Taking a long drive can be fun, but things can quickly become complicated when you have to make a long journey with the kids in the back. With that said, sometimes you have no other choice than to make a long drive — you can’t exactly avoid having to visit relatives during the holiday period, after all.
If you’ve got a long journey with children coming up, then our advice below should make it much easier to handle.
Know That It’ll Suck (At Times)
Managing your expectations is paramount when making a trip with kids. While you might hope that it’s a fun, family-bonding trip from beginning to end, the reality is that you’ll almost certainly encounter issues. Your kids will fight, they will get tired, there will be traffic. Anticipating that you’re in for a less-than-perfect ordeal is the first step towards helping things run smoothly. After all, if you expect that it’ll be terrible, then you can’t be all that surprised if it actually is terrible. In all likelihood, you’ll find that it’s probably much better than you thought it would be.
Provide Entertainment
You might love to gaze out at the views when you’re behind the wheel. But your children? They’ll probably only be amazed if you’re driving through a truly incredible scene, such as the Rocky Mountains or anywhere in the American Southwest. However, if you’re only driving through comparatively tame landscapes, then you can’t be too surprised if they grow bored if you’re providing entertainment. Happily, in this day and age, it couldn’t be easier to provide in-car fun for your little ones. You could add a car tablet holder, which will allow your children to watch videos while you drive, or you could download some fun children-friendly podcasts for them to listen to. By adding a few options, you’ll ensure that you always have something for your children to focus on.
Have Easy Access to Snacks
If there’s one thing that can disrupt the fun of a road trip, it’s a hungry child. If you have a long journey ahead, then it’s essential that you pack some snacks for your kids to eat — they’ll only complain about being hungry if you don’t! Remember that it’s best to make your snacks easily accessible; they can’t work their magic if they’re locked away in the trunk of the car.
Don’t Make the Drives Too Long
You might want to get to your destination as quickly as you can, but it’s best not to make the drive too long. While you’ll be OK with driving eight hours, your kids will probably be ready to get out of the vehicle after four hours. If you have no other choice but to drive for a long time, then be sure to have plenty of long breaks. Stopping for thirty minutes so that your children can run around and play will keep them in a good mood — plus, it might even put them to sleep in the back of the car for a few hours!
