Last Updated on November 2, 2022 by Suzy McCullough
I won’t lie we have struggled in the past with a long-haul road trip with our son. He was two years old at the time and we travelled 13 hours in the car in two days with just a short ferry crossing and a night stop in between. He was an absolute nightmare and the journey was pretty horrendous from start to finish. But we learnt from our mistakes and long-haul road trips have been a lot easier since. Below I am sharing mine and other bloggers’ top tips for survival. Good luck!
Top Tip #1 – Plan lots of Stops
We will often plan our long drives around lunchtime so that we can stop for a while for some lunch and if there’s a playground or soft play on site then that is a major bonus. Having the chance for little ones to run around should always be taken into consideration.
Tracey Kifford from Pack the PJ’s recommends “Stop every 90 mins for a leg stretch, drink, to ‘use the facilities’, have a snack – maybe swap drivers. Treat each restart as a new journey.”
Top Tip #2 – Stay Safe and be Organised
If you are relaxed during a car journey then the kids will be relaxed as well. One way to make sure everything runs smoothly is to invest in a Dashcam. There’s plenty to choose from at TadiBrothers as well as cameras to help you to see when reversing.
Emma Maslin from The Money Whisperer has this great idea “A bin bag tied to the headrest of the front seat for the kids to deposit their empties into – there is nothing worse than getting out at the other end and having a car full of wrappers and crisp packets everywhere!”
Top Tip #3 – Have plenty of activities for them
Debbie Sharratt from My Boys Club says “Have car-friendly games, books, crayons and paper where they can easily teach them”.
If you are wondering what to buy or take along then this post is packed full of ideas. They are great for long-haul car journeys and flights.
Top Tip #4 – Use Travel DVD Players
Katie Louise Mulford from Mum of 2.5 recommends “Use travel DVD players. Most movies are at least an hour long and if you use headphones you’ll have peace and quiet too!”
My son loves to watch movies, especially Disney. He could happily watch a couple over a long car journey. Why not pop along to a car boot sale? There are usually plenty of DVDs on offer at decent prices.
Top Tip #5 – Think of some games that you can play
Louise Jemma from Thimble and Twig is well aware of the need for games during travel she recommends “11 Boredom-busting travel ideas for children – Hopefully, sharing this list will help prevent some meltdowns in your car this summer. So, if you have a long car journey ahead with little ones…. here are a few things to stow up your sleeve (or in your glove compartment).”
My son loves to play eye spy. He was able to play it from the age of 3, albeit his own version of it. We also play a game where we set a challenge to be the first person to pick a car of a certain colour. Yellow and pink are usually fun ones to spot.
Top Tip #6 – Have some audiobooks at the ready
Jemma Yorke from Have Kids Will Travel recommends audiobooks, she says “Audiobooks make the journey interesting for the kids, ours love some of the ones we have and are so quiet when listening!.
Disclosure: This is a collaborative post, this post may contain compensated links. All words are my own. Photos are courtesy of Pixabay unless otherwise stated.
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