Preparation and clear boundaries make a road trip with your babies, toddlers and school-age kids easier to handle and much more fun for everyone.
If you dread the idea of piling your kids into the car and traveling, think of the poor mothers trapped in their covered wagons for ten months on the Oregon Trail.
Planning and foresight can make travel not just endurable but enriching.
Here are some kid-tested ways to keep peace in your wagons while you travel with kids.
Just Say No
-
NO sugar allowed before or during the drive. This means:
— No candy
— No gum
— No snack foods with sugar in them
— No sodas
— No Lifesavers
-
NO caffeine allowed:
— No Coke, Pepsi, frappes
— No iced tea
— No chocolate
10 More Sanity-Savers When No is Not Enough
1. Even though sugar may temporarily pacify a whining child, in 90 minutes or less it will plunge this same child into a blood-sugar crisis resulting in crying, hitting, whining or worse.
2. Prepare them with a map, and an idea of how long the journey really is, marking off milestones so they get a feeling of progress. This will cut down on "How much longer?" and "Are we there yet?"
3. Give each child a "travel pack" into which all treasures must fit. If objects are found on the floor of the car, or under the seat, or stuck to the dog (or another sibling), they go into the trash. Call it a "keeping bag." Make sure your child's name, address, phone, and destination information is inside the keeping bag in case it accidentally grows legs.
4. Assign window seats using a chart so you can accurately recall who did and did not get a seat by the window. There should be a rule that you cannot have more children than you have windows. If you make the assignment of windows a boring and tedious task, worthy of a nitpicking award, your children may eventually lose all interest in who gets a window just to avoid listening to your litany of who already HAD a window seat.
5. Take special precautions for the carsick-prone child. Seasick bands really do work, as do dermal patches that release chemicals to counteract motion sickness. Teach your kids some sort of easy signal to tell you they are REALLY going to throw up and that you REALLY need to stop the car or pass the barf bag NOW. It will save a lot of grief and chain-reaction sickness in the vehicle. Restricting fluids sometimes helps, since the ailment is related to fluid in the ears. Antihistamines help, too.
6. Take your pit-stops as seriously as the Unsers do. Every two hours, whether it's raining, sleeting, snowing, or the end of the world–stop the car. Get out. If there's a gas station, empty the kids and fill the tank. If there's nothing out there but "nothing," let them use the car door as a privacy screen. Always carry toilet paper and wipes in the car.
7. Stop to eat and stretch and get at least 20 feet away from each other at least every four hours. You'll like each other a whole lot more at the end of the day.
8. Zero tolerance of name-calling or bad manners.
9. Let each child choose snacks themselves. Encourage sharing. Reward good behavior constantly. Do not tolerate bad behavior.
10. Each child should have a Discman/MP3 Player/iPod with headphones, and lots of batteries. How about listening to "Harry Potter" during the journey? Many libraries lend books-on-tape/CDs for free. It's a great way to read away the miles.
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Grt place to visit.. This place is located after entering the Ranthambore National Park.. However, to visit this place u can evn get your own vehicle…
John, glad you liked the story. This park is in Ohio where the weather can be unpredictable! It’s warmest between late April and November, but even April has the risk of some snow. If you’re camping with kids, the safest bet is June to August, because it’s warmer and there’s little rain. Enjoy your trip.
Hey Maggie, I really appreciate your innovative traveling ideas. You have covered so many adventurous places. Waiting for some new destinations. Please keep posting.
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It’s truly magical being there. I love the art this country offers. Their wall arts and crafts are just lovely.
Hi Maggie,
You always share to the world with something new and different destinations. Thank you so much for sharing.
The history of Cuhahoga valley national park seems interesting and must be a new experience when we observe scenes of National park from their scenic campgrounds.
which season do you think is the best time to visit this national park?
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Wow, what a nice article. Makes you feel like you should pack up and go immediately. It seems Linblad runs a good operation and trips are kid friendly. Is there a list of particular dates that are family friendly or are there kid activities year round on board the boats. Any other advice on travling with kids to Ecuador and Galapagos would be really welcome.
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Hello Michael, glad to hear your family is interested in a dude ranch holiday.
Since your kids are older and, hopefully, everyone in the family rides, you have lots of options. The Dude Ranchers Association is a really helpful resource in sorting through the many types of ranch vacations. For example, you can go here: https://duderanch.org/by-activity-amenity and search for ‘Advanced Rides’ and “Cattle Drives’ and that would get you some real working ranches that would have more of the lifestyle you seem to be looking for. One of our authors recommends the Hideout in Shell, Wyoming for this type of trip.
Looking for a real ranch experience with horseback riding (lots of it) and time in the open air with my son (15) and daughter (12) and my wife (49). I am 62. We live in NJ, my children have been sheltered but I grew up in a small coal mining town in Pennsylvania. I want my children to see another side of life.
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Of course, you can do travel freely and easily through these two countries yourself, but I enjoyed having the trip curated for me, including well-chosen local guides, comfortable transportation on call and some superb private tours, such as a Khmer cooking class or historic walking tour of Saigon, with flexibility in the itinerary for our group of five to follow their own paths, such as making an emotional detour to the moving Genocide Museum housed in the old S-21 jail in Phnom Penh.
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I enjoyed reading your Italian family vacation story, and thank you so much for these tips. This surely gonna help us achieve a stress-free vacation in Italy. Great blog!
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For Richard re: dual citizenship US-Nicaragua… can I use the same to travel back to Nicaragua with the same Power of Attorney (Specific to Minors) since wife is staying back in Nicaragua to keep eyes on the house.
Hi Richard, In our travel experience, this type of document should work well for your travels, but if your wife is available, it can’t hurt to download the sample forms we have online and also have her fill out and notarize one for your trip with your child. The agency responsible in your case will be the carrier — we assume an airline — and if they can make a note in your travel record that they have approved the Nicaraguan documents you should be fine on both departing and entering.
Safe Travels!
Wow, great!!! it could be a great fun out there.
very informative article Travel forums provide first hand experience and advice to travelers and are a great source of information and travel tips.
As a signal parent, your life, world, actions are based on your childs well fair. Not your happiness or anything that has to do with you.
It should list where they are going, the dates that they are allowed to go and grant your permission for that trip. You want to include your address and phone number and probably the contact info for the adult traveling as well.
The grand archways and the paintings of Lord Krishna and his cows are a visual treat. Wander through areas opened for tourists and you shall witness the impressive aura and architecture of the Royal state of Rajasthan.
Thanks for Sharing
Hello guys my wife and I have dual citizenship US-Nicaragua, I’m planning to travel to the US with our son also dual citizenship for 3 weeks, with a Power of Attorney (Specific to Minors) from Nicaragua, can I use the same to travel back to Nicaragua with the same Power of Attorney (Specific to Minors) since wife is staying back in Nicaragua to keep eyes on the house.
Congratulations to the winners! A question to all the professional travelers here, how are you planning the route ant the places to see while visiting a new country? As for me I just google the most touristic and popular places. It works mostly, but there were a few times when I realized that I have seen only some the places this country or city is famous for, and that’s sad. On my last trip to Armenia, I decided to take a tour and it was quite productive. It’s much more informative when somebody is telling you history and some interesting facts. If someone wants to save their time – make sure to ask them to help if you’ll ever be there.
Curitiba é uma lugar lindo, além de ser considerada uma das melhores cidades para se morar em Brasil.
Realmente a muito o que conhecer por lá, como também diversas outras belezas do nosso brasil.
Principalmente as praias do Brasil que são muito procurada por inúmeros turistas internacionais e nacionais.
As Praias do Litoral Paulista, divididos entre Praias do Litoral Norte e Litoral Sul.
As mais conhecidas são as Praias de Ubatuba com mais de 100 belas praias no litoral norte paulista.
Já no litoral sul, a região mais procurada são as Praias de Guarujá, a região conta com 23 praias de pura beleza e preservação ambiental.
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Mahalo,
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Was an honour and pleasure to host you both in the Maori Whakata/Welcome to Wanaka. Welcome back anytime to this wonderful part of the world.
Kia Kaha/Stay strong
[http://www.wanahaka.co.nz]