The Truth About Roadtripping with Kids

I have traveled a lot with my three kids. Our family has moved a lot for schooling and jobs, and the last time we counted, my 8-year-old had visited 25 states. We have frequently traveled by plane, but a good chunk of it has been by car. Part of this is cost, but part of it is that I actually love road trips. I was the kid who actually finished all of the verses of “99 Bottles of Beer” (my poor parents). I love audiobooks, I love snacks, and I love pointing out license plates, rare cars, and roadkill (again, my poor family).

Last week, my kids and I drove to a family reunion in Oregon (my husband had to work, boo). We ended up driving almost 2,000 miles in 10 days. Unfortunately, it’s a little more stressful to road trip now that I’m a mother, but it can still be fun. I just try to recognize the dirty truths of road tripping with kids

Prepare for vomit and spills

Even if you think your kid would never throw up in the car, you need to assume they will. Pack Clorox wipes, garbage bags, laundry detergent, and large Ziploc bags (to contain the smell of the puke clothes). Realistically, if you travel by car enough, you will have a kid throw up. If you’re lucky enough to dodge that bullet, someone will still absolutely make some sort of heinous mess. Expect it at some point.

Screen time on the road is not the same as screen time at home

Nobody wants to admit to it, but screens can be amazing tools for keeping kids entertained on the road. Pick your poison, but my kids are good with watching movies on our van’s DVD player. They probably could sit and watch all day. Now, it’s easy to feel guilty about it, but if you’re driving with stressed kids and the next town isn’t for hundreds of miles, let them watch a dang movie. Don’t be a martyr.

Be flexible and forgiving

You will deal with tantrums and something WILL go wrong on a long road trip. You will probably yell at your kids. If you’re like me last week, you’ll yell a lot. Be gentle with yourself and with them. You might have a destination in mind that you need to skip because it’s just not going to work out with cranky kids or a tired parent. The trip isn’t ruined – it’s just evolving. If you go in with this mindset, the inevitable bumps along the road will seem a little smoother.

See it through their eyes 

Kids have unique perspectives – embrace it. At Crater Lake, I tried my best to teach my kids about calderas and the interesting volcanic history, but they didn’t love it because they didn’t get to play in the water. Conversely, they adored playing in the mud at two dirty reservoirs we stopped by. They built intricate mud cakes and made mud cities. It was disgusting to me but to them one of their favorite parts of the trip. Kids aren’t mini-adults, and while I don’t advocate letting them call the shots (because they did end up learning about volcanos, even if it didn’t blow their minds like I had hoped), I do suggest that the trip is more magical for everyone involved if you stop and see the mud city from a kid’s perspective and temporarily ignore the urge to google “diseases found in mud.”