Which travel dilemma is the lesser of two evils?

[Anonymous]

OP here. Sorry, I should've said that $2500 includes the cost of a rental car, as the closest airport to Joplin is an hour away, but the cheaper airport (Tulsa) is about 2 hours. Family that we'd be going to see doesnt have a car that could fit us all, hence the need for a rental.

[Anonymous]

Are you traveling from DC? About 16 hours?

At that distance, with those ages, I would totally drive.

In my experience (with now 4-year-old twins, having done many road trips and a few airplane trips), 3 hours is NBD for a stretch.

My game plan would be to find somewhere about 3 1/2-4 1/2 hours from home with a park or museum or other fun thing to visit for the kids. I would pack everything the night before and carry the kids still sleepy and still in pjs from the bed to the car about 4 hours before they typically get up. They -should- fall back to sleep in the car if you and DH are super quiet. Drive as far as you can while they sleep. If you're lucky, they will sleep until you get to the fun place. If not, stop for breakfast once they wake up, and sing songs/play with toys/read books/whatever you can think of between breakfast and the fun place.

When you get to the fun place, whoever has driven the most gets to nap in the car for a bit while the other adult takes the kids to go run around. Stay about 3 hours (4 if you didn't stop for breakfast), then hope back in the car with tired-out kids. Turn on a movie at this point (I prefer longer movies, but it depends on what will keep their interest). The movie buys you 90 minutes or so, then keep them entertained TV-free for another 30-60 minutes (because you don't want them to get bored with movies on the first day, not because TV=satan). At this point you have about 6 hours of drive time behind you and it's around 1-2 pm.

Stop for lunch somewhere that they can run around (I recommend buying a bunch of those punch balloons with the rubber bands and running around punching them). Stop for a short 30-minute break to eat (not a big meal), get fresh air and get wiggles out, then drive some more (do another movie if they want, or books on tape or coloring books or whatever they like).

Aim to get another 90 minutes in, then stop at a sit-down restaurant for dinner. It is now 3-4 pm and you have 7 1/2 hours of your 16-hour drive done. Relax and enjoy the meal, let the kids run around the parking lot while one parent goes in, gets a table, and orders. Bring them in once the food comes, then run them again as soon as everyone has eaten (take chalk with you and play hopscotch in an empty parking space). Take 60-90 minutes to eat, use the bathroom, etc.

It is now 4-5:30 pm. Try to get 90 more minutes of drive time in. Be sure to have a brand new book, coloring book, game, toy or something for this last stretch. Before you know it, you will be at the hotel (which has an indoor pool with evening hours and is about 9 hours from home). One parent gets kids into swimsuits and the other checks in and sets up the room. It should be between 5:30-7 pm. Depending on how early it is and how much they have slept, you can decide how long to let them swim. The pool is great at wearing them out, and they should be ready for bed at a semi-reasonable hour. You and DH go to bed when they do.

Repeat on day 2, but with only 7 hours of actual drive time left. Much better to plan on doing a bit over half the first day, when you are all still peppy. Again, find a fun outing about 3 hours from the hotel, but this time, look for another one about 2 hours from the destination, too. You should have time for two smaller trips on day 2, and it will make it much more fun for the kids.

Plane travel is going to be only slightly less sitting still (assuming you have two flights, then a 2-hour drive from the cheap airport), only without the ability to pull over, without all your gear handy, and with the added pressure of keeping the kids quiet.

[Anonymous]

Wow - all of that stopping on the road would drive me crazy! We did a 15 hour drive with the kids last year. On the way there, we did try to break it all up and stayed over a little more than halfway there. It really just made the pain drag on & on & on....too many transitions! On the way back, we just cranked through the drive (everyone in pullups! yay, happy meals!) and did it in one day. It seemed soooo much better not to start & stop so much. Plus then we had a day at home to recover. I did have an a$$load of car projects, movies, snacks, etc to keep everyone happy. And I worked it the whole time. BUT I was so happy just to be home.

OP, that is a tough one. I might go with the flights and dealing with the carseats/rental cars. It's probably not the safest, but we have always done curbside check-in with our bags and carseats so avoid having to lug everything around. For our trip last year, there were no nearby airports so we were going to have a 5-6 hour drive anyway. But if we could fly in fairly close then I think we would have flown. But then again we did have a lot of fun on our roadtrip too. Are you leaning towards driving?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:ugh.

my DH would drive for sure to avoid a rental car and installing/uninstalling/carrying car seats.

i would prefer flying (with the knowledge that he would do all of the above uninstlaling/installing)

i've never heard checking a car seat is unsafe or puts the seat at any risk. do you have any place you heard that or is it something you just feel?

I don't think it is in a peer reviewed publication, but checking carseats (or anything) puts them at risk. They are out of your control and luggage gets banged around a lot. It really doesn't matter if you check the seat or gate check. All they do with gate checking is throw it on the other luggage.

So a seat could be damaged when checked. And it may not be visually apparent. Does this happen a lot? I don't think so, but it is something to consider.

car seat tech/instructor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd rather carry the radian (that fold flat) on my back for a few hours than drive for 2 days. No brainner in my opinion.

I hate driving, but the Radian does weigh 27 pounds!

[Anonymous]

I'd buy / borrow cheap carseats designed for use in travel purposes and fly. The Cosco Scenera is perfect for this, though your kids are getting big for that option. Though I read recently they also have a harnessed booster which could be a good option.

[Anonymous]

Get cheaper car seats that are ligthweight. Do not rent seats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'd buy / borrow cheap carseats designed for use in travel purposes and fly. The Cosco Scenera is perfect for this, though your kids are getting big for that option. Though I read recently they also have a harnessed booster which could be a good option.

OP here- car seat tech, are you out there? Do you have any good suggestions for inexpensive seats for travel? Both of my children are 40" or taller, and the older one is over 40lbs. I believe that makes the Scenara and the Apt outgrown for both FFing and RFing both of my children.

Any other suggestions? The soon-to-be 3 year old is RFing in my car but I could live with FFing him for this trip.