Text size:

FAMILY TRAVEL: Surviving a road trip - with kids

Tribune Media Services

August 10, 2008

For once, the kids agree.

Whether they're toddlers, tweens or high schoolers, they all think road trips - road trips with their parents, at least - are way too long and boring.

What the kids don't get is that driving for hours with a couple of antsy children (not to mention sullen tweens and teens) is no fun for parents either - especially not when we're paying record prices for gas. Still, millions of us - 20.4 million just over the July 4th weekend, AAA reports - are hitting the road with the kids this summer. We're even renting RVs in increasing numbers, according to the Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (gorving.com).

Whatever wheels we're using, and despite the price of gas, driving is still the cheapest way to go and at least gives us more control over the trip. (Nothing derails a vacation faster than a missed connection or a lost bag.) It's a lot easier to take your pooch along, too.

Maybe the kids' groaning can be kept to a minimum if you let them help plan the route - and fun stops along the way. Check out seeamerica.org, which includes itineraries for every state and detailed descriptions of what to do along the way. Visit the official Web site for the state you will be touring (or driving through) and see their top picks for the kids.

Just don't expect the kids to check out the scenery along the way. You'll be lucky if they look up from their video games and DVDs to notice, much less talk to, you. I'm a fan of audio books, so at least everyone in the vehicle can have a shared experience - for a while anyway.

For younger ones, you'll want a grab bag of inexpensive little toys (hand one out when you pass each state line or the going will get really rough). And for all ages, you'll want a cooler. (Picnics are more fun, healthier and less stressful than corralling kids to sit in a restaurant after being in a car for hours.) Baseball mitts, balls and Frisbees stashed in the trunk can encourage the gang to run off energy whenever you stop.

And if you're traveling with toddlers who insist they've "gotta go" every 10 minutes, check out the Pottyflip (pottyfli pusa.com), a disposable child potty that folds out from a palm-sized package ($24 for 12).

Invite older kids to help you check out the car before you get on the road - the fluid levels, the wipers and the tire pressure. Do you have road maps? The kids may prove to be the best navigators in the bunch.