WAHM Forums

I am planning a trip from NC to NM for my family to go to my nephew's wedding. This is the one I talked about in the "great wedding proposals". His wedding is at the end of May 2010. Ok, my first thought was to fly, but now I'm thinking what's the hurry? The kids will be out of school then. I could make this an educational trip. We'll have to make lots of stops because my youngest will be 16 mos then. I just dont want to end up like the Griswalds from the movie "Vacation".

Has anyone road-tripped this far with kids? Do you have any tricks or tips? Should I just go ahead and book the flight?

It's not so bad to travel in the car that far with children. I've done it several times with my two boys, by myself. You just have to pace yourself. Give yourself time to make the trip. I know that as long as my boys have their little dvd player, with their kid games, books, cars, coloring books, snacks, etc.. then they are pretty content. I make them bring their pillows and their little blankets. They will get bored, and you will hear the "Are we there yet?' phrase over and over again. But really it is fun. I love it :-) Besides, you'll get to see more if you drive. Flying is no fun. Well, I'm saying this and I've only flown 4 times (there and back twice) in my entire life and the first time was last year in October... so I prefer driving. And when they were 16 months, traveling by car, was extremely easy. Now, it's "mom, I'm hungry, I'm thirsty, I have to go potty, are we there yet??? " Lol.. When kids are that young, they're easiest in the car. Well, at least for me. Hope this helps!

Yeah, my family and I recently took a trip to the Grand Canyon and Sedona, AZ. It was awe inspiring. Quite frankly, it broadened my horizon.

I drove the kids(myself) from New York to DIsneyworld(19 hours) in Florida in March. I also take them often to Jersey, PA, and Virginia(8 hours).
We LOVE roadtrips.
Take lots of fun snacks, new little toys and activity books . Get dvd's they have never seen before in the library(or ones they havent seen in a long time-keeps their interest longer)
Don't serve too many drinks....just small water bottles until stops.
Have music time, quiet time, movie time
run like crazy at the stops....we play tag.
It's fun. Enjoy!!

We have 6 girls and LOVE LOVE LOVE road trips, this summer we logged almost 5000 miles. Next spring, we're going on an extended road trip for a reality TV show, so my answer would definitely be yes- go for the road trip, they're so much fun.

I agree with everybody else and encourage you to take the road trip. I have two boys, six and two, and we have taken a couple of unforgettable road trips. The first was a short one, from San Francisco to Disneyland, but the second was from San Francisco to Mexico City! It was more out of necessity than for fun because we wanted to bring our car to Mexico, but it was a blast and my six year keeps asking when we will do it again. Don't get me wrong, there will be moments, but there are moments on a plane and you don't get all the benefits of driving (scenery, quality time, geography lesson, etc). Our trip took about six days. The beginning was a little tough because the boys had to adjust to long periods in the car, but once they got used to it they were happy little clams.

I didn't have a dvd player, but might spring for one if we do it again. I did bring lots of toys, snacks, books, etc. Most of the toys/books were new; that way the kids were interested in them for a longer period of time.

I think that can be an interesting and memorale experience in your life, I've had some in my life, it was just amazing!

We have done many road trips. The ones in the car or van are not very pleasant. The key is to make sure the children have plenty to do. We have an RV and that is definitely the way to go!

We take short one day road trips all the time & the kids love it!

We've always taken short road trips, mostly day ones. We just get in the car with no destination in mind, pick a road and see where it takes us. We don't do it as much anymore since our kids (16 & 20) have jobs and such. When we get to reminiscing, the road trip experiences come up much more often than planned vacation memories.

Family road trips are my favorite thing to do with my kids and husband! You have to make sure to stop a lot so the kids can stretch their legs. I like to make sure to stop at landmarks, fun kitschy shops and pretty vistas so that Mom and the kids are entertained.