Posted in My Kids

Since I have been blogging about our most recent trip lately I thought I would share today some of my tips about traveling with kids.  We have traveled A LOT with our kids.  Since October we have traveled just over 13,000 miles by car with 3 kids.  (Split up into 4 trips.)  Since we live over 2,000 miles from our family we seems to make several trips there a years.  Also, my husband travels for business and whenever we can we make it into a car trip and take the whole gang along we do.

Here are some things we do to make traveling easier and FUN!

Packing List - Years ago I made a packing list on my computer.  Whenever we are ready to leave for a trip I open the file and make any changes (Like this trip we no longer needed a porta crib!) then I print it.  Packing from this list is easy and it sets my mind at ease because I know we had all we needed on the last trip so I don't worry I am forgetting something. 

I have the the following categories:
Last Minute Things To Pack - This includes things like pillows, medicine, cosmetics bag, cellphone chargers and anything else we need the morning before we load into the car.
Clothing - Outfits, PJ’s, socks, underwear, diapers, pull-ups, diaper wipes, shoes
Swimming  -swimsuits, swim diapers, swim floaties, sunscreen
Toy Bags / Entertainment - Each kid  has a backpack that they pack with Mom.  It includes pencils, paper, stickers, pencil sharpeners and whatever toys they are currently into. One rule for this backpack is it must hold all their toys and anything they buy on the trip, this keeps them from over packing.  I have found we are usually so busy they actually only need a few toys.  I also include DVD's and Books on Tape for the car in this category.
Mom's Bag - this includes my knitting or crocheting, whatever I am reading, our family travel notebook, paper and pens.
Bedding  -Blankets and pillows, sleeping bags, air mattress & batteries to blow it up. (We have a soft cartop carrier we pack all our bedding in.  This keeps the car from getting over stuffed.  Although, the car is usually pretty stuffed anyway!  LOL)
Food -Bagels, cream cheese, honey buns,  bread,  tortillas,  PB&J mix (grape and strawberry) ham, chips (In cans), lollipops, juice boxes, sodas and waters, paper plates, napkins, sharp knife to make sandwiches, cooler, rolling food bag, kid cups, water bottles. We also have a car fridge, which is wonderful.  I keep the juice boxes and anything else I don't want to get water logged in the fridge.  We do eat fruits and veggies when we travel, but I tend to buy them as we need them since some States don't let you bring them in with you.
Misc.
Card games to play in hotel, stroller, flashlight, Windex wipes and Rain-ex, diaper bag, laptop, camera / video camera, Homeopathy kit.

Another this that really helpful is our family travel notebook.  This is a 1 inch  notebook I use for each trip we go on.   It has  plastic sheet protectors in it.  In the sheet protectors I put maps, reservations, my packing list (So I can add anything we may have forgotten and update on the computer when we get home.)  any information on places that I have printed out on places we will be visiting, etc.  I also have extra space to add any brochures I pick up along the way I want to bring home and put in our school records notebook.

As I mentioned in the packing list we pack DVD's and books on tape for the car.  Yes, we have a TV in the car and it is wonderful for trips.  However, just because we watch videos doesn't mean we can't be learning!  We take along Schoolhouse Rock,  Prince of Egypt, Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat, Veggie Tales, etc.  For books on tape we are very lucky our Library had a HUGE selection.  We like to check out books we have read in our Sonlight Curriculum on previous years and re-listen to them.  It's like a visit with an old friend!

I have mentioned our allowance system before.  One of the things we do so our kids have their own money for trips is double their allowance.  I know it sounds crazy, but here is what we do.  From the time we tell them about the trip they have the opportunity to save all they can.  Once we hit the road however much they have saved we double.  That is how much they have to spend on the trip.  Our kids are use to having to have their own money, so they think this is like penny from heavens!  A lot of the time they will not spend anything on the trip and then use it for something they really want when we get back.  Not coming home with a zillion cheap souveniours is fine with me!  LOL  I think we would spend more if we gave them all a flat amount and they wouldn't have the satisfaction of saving for the trip!

Another thing that goes along with my theme of being cheap is collecting rocks.  We don't do this every trip, but if we did the kids would LOVE IT!  What I have done is before we leave I buy a plastic box with dividers at Wal-Mart or JoAnn's for each kid.  Every time we stop the car the kids find a rock to add to their box.  I keep a Sharpie Marker in the glove box and I write the city and state where they got the rock on each rock.  The kids keep them in their box.  When we get home they not only have a cool collection, but it is perfect to use for a study on the different types of rocks.  (Make sure you do not pick up rocks if you are in a State or National Park.  We usually stop just outside the gates and get our rock for that location.  We respect the "Take only pictures, leave only footprints." idea to the best of our ability.)

On some trips we have made up songs about our adventures.  We will basically take a song we all know, like the Brady Bunch Theme and change the words to tell about our trip.  Something like..."Here's a story about the ****** family, who is going on a very special trip...."  Then we add a new verse everyday talking about whatever we did that day. (This one drives Dad NUTS!  LOL)

Some games we like to play in the car are:  Rhyming words - one person says a word nd the next person says a word that rhymes with it until we run out of words. I'm Thinking Of Something - This is basically 20 questions.  One person says something like "I'm thinking of something green." then everyone get to ask questions (up to 20) like is it alive?  Is it bigger than a breadbox?  etc.  Whoever figures it out goes next.  Collecting License Tags - Write down liscense tags we see and see how many States we can find during your trip.  Mad Libs - These are fun if you have someone who can write without getting carsick.  Dad is the only one who can do this and he's usually driving, but it's fun when we can do it!  Story Telling - Mom or Dad tell a story about someone everyone knows without saying who the story is about.  The kids have to figure out who the story is about.

The best thing for me about car travel with my family is that we are all together and enjoying each other company.  There are no outsides distractions and everyone laughs and talks and makes memories.  Plane travel may be faster, but the memories we make together in the car are priceless!

Click here to see pictures of our 2005 travels.

Here is a fun project I want to try after our next trip!  An Ephemera Collage!  I can just see the look on my husband's face when I tell him I want to SAVE all the trash to take home from our trip!  hehehehe