Photo by: johnleesandiego

Through the years , mostly through trial and error, my daughter Jenn and I came up with some useful and fun things to bring along on our various road trips whether across Delaware and then later Maryland where we lived to Pap and Nana’s house in the western part of Pennsylvania for holidays or visits or to one of our vacation destinations.  It was my good fortune that we had such similar temperaments and interests but even that withstanding we came up with some tried and true road travel tips that could be adapted for most families setting out on a road trip.  One of the first things we discovered was that there was never an“are we there yet” because we worked at making the drive more than just a necessary nuisance to rush through on our way from point A to point B, but for us it became an important part of the trip that made the time go quickly and became a lot of fun.

It would not be unusual, especially on a day trip, for us to start for one destination like a Celtic Faire, and then take an unexpected detour on the way to stop at a Garlic Festival or to pull over to pick some thistles – Jenn’s favorite! (yep, Jenn from an early age liked all things food. But I digress.

So here they are.

OUR TOP TEN THINGS TO BRING ON A FAMILY ROAD TRIP

10. A SENSE OF ADVENTURE. Being somewhat spontaneous can make road trips exciting.

9. MUSIC We liked to pick out some of our favorite CD’S often singing out loud and off key as we drove along. When it was classical you could often find us “conducting”.

8. MAPS Well, in our case, and I would recommend this for those traveling with small children, more like numbered steps of directions. If it is a family trip then it is important to let the child have a role in the getting there.  It adds interest for the child, is educational and it really helps a lot especially if there are just the two of you traveling. It is so much more pleasant to interact about the getting there than having to spend time trying to entertain a little one while you are supposed to be paying attention to the road.  Jenn always was my willing navigator even when she was an itty bit and for her it was much better to look at a sheet and tell me what comes next while she watched for road signs and followed along the direction sheet rather than having to deal with a cumbersome road map that was never folded in the right place and much too complicated for a little one.  Even as she grew older and we shared the driving and navigating, this became our travel MO.  She even got to the point where she would insert where the rest stops were or other neat points of interest for future trips over the same roads.

7. LAP BLANKET Little ones often like to take a little nap and Jenn was no exception.  Sometimes the purring of the engine and the movement of the car would have her snoozing in record time!

6. CREDIT CARD AND SMALL BILLS AND CHANGE Always good to have money on hand for gas, tolls and little extras.

5. GAMES Nothing too fancy or with too many pieces.  Jenn liked her etch a sketch and we had paper and pencil handy to play the license plate game where we would look at all the license plates on the cars and see who could get the most different states.

4. PLASTIC TRASH BAG Enough said!!

3. WET WIPES Ditto.

2. PLENTY OF DRINKS This would change with the season.  It might be hot chocolate in a thermos in the winter up north, or a box of juice (real juice and frozen from home to keep it really cold).  And on rare occasions, when we still actually had an occasional soda the drink of choice was ROOT BEER.  Wrap your cans in aluminum foil to keep them cold.

AND NUMBER ONE NO CONTEST was our BASKET OF GOODIES.  I had this huge basket that I lined with a really big red napkin that was just loaded with goodies that Jenn and I packed for our big trip.  We ate more and more often on these little excursions than was good for us but what the heck – this was a very important part of the trip.  We always loved our food!!  There were special sandwiches individually wrapped, fresh fruits like grapes and apples and bananas, and small bite sized veggies in little containers, trail mix of dried fruits and nuts, mini candy bars like Snickers, homemade seasonal cookies individually wrapped and tied, crunchies – Jenn always liked her corn curls and whatever else we could squeeze in there.  It was the best fun ever.  Most times these would be sweet indugences that were not regular staples in our home so that made these foodie splurges seem all the more special.

Well, that is it. I hope there are a few new ideas for you. Happy trails………………