This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with 7-Eleven and Latina Bloggers Connect.
We love family road trips and this summer we are planning to add a few more road trips to our list including a road trip from New York City to Toronto. Along the way we have made lot’s of mistakes and since summer is here and lots of people are preparing to head out on family road trips I thought I would share some or the missteps we’ve taken so that you can learn from our experiences and and ensure a fun and memorable (for the right reasons!) family road trip. Here are are 7 things not to do on a family road trip:
1. Don’t skip meals. It’s very tempting to just keep going and snack through lunch on the road but messing up the kid’s eating schedule can wreak havoc on your travel plans. Your kids, and you, could end up gorging on snacks and then feeling not too great and when you get to your destination or to your next stop and try to have dinner they will probably not be hungry anymore. So plan brakes for meals along the way.
2. Don’t stop to eat at fast food restaurants. This one is related to the previous one and goes back to making sure the kids have balanced and nutritious meals in a relaxing setting to keep everyone in a good mood throughout the long hours on the road. Do a little research and plan your stops so that you can take advantage of those interesting places you are traveling through. I always look for historical sites, parks or beaches where we can stop and have a pick nick. This will give you the opportunity not only of getting a meaningful experience at the location you are at, as opposed to just eating at a fast food restaurant on the side of the road, but will also provide you and the kids with the space to run around, move and burn some steam which you could not do at a restaurant and you will be keeping the kids away from craving unhealthy meals like french fries and chicken nuggets. A quick stop at any 7-Eleven to stock up on their line of better-for-you options is a great idea. You can always find a 7-Eleven along the way and while you gas up the car you can quickly pick up some of their fresh and balanced snacks and quick meal options that include salads, sandwiches and fresh fruit.
2. Don’t forget to pack a day bag. If you will be stopping in a different hotel each night bringing every piece of luggage into your room makes no sense. Instead pack a day bag with only those things you will need for the night or for the couple of days on the road en route to your final destination. You can leave the rest of your luggage in the car and everything you need will be so much easier to find.
3. Don’t rely solely on electronics to entertain the kids. If you turn on that movie on your iPad the minute you get in the car you will miss the opportunity to create great memories. There are a lot of articles out there that talk about how to prevent a long trip from becoming the nightmare it ultimately will turn into by packing electronics but I beg to differ. Long car trips can be a great opportunity for your family to bond, this might need a little planning but there are far better options for road trip entertainment than alienating everyone by relying on electronics. I usually save the movie as a last resort and use it when the kids have really had it with being in the car. There are lots of road trip games you can play like license plate bingo, I Spy or some travel trivia. We also take advantage of having the kids as a cautive audience to engage in educational activities or activities that strengthen a cultural connection with their Guatemalan roots like family trivia, telling them stories about my own road trips to Mayan ruins as a girl and my childhood adventures back in Guatemala. When we finally do give in to that movie on the iPad we make sure it’s a movie in Spanish!
4. Don’t fail to include healthy snacks. Both the kids and the adults in our family get really cranky when they are hungry and there is nothing worse than cranky kids stuck in a car for hours. Bringing junk food, unhealthy snacks and sugary snacks will only get the kids in a sugar rush and when they crash the whining and complaining will haunt the rest of your trip. At 7-Eleven you will always find a great Fresh Foods selection of snacks including apples, bananas, oranges, cheese, fruit and yogurt. Setting times for snacks and making sure you have healthy and balanced options will keep everyone in a good mood.
5. Don’t forget to budget for souvenirs and incidentals. Back when we embarked on our first road trips with kids we always researched hotels, used coupons and discount websites and budgeted for food but we forgot to think about the little things like souvenirs. We found that we ended up spending as much as $50 per kid on nick-nacks for a weekend trip! Now we give the kids an allowance for souvenirs during the trip and that ensures that we do not go over the budget and also teaches the kids to take care of their money and make wise decisions about what they buy. We have also included some money in our travel budget for incidentals in case that something unexpected comes along and if it doesn’t we are happy to come back with some extra cash but that relives the stress of thinking we are going over budget when we have an unforeseen expense on the road.
6. Don’t rely only on your phone and GPS for directions. There was that time when I refused to get a GPS for the rental car thinking I would save a few bucks only to find that I had to go through a mountainous region to get to my destination and my cell phone had no signal and I got lost. But not even a GPS is fail proof and getting lost while on a road trip with kids in tow can create a lot of stress and turn the trip into a negative experience. So go old school and bring an old fashion paper map.
7. Don’t forget to enjoy the journey. For our family going on a road trip is fun because we enjoy the trip, we enjoy the time we spend together in the car and we do not focus only on the destination. Great memories can be made on those long hours together in the car and in discovering those hidden gems along the road like cheesy roadside attractions, historic sites or beautiful scenery. So don’t forget to enjoy the road trip and take your time to get to your destination because the fun in in the journey!
This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with 7-Eleven and Latina Bloggers Connect. All opinions are my own.
Paula studied architecture and now makes a living as a freelance writer,traveler and amateur photographer.She started her writing & publishing career as the editor of Bebé y Mamá, the first parenting magazine in Guatemala.She is the founder of www.GrowingUpBilingual.com and www.365thingsswfl.com and writes articles in Spanish and English for both magazines and the web on travel,food and bicultural and bilingual parenting .
When she is not on a plane or road trip she likes to create recipes inspired in the flavors of her native Guatemala.
- Guatemalan Dulce de Chilacayote Recipe (Crystalized Chilacayote Candy) - February 26, 2024
- Guatemalan Naranjas en Miel Recipe (Candied Oranges Recipe) - February 25, 2024
- Traditional Guatemalan Candy - February 25, 2024
We always try to eat at local restaurants when we travel. It’s definitely more fun than fast food.
I bet that first one is something people try to do all the time on road trips to save money but it backfires and makes people cranky – especially kids! I agree 100% on the fast food joints – we always pack fresh fruit and healthier snacks to go on the road. Loved your tips.
Great tips! I didn’t realize that 7-11 had such healthy options!
What a nice break up in long drives, to have a picnic. I need to do this next time on our travels. The kids would like it!
These are all really good ideas. My kids always hated the hustled vibe of road trips. I think stopping and having relaxing meals at the regular times would have helped.
Not skipping meals is very important because you can sometimes forget to eat when you are on a road trip or on vacation. I try to carry healthy snacks in the car that the kids can munch on when they get hungry.
Great, clear suggestions. Anyone who travels a lot will adjust to their own needs, but these are essential for taking children on a road trip!
We never eat fast food. It’s so unhealthy!
I have such amazing memories from my childhood of our family drives to Montana. We visited Glacier Park. We would stop at old-fashioned eateries on the way. It was like stepping back in time to the Old West. Not to be missed!