If you are looking for family vacation ideas, have you ever thought of doing a road trip? We took our first long-distance family vacation road trip in the US when our kid was only two years old. As you can read from our first blog post, the road trip lasted over 3000 miles (nearly 5000 kms) across four states! It seemed like a crazy thing to do at the time but it was a fantastic experience.

Believe it or not, less than a year later, we decided to take our second family vacation road trip; this time across three states and into another country!

On this second road trip, we traveled across the states of California, Oregon, Washington and over the border into Vancouver, Canada. This second road trip was over 2,200 miles (3,500 kms) and lasted 8 days. Our toddler was almost three.

Our toddler was already very well-behaved on her first road trip, but on this second one, she was even more amazing! Not only did she not fuss (except for the last day when we were on our way home) but she would ask often, “Are we going to a new place to stay tonight?”

You see, we stayed in a different Airbnb every night (except for Vancouver where we stayed two nights). Our toddler had to sleep in different beds in every new Airbnb. But she never complained, and she slept through the night!

Building on the lessons that we acquired from the first long-distance family road trip, I now want to share with you additional things that I have learned since our first family vacation road trip.

  1. Map It Out To Your Kid

We believe in the importance of using life as an educational opportunity. Our kid has a huge map on her bedroom wall as well as a map puzzle that she loves playing with.

Once we had planned out the road trip, my husband would point out the states that we intended to visit. This visual representation helped to grow our toddler’s interest in the road trip and extend her geography knowledge. (Oh by the way, we have a bunch of ideas to help you turn life into educational opportunities. Check out our 365 day challenge for STEM-inspired activities for kids).

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  1. Create Excitement

About a month before our road trip, I started to build excitement and prepare my toddler for our road trip. I told her that we were going on a long drive to see new things and play at new places. I told her that she would be expected to stay in her car seat for long periods of time but it would be fun.

I think that it’s equally important to build excitement, but also to get your toddler’s agreement for good behavior on the road trip. Even if it doesn’t end up being that way, they will be trying their best. At the very least, if all hell breaks loose, you can remind your toddler about their promise and try to get cooperation.

I also suggest that you get some books from the library about the places you intend to visit and read them to your child before you start the road trip. This will not only create an educational experience for your kid during your road trip but it will also increase your kid’s excitement.

If appropriate, you may even want to involve your kid in your road trip planning. You can let them choose what they want to see, what they want to eat and where they want to stay.

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  1. Plan In Line With Maturity

Between our first and second family vacation road trip, we noticed a huge difference in our toddler’s behavior and patience levels due to her increased maturity. She was only nine months older but the added maturity made a huge difference.

When she was younger, she needed constant attention, engagement and entertainment.

By the second road trip, she was able to play independently by herself for long periods of time and she found ways to amuse herself in the car.

When she was physically uncomfortable, she was also able to hold out for longer. For example, there were a few times when she pooped in her diaper while we were on the freeway. We couldn’t always find a rest stop immediately. Instead of screaming and crying like she had previously, we could offer her distractions like watching cartoons on our mobile while we rushed to the rest stop.

This brings us to our next tip.

  1. Electronic Devices

You may disagree with letting your child spend too much time on electronic devices such as iPads, tablets and mobile phones. We understand and have the same concerns.

However, we couldn’t deny that electronic devices were the most effective form of entertainment and distraction for our kid when we were stuck in the car.

Most of the time, our kid was happy to listen to our conversations, sleep, look out the window or play with her toys.

However, there were a few times when we had no choice but to pull out an electronic device for her. For example, when she wanted to get out off the car while we were still on the freeway.

In such emergency situations, we were thankful that these electronic devices could provide momentary distraction while we figured out a solution.

  1. Play First, Then Drive

If you and your kids are at your best in the mornings, then always play first, then drive. Go sightseeing right after breakfast and when you are done, start driving to your next destination.

Your toddler will fuss less in the car if he or she has had the opportunity to let off steam and energy first. Plus, playing and sightseeing in the morning helped to tire our kid out so that she would sleep for a large part of our drive later.

We also learned this important lesson during our first family vacation road trip so I made sure that I always scheduled sightseeing and other activities in the morning.

  1. Always Have Backup Entertainment or Food Available.

We mentioned in our earlier road trip blog post that one of the worst things that can happen is to run out of entertainment options for your kid.

Because of this, we made sure that we bought a ton of coloring and sticker books for our toddler. Thankfully, we didn’t run out this time.

Besides having a ton of entertainment options, you should also strategize how you give them to your child.

We didn’t give all the coloring books to our kid all at once. We would give her two or three each day. This is because after a few days, she would get bored of them and want new books.

Keep your backup toys/entertainment options hidden in your luggage or in the trunk of your car until you are ready for your toddler to have them. Save the best stuff for last.

If food works, always have your kid’s favorite foods available. We found that our toddler grew tired of her usual foods but she was happy to snack on new treats like biscuits and packaged fruit.

On our road trip, there were a lot of cafés, fast food places and supermarkets so we never ran out of food options.

If you are traveling on a route that may not have a lot of food options, then consider bringing along an icebox cooler that fits in the car to store snacks and drinks. You can get them from places like Amazon, some grocery stores or even at a dollar store.

  1. Make Your Own ‘Noggle’

Does it tend to get hot in the back seat? Does your kid complain about the heat when getting in the car? Some vehicles are fitted with air-conditioning (AC) vents in the back but older sedan cars don’t have this feature.

If you are planning to do a road trip where the weather is really sunny and hot, you know how much cars heat up after being parked outside.

I did some research and discovered the Noggle, which has helped to stop our toddler’s constant complaints. It is not the prettiest thing to have in the car, but by golly, it works!

The Noggle is a tube attached to your AC vent in front and directs cool air from your front AC vent to the back.

If you prefer to make your own, you can purchase an air duct directly from Amazon or hardware store and attach it with zip ties to your front AC vent. We tied the other end of the air duct to our kid’s car seat arm so that the air duct faced her. We found that 5 feet (1.5 meters) was about the right length for the air duct to reach the back seat. Making your own costs a fraction of the price but be warned, it does look ugly (unless you pimp it)!

Nevertheless, we now have a non-complaining, cool and happy child in the back seat of the car.

As an alternative, you can also install a portable fan. However, this won’t cool down the back of the car as quickly as a Noggle.

  1. Bring Clothes For All Seasons/Weather

If you are going on a long road trip that takes you across several states or countries, then we advise you to bring clothes for all kinds of weather.

When we started our road trip, it was officially summer and we were in sandals and shorts. However, after two days of driving, we entered another state and the weather changed drastically. We did not expect to see snow.

We had prepared for rain (I always bring our waterproof jackets wherever we go) but we never thought that there would still be snow in summer.

Luckily for our toddler, she had waterproof boots but we adults didn’t. We had to stand back miserably to watch from a distance while she had a glorious time stomping in the snow.

So my advice for all road trippers? Prepare for all seasons. Even better, bring one of these for every road trip that you do:

  • Sandals, hat, towel, sunscreen and swimwear for hot sunny days and sandy beaches.
  • Waterproof footwear/boots and umbrella/raincoat/poncho for rain and snow.
  • Warm waterproof jacket and/or windbreaker jackets for windy and chilly conditions.
  • Good walking/hiking shoes for long-distance walking.

Now, you will truly be prepared for all seasons and won’t have to miss out on any fun!

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  1. Always Have These Easily Accessible

If you intend to travel very often, you should make yourself a travel packing list. I laminated mine and I tick it off with a whiteboard marker as I pack. Then after I am done with the packing, I wipe it off, ready to be used again for our next road trip. It saves me worrying about whether I remembered to bring everything.

If you want to see my full road trip packing list, it is at the end of this article.

There are a few things that I advise you to pack in an easily accessible bag for your kid. I find that I am frequently reaching for these every day of the road trip and it makes my life so much easier if I have them within reach.

Here is the list of things that you want to be able to get to easily for your child:

  • Food.
  • Drink.
  • Comfort blanket and toy.
  • Entertainment (if electronic devices, their chargers too).
  • Diapers, wipes and plastic bag for storing soiled diapers.
  • Extra change of clothes.
  • Hand sanitizer.
  • Jacket.
  • Hat.
  • Sunscreen or moisturizer.
  • Towel (if your kid tends to spill things or get wet).

Don’t be lulled by the false assumption that you can easily pop the trunk of your car to rummage through your bags to find these things.

It is always a bad idea to have to open the boot of your car to retrieve things before you have arrived at your destination. Why?

Firstly, it is dangerous. You don’t want opportunistic thieves to notice that you have a lot of stuff in your car. Thieves often choose to break into cars that have a lot of things in them.

Secondly, it is simply a pain. Imagine that your kid is screaming for something while you are driving on the freeway. You now have to look for an exit so you can park your car to look for stuff. It is a lot easier if you can simply access your bag in the car and grab whatever it is that you need without having to stop the car.

  1. Involve Your Kid In The Road Trip

If your kid is old enough to make simple choices, involve them in some harmless decision-making during the road trip. It will not only make the trip more interesting for them but they will feel a greater sense of control and involvement in the trip.

My husband would let our kid decide which restaurant we were going to stop at for lunch. I didn’t always agree with the choices but I let it pass.

In fact, being able to try new and different foods was part of the reason why our kid loved the road trip so much.

  1. Stay Flexible- Share Your Room

This next advice won’t suit everyone and it is probably only relevant for younger kids, but it worked well for our toddler.

At home, I always insist on my toddler sleeping in her own room. However, since we stayed in a different Airbnb almost every night of our road trip, I allowed my toddler to share our room (not our bed though).

We would push her bed or mattress into our room so that she could be close to us. This helped everyone get a better night’s rest as she didn’t wake up in the middle of the night and we didn’t worry about her too.

I was honestly impressed with how easily our toddler adjusted to the constant change in sleep locations, but I think that one of the main factors that helped was that she felt secure being in the same room as us.

  1. Sitting In Front Is Fine

In our earlier blog post on our first family vacation road trip, we said that if you could, you should take turns to sit with your young kid in the back seat. Our reasoning back then, was that it would be easier for you to entertain him or her, feed them etc.

Since this second family vacation road trip, we have changed our mind now.

We think that it’s better for adults to stay in the front seats. In the second road trip, both of us adults sat in the front of the car while our toddler sat by herself in the back. It was undoubtedly, a 200% better experience for us adults.

Because we were sitting in front and there was no one beside her, our kid was a lot less demanding. We did explain to her that she had to amuse herself as it was difficult for either of us to help her when we were both in front. She would occasionally ask for food and coloring books but for the most part, she would sit silently, look out the window or play by herself.

Our experience may be influenced by the fact that our toddler is now more mature and able to empathize with us. If your child is only a young baby that still requires a lot of attention, it may serve you better if an adult remained in the back.

  1. Schedule ‘Rest Days’

Road trips are tiring for everyone. As parents, we tend to focus on making sure that the trip is comfortable for our kids. However, as a parent, you need to make sure that YOU are well-rested too.

That’s because as the adult in charge, your child is relying on you to remain upbeat, positive, sane and safe during the trip. If you meltdown, everyone is going to suffer. Getting rest is especially important if you are the driver or sharing some of the driving. Remember, safety first!

I highly suggest that you schedule ‘rest days’ which are days where there is little to no driving involved. Driving is actually very tiring as it requires intense focus and concentration as you navigate new roads and unfamiliar driving conditions.

I discovered that our optimal drive and rest schedule was 2:1; long driving for two days and rest on the third day.

If you are used to driving long distances, you may have a better ratio than this but try to plan your driving ‘rest days’ into your schedule.

  1. Give Kid Control Over Their Sleeping Area

To help our toddler adjust to the different sleep environments in all our Airbnbs, we try to give our kid as much control over her sleeping area as much as possible.

As long as it doesn’t interfere with her sleep, we allow her to arrange her blankets and toys anyway that she wants in all of her Airbnb beds. She often loves piling them all on one side of the bed the way she does at home.

By having control over her bed, she feels a greater sense of involvement and control over her space and sleeps better.

  1. Adjust Expectations and Just Do It!

I still remember when our kid was a baby. She hated being in her car seat and would scream and scream. I even cancelled activities as I was in tears and couldn’t take the screaming. Often, I would stop and park the car by the side of the road to take her out of the car seat for a short while and play with her until she consented for us to keep driving. Once, she screamed for so long that she vomited.

I am thankful to the many moms who shared valuable road trip tips with me back then.

But now, look at our champion toddler road tripper. Miracles do happen people!

Even if you have a kid who seems to hate sitting in the car, we strongly advice you not to hold back from family vacation road trips. Instead, start off with some shorter road trip excursions and help your kid build up to the idea and habit of staying for a longer period of time in the car.

We strongly believe that our toddler did so well in this second road trip because she already had experience with her first road trip. In fact, our kid loved this second road trip so much that she didn’t want to go home!

So face up to your fear, plan well and just do it!

Our Toddler’s Road Trip Packing List.

  • Stroller.
  • Snack travel tray.
  • Diaper bag (extra clothes, diapers, wipes, changing pad, hand sanitizer, blanket).
  • Toiletries (shampoo/soap, toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, comb).
  • Moisturizer.
  • Baby monitor & charger.
  • Digital thermometer. 
  • Noggle/portable fan.
  • Nail scissors.
  • Favorite toys.
  • White noise machine & charger.
  • Sunglasses.
  • Hat.
  • Towel.
  • 2 blankets- one thin and one thick.
  • Clothes (warm jacket that is waterproof, socks, T shirts n singlets, shorts, long pants and long-sleeved shirts as appropriate. I also bring at least one presentable/pretty set of clothes for fancier outings).
  • Footwear (sandals, walking shoes, waterproof boots).
  • Swim diapers.
  • Kid umbrella.
  • Feeding (plastic plate, cutlery, cup, water bottle).
  • Kid vitamins.
  • Hairdryer.
  • Car window shades.
  • Winter earmuffs, gloves, cap (for winter).
  • Portable cooler.
  • A ton of entertainment for the trip- electronic device with charger, new activities and new toys.
  • A ton of snacks (rice crackers, biscuits, bananas, packaged peaches, dried fruit, yogurt, string cheese).

We add these to the list if we were bringing a baby on the road trip:

Like this list? Share it with all your friends who want to do more family vacation road trips!