head rest while asleep.
  5. Have a change of clothes at hand
    1. Spills happen more often than they should, so make sure to have a spare of clothes near you. I always leave a bag inside of the car with clothes that belong IN the car. This can also turn into a time capsule activity, as you might later on find clothes from when your kids were younger (I once found a spare of clothes size 3T 😂)
  6. APPRECIATE rest stops
    1.  I cannot emphasize this more, as it is not only beneficial for the kids but for us too! Give yourselves the time to stretch, walk, and breathe some fresh air. Also, we all have to go to the restroom at some point, so… Go for it! Stopping at rest areas has made a big difference for us, it gives us some “play” and distraction time before getting back on the road.
  7. Have a pee bottle² for emergencies.
    1. Sometimes we can’t stop as often as we would like too, and others… Kids just want to pee at random times. Have a pee bottle you can hand them for peemergency situations.
  8. Bring your OWN water bottle.
    1. Talking about bottles, remember to bring one filled with water. If you stop at any of the rest areas, you will have the opportunity to refill it! It is not only healthy for you, but also for the environment. If you have no access to water fountains and end up buying a water bottle… I guess you could use it for peemergencies?
  9.  Remember to bring a First Aid Kit
    1. This one I think is one of the most important. Remember to bring all the medication you think you would need for a long trip (or short). T once ran a fever in one of the campgrounds and I was so relieved that we had all the medication at hand.
  10. Have FUN, sing along
    1.  Enjoy the ride, take advantage of the long hours together and talk. Get to know each other as friends, daughters, sons, brothers, or partners. Sing all of the annoying songs, play, laugh, and CONNECT.

If you have any suggestions or further tips, please let us know ☺️

Buckle UP! 

 

šI recommend DVD players because you might hit spots where you will not have signal and Tablets or iPads might not work (it works like that, right?)

²This tip applies to boys. However, if you have a girl and have tips to address peemergencies, PLEASE share them with us 🙂

•GIVEAWAY OP: We currently have a giveaway opportunity until Nov. 16 for some climbers’ skin care products from our friend and Podcast guest, Cody Amakali. Go to our IG link to learn more about it!

Photo by Pexels

img_0444_1
Gaia theDIHEDRAL Co-Writer

15 Replies to “Road Tripping with Kids”

  1. Martha Kennedy says: Reply

    Great advice — reminds me a lot of traveling with a dog… Except the DVD player and change of clothes. Oh and the pee bottle. Otherwise? I loved traveling with my dogs (and my step kids) but I learned that I was traveling with THEM. I was just the driver. 😛

    Liked by 1 person

  3. halffastcyclingclub says: Reply

    Excellent tips! When T gets a little older, books are a great choice for those who don’t get carsick reading. My kids packed more books than clothes. Each had a box of books. We even found libraries along the way that would issue library cards! (The town my parents grew up in was so excited to see us that they gave us a regional library card. We could check out books in one town and return them in another down the road.) It was hard to get their noses out of books unless we stopped. When I tried to get my daughter to look at the Sequoia grove we were driving through, she said she gets carsick looking out the window. We stopped.
    There is a device for female pee emergencies. I don’t know how well it would work for kids, but I knew someone who used one for snow camping. She called it “my mini-whizz machine”, but they come under multiple brand names (that not being one of them).
    We also played the alphabet game a lot, which gets hard in isolated areas – we made up new versions then. Also “I’m thinking of an animal” (a version of 20 questions).

    Liked by 1 person

    1. thedihedral says: Reply

      Good to know about the “mini-whizz machine” 😀 I definitely need one, haha. It is amazing that your kids are such avid readers, I hope T develops that passion for reading too! I would not be able to read in the car though, would be throwing up the entire ride..Ooops!

      Hugs,

      Gaia

      Like

  4. Jeff Cann says: Reply

    Back in the olden days, we took an 8 hour drive with my 2 year old. Her favorite music at that point was a cassette tape with three songs : The Lady with the Alligator Purse, Miss Mary Mack and Skip to my Lou. And then when you flipped the tape, it played them all again but without the singing. We hit traffic and our 8 hour drive turned into an 11 hour drive flipping that tape over and over. I’ll never forget the words to those songs.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. thedihedral says: Reply

      Hahahahaha I would have lost my mind!!! I don’t blame you for never forgetting the lyrics of the songs. Award for the most patient/best parents ever!!!

      Gaia

      Liked by 1 person

    2. halffastcyclingclub says: Reply

      I really can’t bring myself to hit “like”. Eleven hours of those three songs would…dang! I’m already thinking about being “all dressed in black, black, black…”

      Liked by 2 people

  6. Maggie says: Reply

    I second all of these great tips!! A suggestion I made in my recent “Fall Family Vacation” post was to bring the coloring books with the clear marker that ONLY works to bring out colors in that book- slightly stifles creativity, but great for toddlers who just like to scribble anyway. ☺️

    Liked by 1 person

  7. agelie pour nĂŠant says: Reply

    I love road tripping (without kids since I still don’t have children)! Thank you for checking out my world 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  8. kayakyrstin says: Reply

    Yep totally agree with all these! We’ve learned them the hard way traveling for four months! Didn’t have a potty trained kid though… I’m just entering that stage with my daughter. I have a little potty chair and am thinking of bringing that with next road trip (meaning anything over 45 minutes…) and a funnel and bottle. Not sure about poop though… maybe backpack camping style of a plastic bag (oh the joy) but hope we can just stop somewhere for number 2.
    Btw we use an iPad (because I had an old one) and bought a few seasons of stuff on iTunes for offline use and downloaded some things on Netflix and amazon prime. It’s limited on what you can download and you have to reconnect to the internet every few days to rewatch but works okay for us.

    Liked by 1 person

Leave a comment