Road Trip: looking for advice from pros!

[Anonymous]

We are headed out to visit family who has moved 9hr away. The last time we took a road trip, our DC was super young, we left REALLY early in the morning so she’d sleep most of the way, and stopped a lot so she could burn off energy. This time around she’s 14 and is content just sitting and watching the world pass by as she listens to music. I’m wondering a couple things and would love your advice!

We are leaving around 5am, hoping to arrive by 4pm, only making minimal stops. I’m packing a bunch of snacks and was thinking of packing a sleeve of bagels and cream cheese and maybe some fruit, so we don’t have to stop to have a prolonged breakfast. DH thinks we should stop to eat both breakfast AND lunch, and has even suggested finding “something” along the way to break up the drive. I think we should soldier through and just GET THERE. Once we get there there will be a spread of good food, cold drinks, a pool, and nothing to do but relax for the week.

So considering the drive, the age of DC, how would you work this? The

[Anonymous]

When we have traveled to a new-to-us area, we have researched and found a "cheap eats" place for lunch, and we aim to arrive around 1 pm. (Always best to confirm in advance that the place will be open on that day/time.) This approach gives us a place to aim for with our 5 am departure, and we don't have to be concerned about a late dinner because we have already covered over 3/4 of our drive when we pull in for lunch.

[Anonymous]

Just get there, with a 45 minute stop for bathroom/lunch/fuel.

[Anonymous]

There’s a recent thread here about roadtrips that I’d look at.

One long stop, a few short ones. Get the poor kid an iPad for the trip.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just get there, with a 45 minute stop for bathroom/lunch/fuel.

A 45 minute stop is completely and absolutely unnecessary. Unless you meant a combined 45 minutes over the entire trip, which in that case, sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There’s a recent thread here about roadtrips that I’d look at.

One long stop, a few short ones. Get the poor kid an iPad for the trip.

I’m sure the “poor” 14yo has a phone.

[Anonymous]

Nine hours is a long time in a car. If the weather’s good, I would stop at least for a picnic lunch so everyone can move their legs around for a bit. And then two other mini stops, for gas or bathroom or just a stretch.

[Anonymous]

Are you rotating the driving duties? Maybe your husband doesn't want to be at the wheel that long.

Maybe he would feel better if you stop to swap drivers every couple of hours, which would allow everyone to stretch their legs.

Stopping at restaurants does add a lot of time.

[Anonymous]

We are a get there as fast as you can family. We stop for bathrooms every few hours and we pick up food to eat in the car. Personally I’d prefer to pack sandwiches but it’s hard not to give in to getting food since we drive straight through.

[Anonymous]

We usually drive for no more than 4 hours on multi-day road trips. But, 9 hours are very doable. Just take breaks, find some stuff to see and use yelp to find great places to eat.

Our road trips are just joyful adventures because we map detours etc in it and usually stay in nice hotels for the night.

[Anonymous]

My kids love to build in places to see, read up on all the places, map the detours, they buy magnets from every single stop/touristy place so that they can line it up on the fridge and remember the entire trip, and it is a fun trip of sightseeing, magnet buying, good dining and lots of pictures.

Of course, go in a comfortable vehicle, have noise cancelling headphones, pillows, blankets, fuzzy socks, comfortable sleep masks, easy flowy layered outfits, binoculars if you are bird watchers, lots of water, fruits, snacks etc. Also, it is essential that you have the car window roller shades, hats, sunglasses etc.

My teen DD also brings along a lot of korean face masks. Everyone gets their own devices - of course.

[Anonymous]

Considering the drive length and age of DC, I’d focus it on driver comfort and preferences.

Dh and I usually stop every 2-3 hours and rotate drivers. If I am driving alone, then I still stop every 2-3 hours - the highway gets very boring and I feel that I need to do a change of “scenery” and move a bit. Usually 5-10 minutes stops.

I pack breakfast food / snacks, so we have one stop at a drive through to get chicken strips or something else quick like that. Unless you’re going in a multi day roadtrip, you can easily eat fast food one day. When it’s multi-day or multi-week roadtrip, we tend to drive less per day mostly and stop at family food diners.

We also time gas stops either with food or in a way to minimize the stops, so fill up when the car is almost empty (and try to time the lunch to be at same stop).

[Anonymous]

We tend to break up the drive there. We just hunt for a points hotel on the route when we feel like it's time. But we only have one driver.

On the way back even though we tend to think we'll look for a similar hotel at a similar break, driver tends to power through just to get home.

[Anonymous]

Enjoy life. I bet there is a cool small town or interesting monument to see along the way. Take your time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are headed out to visit family who has moved 9hr away. The last time we took a road trip, our DC was super young, we left REALLY early in the morning so she’d sleep most of the way, and stopped a lot so she could burn off energy. This time around she’s 14 and is content just sitting and watching the world pass by as she listens to music. I’m wondering a couple things and would love your advice!

We are leaving around 5am, hoping to arrive by 4pm, only making minimal stops. I’m packing a bunch of snacks and was thinking of packing a sleeve of bagels and cream cheese and maybe some fruit, so we don’t have to stop to have a prolonged breakfast. DH thinks we should stop to eat both breakfast AND lunch, and has even suggested finding “something” along the way to break up the drive. I think we should soldier through and just GET THERE. Once we get there there will be a spread of good food, cold drinks, a pool, and nothing to do but relax for the week.

So considering the drive, the age of DC, how would you work this? The

Are you splitting driving or is your DH doing the majority of the drive?