Roadtrip Essentials

We recently traveled to Colorado to be with my family for the holiday; in total, an 8.5 hour drive. This was the longest road trip we have ever done with our 5 year old daughter and here are some things that we learned. Hope these tips help keep you and your family reach your final destination

1. Fill up your tank of gas the day before you leave. There is nothing worse than having an 8 plus hour drive to your final destination and adding an extra 15-20 minutes to your trip in the morning to get gas.

2. Leave as early as possible. We were able to leave by 7am on the way home, which got us home by 4pm. This helped us all feel like we still had some day to play, have dinner, and spend time together not in a car before bed.

3. Have snacks in the car! We packed a cooler for energy drinks (Celsius and Alani are some of our go to's at the moment), cheese-sticks, cuties, and apples. We also packed a bag with protein bars for the parents, snack bars for our kiddo, nuts, and of course some cheeze-its.

4. Variety of Entertainment for all!

   • We have an amazon fire tablet for our daughter - we downloaded some of her favorite movies to watch

   • Magnetic drawing board - our daughter practiced writing words and drawing pictures. Kept her entertained for at least an hour!

   • Eye found it card game - turned out this wasn't the best for a road trip. It really requires 2 or more players - not ideal for the car.

   • Music playlists - we've curated a music playlist of songs from our daughter's favorite movies. This kept us all entertained for well over an hour - singing songs is a great way to pass the time.

5. Box of tissue - this is standard in my car whether we are going on a road trip or not. Whether it be colder weather, seasonal allergies, or just having a young kid in school that picks up any and every germ and brings it home; it seems we all can use a box of tissues at times.

6. Trash container - Found these on amazon and they really do work great. I'm able to keep one in her carseat cup holder for her to throw her trash away without dropping everything on the floor.