A long road trip can be agony if you don’t have a plan in place to keep the kids occupied. They’ll get bored, and then they’ll seek to occupy themselves – often in ways that you might not appreciate.
To save yourself from a nightmare that stretches for hours and hours, it’s worth thinking in advance about how you’ll keep them occupied, and what you’ll see along the way.
Certain kinds of vehicle are more suited to long trips than others. For example, the spacious interior of a Peugeot 5008 SUV is going to suit the task better than that of a smaller vehicle.
Here are some other things you might want to think about to plan a brilliant road trip with the family:
Make sure that everyone is rested
A lack of sleep is sure to result in frayed tempers. The driver, obviously, needs to be able to concentrate and pay attention to the road ahead. But sleep-deprived children are also going to be unpleasant to be around.
On the other hand, if your children are actually asleep for a portion of the trip, you might find that things are that much more bearable. Pack some pillows and blankets and make resting easy for them.
Go to the toilet before you leave
Your children should be encouraged to go to the toilet just before you leave. That way, you’ll be able to minimise the chance that they’ll need to go when you’re on the road.
Plan your rest stops
Just about any large task can be managed by first breaking it into smaller ones. And the same applies to road trips. Research in advance where you’re going to be stopping. Most drivers need a break every two hours or so, and ideally more often.
Get the kids looking forward to these leg-stretching opportunities by counting down the junctions. If you’re driving with another adult, then you might take turns just to share the burden, and to keep things interesting.
Bring entertainment
Modern parents have a considerable advantage over older ones, in that they can simply provide the kids with a smart device like a tablet computer and leave them to entertain themselves. Just make sure that you bring along the appropriate chargers. Books are a reliable hit, as they provide entertainment that lasts for hours rather than minutes.
Some people tend to start feeling sick if they’re forced to read on a moving vehicle, however, so look into audiobooks as an alternative.
Bring snacks
If your children are getting stressed because they’re hungry, than a packet of nuts is unlikely to make much of a difference, at least not directly. What it will do, however, is provide an incentive for good behaviour.
Disclosure: this is a collaborative post
I have many memories of childhood car journeys. Travel sickness was often a problem. I believe I have now solved this. Of course if you’re driving you don’t get sick and this is the key. Look out of the front window and follow the road in front of you. As you go round a corner, keep your eye on a fixed point eg a tree or lampost ahead. For longer curves you may have to change to a further away fixed point. Could all this be taught to a child? I’m not sure and it probably ought not to be unless they are regularly sick. They may find it boring but the bonus of not feeling ill may be enough incentive to keep them at it.
Looking over the driver’s right shoulder is my favourite passenger position nowadays but not so easy for a small child to see over. I often got put in the middle front seat – rare then and even less common now. However I didn’t like sitting there because it always seemed airless. I’m sure that had I known these techniques then I might have found that seat beneficial but I was often already feeling unwell when sat there.
On the plus side, long journeys meant that were able to have a radio in the car. This was my dad’s classic Roberts radio (the transistor as he called it) with an aerial that hooked over the car window plugged in the back. He was willing to put up with our choice of pop music. At other times we played I-spy. I well remember a very early start for the west country when the plan was to stop at Stonehenge for a picnic breakfast and toilets. Unfortunately, having arrived there at 7am, and although we were able to park there, we found that the toilets were locked until the opening time of 9am!