Hey everyone! So sorry I've been quiet lately--my life is seriously jam packed right now with every spare minute "to myself" going towards work or other commitments. I'm dying to find my pockets of time to write again but this season is just not the one for that. In the meantime, I wanted to share this post I wrote for my friend's website Karyn Burns ABC's Posters. When our family was on our big summer road trip (which feels like forever ago now) Karyn wrote to ask if I could collaborate on a post about traveling with kiddos on a budget. I promptly forgot I committed to her and then randomly got it all down on paper a couple weeks ago. Karyn is just as, if not more, busy than I am right now though so we had to put the collaboration on hold. We will work something out soon but for now here is the post I'm finally getting out to those of you who asked for specific tips on this topic. Check out Karyn's website (and purchase a poster or 2 while there!) and stay tuned for our earth shattering collaboration sometime soon.
Have you ever considered packing a month’s worth of necessities into
your car and driving across the United States?
Sounds pretty romantic doesn’t it?
I think we’ve all had that daydream at some point. Now, have you entertained the dream knowing
you have extremely limited funds and 2 small children? No?
Neither had I before my family took to the road this summer.
A few months before the trip, my husband and I were in our living room
after putting the kids to bed, reviewing the day’s events. Out of the blue, he said “You’re going to
think I’m crazy, but what if we drove to the East Coast this summer?” Depending upon where you live this may or may
not sound like an insane idea but since we live in Colorado and have 2 young
children (ages 6 and 3), I was befuddled by his ludicrous suggestion. I listened anyway because he’d told me not to
interrupt him until he managed to get his line of reasoning out.
Truth be told, a part of me was thrilled from the first with the
absurdity of it all. My side of the
family was going to be convening on Cape Cod for an annual vacation we’d had to
miss out on 2 years running. Our current
financial reality does not include 4 plane tickets to the East Coast so missing
it again was a given. After my “Say
WHAT?!” moment, I promptly embraced the role of co-conspirator.
We talked out a pros and cons list and found there were countless pros
vs. 2 cons. The pros were too many to
fit in one blog post so I’ll reveal the cons alone: 1) We are totally and completely broke and 2)
there are 2 small children living in our house who might make 5 days in a car
the most hellish 5 days we’d ever lived through. As you must do when a pros and cons list
paints an indisputable picture, we took a deep breath and committed.
We were able to figure out the saving money piece pretty easily that
very night. Venturing the kids would be
blinded by excitement at the thought of seeing their cousins and therefore
ignorant of the reality of being in the car for days in a row, we left that
piece in the “to-do” pile...and broke the news the next morning.
My breathless reveal of the surprise we had in store for them was met
by an incredulous 6 year old and her tearful objections. She could not believe we were going to make
them sit in the car for just shy of a whole week. I knew I had to spring into action so started
hatching a plan for fun and games in the car.
I promised her a good time and believe me we had to deliver.
Long story short, here is a list of tricks we discovered to make our
“Road Trip on a Budget…with Kids” a success with a few examples of how to
incorporate the ideas. I’m not going to
lie, it takes some prep but the amount of time spent getting ready was more
than worth the hours it paid off. I am
proud to say we came home with more money in our bank account than we would
have if we’d stayed home. Granted, we
had some help with gas (thanks Mom!), temporary use of a hybrid car instead of
our beater (thanks Mom-in Law!) and relatives who wouldn’t let us pay for
anything once we got to The Cape (thanks family!) but still I think that’s
notable, to say the least.
1) No Eating Out
-Pack light clothing-wise so as
to leave more space in the car for food.
-Bring healthy salty, sweet and
protein rich snacks as well as a few tried and true creature comforts for each
traveler. This will help to avoid
impulse buys when you are all tired/wired.
-Stock a small bag for the car
full of enough snacks for the travel day.
Keep extra snacks in a suitcase in the trunk. Replenish the bag from the suitcase stash
when at your rest stop for the night.
-Before the trip, buy fixings
and pack lunch each day before heading off again (or before you go to sleep).
-Stock a cooler in the trunk with dinner
possibilities: frozen burritos, single serve mac and cheese…anything you can
pop in a microwave or add hot water to.
If you think of it, bring along some utensils but most truck stops on
major interstates have everything you need to prepare an on-the-go dinner. Hey, they even have showers if you’re up for
that!
2) Couch Surf
-Pre-plan your stops and stay
with people you know whenever possible.
Don’t be afraid to ask. Most
people will be happy to contribute to the success of such a grand
adventure!
-If you can’t stay with someone
you know, search online for hotels beforehand or on your phone when approaching
the destination. Prices are often higher
if you walk up and reserve the room in person.
3) Scavenger Hunt
 |
| I was inspired by the all the amazing downloadable scavenger hunt choices out there but decided to create ours myself. If you would like help creating one, let me know--I'd love to give you a hand! |
-Create, or snag online (there
are TONS of free ones available for download), a car trip scavenger hunt for
the kids. Have a sheet for every state
you pass through so they have something new every once in a while. I kept ours in envelopes saying “Do not open
until…” and presented the sheets at every state line. Every point earned was worth a minute they
could stay up past their bedtime while on vacation.
-Include a “Mystery Item” for each state
by mapping your route and spending some time (pre-trip) on Roadside America.com. There you can find kooky, oddball
destinations pretty much anywhere in this country. For instance, we stopped at the World's Largest Ball of Paint
in Alexandria, IN and painted layer number 24,085!
4) License Plate Game
-Don’t forget this
classic. It’s an easy way to get
everyone involved and can pop up just when you need it in the form of a
distraction (“How many license plates have we found so far?...Which ones to we
have left?”). Not to mention spotting a
hard to find plate is exciting even for the adults. Download a free printable like this one so the kids can keep track of what’s been
found.
5) Map It
-Print out road maps for each
state you will go through and give the kids highlighters. Encourage them to find and map your
route. This helps quell the “Are we
there yet?”s because they can see for themselves. At the start of the trip I presented each of
them with a brand new clipboard and fancy pen attached so they had a convenient
way to write on their maps, license plate game and scavenger hunt sheets.
6) Geocache
-If you’ve never heard of geocaching,
read about it here. It is our all-time favorite family
activity. We use this $10 app but if you don’t have
a smartphone you can buy a GPS unit such as this. After that purchase, geocaching is FREE any
and every time you feel inspired to go on an adventure. We challenged ourselves to find a cache in
every state we went through. Finding
one was also an item for the scavenger hunt.
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| Geocaching at sunset on Lake Erie |
7) Technology
-When all else fails, take
advantage of any technology you have. To
be honest, our 3 year old was more apt to want to watch a movie than play the
games we had prepared. We accepted this
and moved on with our lives. Don’t beat
yourself up if the kids just want to zone out to a dvd, a game on your
tablet/iPad/phone or music for hours on end (although whatever you do, don’t
forget their headphones!). It’s okay, their fried brains will return to
normal before you know it and you’ll get some amazing quiet time for a bit.
8) Keep It Simple
-If you are worried
you will all get stir crazy despite your preparation, don’t worry—you’re
right! Try not to anticipate every snag
by overloading the car with more possible distractions. Talk to the kids beforehand about the trip
being a mix of fun and boredom and that you will all get through it
together. It’s better to have a fairly easy
to keep in order car and a few hours of complaining than it is to have a
jumbled mess of a car with the same (if not more) amount of complaining. If you can’t resist getting more stuff, keep
it to things they can stash in the pockets on the back of your front
seats: workbooks, books, stickers etc.
There you go—hope
you have as much fun and argue maybe a little less than we did. Have a great trip!
