Road Trip Tips to Alleviate Stress
Try these fun, simple tips to help prevent you pulling your hair out or the car over on long trips in the car.
1. Keep snacks and juice boxes on hand so that you don’t have to pull over every time someone is hungry.
2. Bring a roll of toilet paper in case a bathroom is not available, or in case a pit stop is out.
3. Lay out the next day’s outfits every night so that mornings are less stressful, you can leave on time, and you won’t forget anything!
4. Bring along a couple disposable cameras on the road or on your next adventure, they can provide entertainment when every last resource is exhausted.
5. Map out the distance you’ll be traveling between each city and the time it will take, try to find pit stops in between and places to stretch your legs.
6. Estimate food, hotel, and gas expenses. This will make the trip’s budget a little less surprising and may give you a little extra to spend on gifts to bring home.
7. Be prepared for emergencies: Keep a first-aid kit, allergy and headache medicine, and basic car maintenance items; emergency numbers, reservations, licenses, and insurance cards are a good idea to carry as well.
8. Make a list of things everyone wants to do. You may want to tour an art museum, while your spouse wants to go bird watching, and your daughter just wants to jump into a swimming pool. Make a goal of satisfying at least one interest for each member of your family. That way, it will make you put up with doing other activities that may not interest you or your kids because they know their activity will be pursued as well.
9. Have some group games on hand, since board games, cards, and books only go so far on a road trip. Prevent “I’m bored!” with games like “Would You Rather?,” an on-the-road scavenger hunt in which you write down items that might be seen on the road (for example: farm, haystack, lake/pond, flag, etc), and your kids can race to check off who sees all of them first.
10. Get out of the car and move: walk, dance, wiggle. Do anything to relieve a bit of tension that boils from sitting in a cramped, boring car for so long. Just a minute or two of movement gets the brain and body ready for a bit more driving.
11. Music can relieve major stress: just make sure it’s music that everyone can listen to. Have your family sing along at the top of their lungs. Or bring your iPod with you and kick back with some relaxing tunes and breathe.
12. Nightlights might be a good idea to bring for hotel rooms if your kids have trouble sleeping. It will help you get some sleep, too. And sometimes getting enough sleep is stress-reliever enough.
13. Traveling with kids will always add more time to every activity you pursue—which is fine, just make sure you allow more time than you think you will need.
