Every parent dreams of taking a fun family road trip, but be warned, these trips can easily become a mix of a National Lampoon’s vacation combined with a trip to visit Satan. The way to avoid this is to plan as much as you can and also plan for things to not go as planned. It’s also important to remember that trips help you grow as a person and as a family so although there will be hard moments, there will also be tons of wonderful moments that you and your kids will remember forever! So here are some tips I used from our recent road trip with 3 kids (Ages 6, 4 and 1).

1. Plan to make frequent stops. We sort of planned to stop every 2 hours unless the baby was sleeping in which case we drove as far as we possibly could during that time. At each stop we had a snack or a meal and used the bathroom. These breaks made the long trips much easier.
2. Break your big adventure into little mini adventures. This summer we decided we wanted to go visit the family cottage out in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia but instead of driving all the way there, we decided to cross a few other places off of our Bucket List! We went to Quebec City, PEI and even had a 1 night break in Oromocto that the kids actually LOVED because they went swimming at the pool! By breaking things up we made lots of different memories while working towards our main goal of visiting the cottage where my husband spent most of his summers as a child. On the way home we broke the journey up into 2 days and had the best Mexican food we’ve ever had at a place near our hotel. Shout out to Que Padre in Edmundston, NB! I’m still dreaming of my tacos.
3. PACK.ALL.THE.SNACKS. We packed a giant cooler bag full of lots of healthy and not so healthy snacks. This kept the hangry kids (and parents) at bay and made for a much more enjoyable trip. When the kids started whining I knew it was time to toss a pack of goldfish at them which bought us an hour of peace each time. We also packed enough formula and baby food for the entire trip so that I didn’t have to worry about feeding the babe. *Don’t forget to also pack 1 reusable water bottle/family member that you can refill at every stop*
4. Pack some new surprises for the kids to enjoy! Leading up to the trip I went to the dollar store and collected toys, crafts, games, art supplies, Barbies etc. to entertain the kids. I had made little bags for the kids for the car full of stuff but I found that this just made a mess. Next time I’ll give them a bag of 3-5 of their favorite things + their ipads (we’re a big fan of technology in this house) and that will be it for the entire trip. I am glad I had packed some extra goodie supplies in my suitcase for the rainy day we had or for when we were just hanging out at the Air Bnbs or at the cottage.
5. Pack a barf bucket, towels, garbage bag and extra sets of clothes for each family member. Have them within easy reaching distance. Trust me on this. Even if your kids aren’t usually pukers, one kid will inevitably puke in the car and you’ll want these things handy. If not your car will smell like hot parmesan cheese for the rest of the trip and you’ll probably have another puker on your hand, this time it may be Mom.
6. Prepare your car before you go. Clean it out (even though the floor will covered by snacks and wrappers at the end of the trip, at least it’ll look pretty at the start). Make sure everything works (our air conditioning died the week we were supposed to leave so we had to buy a Thule for our SUV before we left. It was an expensive audible but I’m glad we weren’t stuck with a hot van for 2 weeks). We also had a little emergency kit in case we got stuck anywhere or if anyone got sick. Download your favorite songs, have your sunglasses ready to go and get excited to hit the road!
7. Go with the flow. You will hit traffic. You will punch in the wrong location in the GPS which adds 45 minutes to your trip (Sorry Jordano). You will have a crying baby in the car while another kid yells that she has to pee while another kid sings Zombies 2 songs at the top of her lungs while you sit there questioning your life choices. These things happen and looking back on this trip I can honestly laugh out loud at these memories that I’ll treasure forever. I won’t treasure that parmesan cheese smell though…seriously why does all kids barf smell like that?

Bonus: Wear matching family t-shirts. It makes it feel like more of an adventure and can open up great conversations with strangers. Then when you wear that t-shirt when you get home you’re reminded of the great times you had as a little family!

Road Trips can be so much fun but they can also be very intimidating so if you’re nervous start small. Take a day trip somewhere and if that goes well work your way up to longer distances. I can promise you that the hard work is worth it!