Just needed to vocalize to get it out to avoid passing the feelings on to the fam.

Starting a road trip with two young ones. Kind of stressed about it - we’re doing 30+hrs total car-time over the next couple of weeks.

Have lots of contingencies for the car ride, planned lots of stops, have lots of snacks and some new distractions for the kids.

Trying to tell myself over and over it’s not about getting there, it’s about making a day out of the drives. It’s a very different approach to how I’ve always traveled - usually my wife and I would just power thru and get there. With a potty trainer and a new walker I’m still coming to terms with expecting to stop every 30m. Idk that my heads totally there yet and wanted to share, even if just to put my thoughts on “paper”.

How have other dad’s out there had success with young ones on long trips? Any tips or ideas are welcome :)

  • Ender2k
    3•1 year ago

    I’m a bit late to this, but a couple of things we did when the kiddos were younger:

    1. Favorite blanket, pillow, and stuffy
    2. A sunshade for their seat
    3. Ask at EVERY rest stop, “Who needs to pee?” and then stop at every single one if needed…(and then everyone gets out to stretch even if they don’t need to pee)
    4. Love the ideas mentioned above about small toys wrapped up. We did variations on this.
    5. They each get to pack their own shoebox (e.g., 6 qt Sterilite Storage Container ) with anything they want.
    6. Play the license plate game.
    7. Headphones for any electronics that are coming AND the car charger or inverter for said electronic
    8. Hotspot or one of our phones in hotspot mode