Roadtripping – How Not to End Up Like Thelma and Louise

Life is a highway and you can dream of ridin’ it all night long, as long as you leave the kids at home. On a family road trip, here are some tips to keeping everyone sane:




1. Do as I say, don’t do as I do – Avoid road trips on crowded holiday weekends when everybody and their grandma (including you) is on the road. If you have to travel on a busy day, make sure to leave super early in the morning to avoid the rush. We made the mistake of heading to Disneyland the day before thanksgiving and battled 3 hours of traffic in the last 30 miles before LA.

2. Plan on long waits at rush stops – If you do drive on long weekends, plan on rush stops being overcrowded and not necessarily pleasant. Make sure you have an extra supply of baby wipes and sanitizer to disinfect everything in sight.

3. Throw the schedule out the window – You’ll get there when you get there is a good mantra when traveling with the kid (s). As you know now for life, kids have the darndest way of throwing things awry and you never know who is going to have a tantrum, poonami (poo that explodes through their clothes) or barf session. You’ll get there when you get there.

4. Stick to main routes – Roughing it in the wild is great but being stranded on a deserted road with no cell phone signal and a wailing, starving child in the middle of a rain storm is no picnic. That may be an extreme example but you have to agree, it can happen.

5. Marry your GPS navigator – So it is legally obligated to stay by your side.

6. Go for broke around nap times – If you have a napper (and we pray you still do), plan your longest driving stints around nap time. Figure that the baby will be ok for about 30-45 minutes before the nap as they get drowsy, 1-2 hours snooze time, and another 30-45 minutes post wake-up before their energy kicks in and they react to being restricted in the carseat for 4 hours. Score!

7. Don’t plan more than 8 hours of driving per day – And frankly, don’t plan for multiple days. It’s just cruel. Kids need to run and stretch (unless you have an infant who can survive on boob and fresh air). For the average toddler, a good routine is this: 2 hours or so when you just get into the car, stop for a snack/stretch, a good stretch of driving (see above) followed by a break for a meal/snack, 1-2 hours as doable without the kid going nuts with brief stops. Snacking, singing, playing games mandatory throughout.

8. Bring along the usual suspects – The IPad, the scribbler pad, dvd player, whatever gets you through. When it feels like the world is against you, an episode of Sesame Street can really pull you through.

9. Remember entertaining is hard work too – Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can “rest” while hanging out in the back seat with your child. Your presence will likely alert your child to her misery and she will keep pestering you while you are trying to get some shut-eye. Driving may actually be more restful.

10. Pack a mountain of snacks – Crackers, fruits, juices, milk, water, raisins, bread, (avoid sugary stuff), cheese sticks, and so on. It’s not nutrition, it’s entertainment. It’s also in case you get stuck in traffic and reach your destination hours after you intended.

John Steinbeck said “A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” The man’s got kids, you know it.

Enjoy!