July 25th, 2012

Road Trip

A successful 3,000 mile road trip with children under the age of 10. Sound like a dream, like I’m lying? It’s the truth. I consider a successful road trip to be one free of auto accidents, bathroom accidents, toddler freak outs, or moments of doubt that would have sent me back home. And, we were able to do it under the estimated time Google predicted without speeding or dangerous driving.

Preparation and consideration of the kids made the trip a success. The Griswalds would have been jealous. The kids had a portable DVD player, no staring out the windows at billboards and trees passing by at 70 MPH. Quality is lost on kids, so, if you don’t have a DVD player already, just buy one that works and has a fully charged battery. They also had coloring books and activity books with stickers. We packed plenty of drinks and snacks, avoiding unnecessary stops.

The key to the trip, the one thing that really made a difference was the time of day we chose to leave. It maybe better to say the time of night. I am wholly convinced that leaving at bedtime, around 7:00 p.m., was genius. And, I have to thank my brother for the idea. “Open 24 hours” gas stations made this type of trip possible. Any trip taking longer than 12 hours should start late at night. Less traffic. We drove through Atlanta at 3:00 a.m. without turning off the cruise control. Very few trucks were on the road, which was great when we had to drive through a thunderstorm. There were lines of tractor-trailers at the rest areas and truck stops and not on the road.

The children slept through the night. No complaints, or the classic Bart Simpson question, “Are we there yet?” We listen to our music and talk stations the entire time. I am endorsing Sirius/XM, too, because without it, Tennessee and Kentucky have very few choices for radio stations. When the kids woke up in the morning, a quick stop at McDonald’s for breakfast and we were on the road, again. They were not interested in running around or exploring. Cartoons, coloring and video games occupied their time until lunch. It was after lunch they started to get antsy, but we were almost to our destination. My theory is that they had more fun in the car than they would have at a park or a playground.

Driving like this is not easy, but it was definitely cheaper than flying a family of four. And, driving straight through to our destination saved the cost of a hotel room and extra meals on the road. Flights to Michigan and back for 4 people came in around $1200, driving was half of that.

Be patient and cautious when taking a long road trip with kids. Often times, they can and will distract you, either through requests or complaints. They are the kids, you are the adult, and it is not a battle, but an adventure.