Family Road Trips: 5 Fun Ideas to Make It Fun For the Whole Family

When you think of the term “road-trip”, on the two reactions may happen. One reaction may give you a sense of dread thinking about being in a car with cranky, whiny kids asking every few seconds, “Are we there yet?” The other reaction may give you a sense of excitement, ready to explore and see what adventure awaits in the great open spaces.

If you raised your hand to the first reaction I mentioned, you’re in good company. Planning for long road trip can be overwhelming and exhausting just thinking about it.  But when you’re equipped with all kinds of tricks, hacks, and tips, you’ll load the whole family up with excitement!

We took our first big road trip 3 years ago. It was epic! We traveled to two destinations; Salt Lake City, Utah and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  Let me tell you, that’s a whole lotta driving!

Because I used to be a travel consultant, I put on my travel planner hat, did my research, and found some really cool resources along the way.

During the course of planning, I also found some fun ways to keep everyone busy and entertained.  Here is my list of the Top 5 Ways to Make Road Trips Fun Again:

1.  Stock up with snacks and drinks. Each kid had their own plastic container of all their favorite snacks. The kids enjoyed picking out all the snacks they normally don’t get to eat; Skittle, Doritos, M&M’s, Cheetos…you name it. You can also choose a much healthier option and not go crazy like we did.

2.  Stop at each “Welcome” sign whenever you enter a new state and take a picture! We had so much fun doing this. For one, it got everyone out of the car to stretch their legs, but it was also a great opportunity to take photos and add it to a scrapbook. The whole family will enjoy looking back at all the places you drove through along the way!

3.  Download age appropriate audiobooks. This was sooooo much fun! Our kids loved listening to “The Worst Class Trip Ever” by Dave Barry. We laughed so much!  You can download the audio book on an app called Audible. If you click here, you’ll be able to start a 30 -Day FREE TRIAL and get 2 FREE AUDIOBOOKS!   What I love about audio books is it hones into listening skills. It made the longer stretches of our trip peaceful. And the parents said, “Woo hoo!”

4.  Bring a book everyone can read and enjoy.  My kids are into trivial things like, “How many gallons of milk can a single cow produce in a day?” A perfect trivial book to take along on road trips is “National Geographic’s Weird But True USA”. Not only are they reading, but they’re learning cool and fun facts about our great nation! How about that for hitting two birds with one stone?

5.  Take a tour of each state from the comfort of your vehicle. What I love about visiting different states is getting to learn and discover what makes it unique. You get that experience when you go on tours. With the TravelStorys app, you can have a guided tour without ever leaving your car!  The app tracks your location and automatically checks to see if there is a tour available wherever you are located! This became very handy when we drove through Yellowstone National Park. The app begins with a narrator who talks about the location you are driving through.   They share interesting facts and history. This is a super cool app to have on your next road trip!

Tell me what your favorite road trip tip is!  Share it in the comments below!

Happy Trails!

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