I used to love taking my kids on road trips. My mom lived 6 hours from us, so about four times a year I would pack up the kids and take them to Kansas City. Also, as a speaker, I would often pack the critters in my 15 passenger van and head off on some speaking tour. Occasionally, I would take a horse trailer to drop off or pick up a horse for Ashley. Here are some tips I have learned over the years either through personal experience or from other friends who had gone through some of the same “adventures.”

You can’t really prepare yourself for everything, but it is helpful to prepare yourself for sickness. It happens. I used to carry a large wheat bucket (when it rains it pours you know)in the back of the van. It would contain supplies that could quickly get dumped out for the roadside emergency. I found that it was a bit bulky sometimes. If you have room for it it can be multi-functional.

A friend (Hi Lynn!) recommended carrying gallon size freezer zipper bags in the car. Then the kid can just puke, zip, and toss. (No Johnny – not toss the bag game – toss in the trash when you get to a gas station) This tip is a lifesaver! Cardboard boxes don’t work! Zipper bags do!

Another tip is to not share a twin bed with the three-year old who has already been asleep. He will wake up and want to play. Plan a diversion while you sleep.

Set the expectations right off the bat…NO FIGHTING…ever! It may take a few times, but they will get the point. Fighting children are a distraction that can have disastrous affects. Pull over every time someone fights…don’t talk to them by looking in the rear view mirror. Assign the co-pilot to talk for you. Children do not have to fight while you drive. I often wished I had a little inspector gadget extend an arm so I could reach the kids in the back seat. Any fighters – get moved up closer. (this only works if you have a giant van like we had.)

Learn basic car maintenance. One time I pulled over at a rest area to let the kids get out for their scheduled break. When we all piled back in the vehicle it wouldn’t start. Knowing basic car maintenance (and having a child who prays) got us back on the road quickly. Here’s what I did – I opened the hood, looked at it for a bit, squinched up my face in a perplexed look, got a paper towel, removed the dip stick, wiped it off, placed it back in it’s long skinny hole thing, closed the hood, and started the engine. Ashley said she prayed. One of those things worked! The van purred like a kitten —-

Or was that the kitten? I had stopped once about two hours down the road to give the kids their scheduled drink and what did I find…but a kitten stow-away. If you have a lot of pets on the farm, or visit a place with small critters, you might want to be prepared with a couple of covered plastic dishes in your car. They also work for holding crayons, which I would never take on a car ride, and you should not either. They melt! That’s all I’m going to say about that.

Some great inexpensive car snacks are popcorn (that you popped the night before and put in little lunch bags) granola, m and m’s (they mostly don’t melt), and small cookies. Grapes are terrific for helping to quench thirst and hunger.

Schedule your trip! About every hour and a half pass out a small snack and drink. Every two hours, stop for bathroom breaks -EVERYONE GOES! It’s also good to do a little calisthenics while standing in the parking lot. Oh yea – teach your kids to get out of the vehicle and stand NEXT TO IT! Practice this at home when they aren’t in a parking lot.  The kids always had to line up next to the van before we moved even one step toward our destination.

If you’re taking a long trip, give your kids activity bags to keep them entertained. We loved audio books! When we moved from CA to IA a good friend made each of our kids a cloth drawstring bag with several fun activity things in them. The kids loved it and kept those bags for a long time.

Time for you to add your own tips….