The summer is fast approaching and for us, that means family road trip time! We’re fairly new to the road trip world as our youngest used to get terribly car sick! he’s doing brilliantly now though and we’re relishing the freedom of being able to jump in the car and head off on an adventure. For those of you new to road tripping with the family, these travel tips are inclusive for all members of the family and might help you with your family road trip planning.
Know What You Want To Do
To start with, you’re going to want to have some idea of what you want to do. Do you envision a summer coasting around Europe? A month over the New Year in the east? Or perhaps a road trip around the states? Maybe like us you prefer shorter trips and UK staycations. Whatever it is, you’ll want to know sort of what you’re aiming for here.
Family Road Trip: Where To Go
You’ll want to think about where you’d like to go, and make sure everyone is “heard” as part of that discussion. Do you want to tour around Europe, island hop perhaps? You may even want to think about some of the best European cities that you could visit with kids, or different child and senior-friendly spots. Try to meet the needs of the entire family, and come up with the perfect range of locations.
Research The Locations
When you’ve got those thoughts, you’ll then want to do some research to help you make firm decisions on when, where, and what. Read up on the different locations to make sure that you have selected the best possible places. You may find that certain landscapes aren’t suitable for the elderly, or resorts that aren’t child-friendly, so weed these out now.
Plan In The Perfect Time
From here, you’re then going to want to try and identify the perfect time to go to. And you’ve got to look at this in two ways. First of all, you’ll want to research when to go to the locations you have in mind, in terms of the best time to travel for good weather or when it won’t be too busy. You’ll also want to find a time that suits all of your schedules too, as well as consider term times and it can be difficult to get permission to take children out of school. Finding the right dates can take some work!
Know Your Itinerary
Make sure that you know what you want from the trip. For example, a family road trip isn’t a family road trip if we haven’t been to one castle, museum or something historical and/or geeky. To make sure that we get to do all that we need and want to do I usually put together a loose itinerary. We can be flexible but it pays to have a plan to start with.
Cover Your Kids Needs
When you’re travelling with your children, you’ll want to be sure that their needs are met. Are there things to keep them entertained? The food they’ll like? WIFI? My teen would tell you that this is one of the most important things. Making sure that the kids have something to keep them occupied is a winner for everyone.
Care For The Parents Too
If you are going away with your parents too, you’ll want to make sure that you’ve thought of them. There are a lot of travel tips for senior travellers that may help you. They may want or need certain aids to help them get around. They may want to book onto gorge walking. Everyone is different! Just ensure that the location and activities are suitable for their needs, and ask them if they have any preferences.
Pack The Family Road Trip Essentials
Make sure that you’ve got everything that you need. When you’re going on a longer trip (and you’ve got to pack for the entire family), you need to really think about what you pack in advance. You’ll want to make sure that you all have enough, but that you’re not overpacked. Ask everyone to pack a small bag for themselves. They may have things they want/need that you wouldn’t have thought of.
Be In The Right Frame Of Mind
Now that you’ve covered off all of the packing bits and pieces, the next thing that you’re going to want to do here is make sure that you’re in the right frame of mind. Because if you want to be able to enjoy a positive experience, you have to be in a positive frame of mind yourself. When you feel calm and happy, you’ll be in the best possible place to avoid stress and make this incredible trip a success. This might sound a bit “wooo” but it’s important. I make sure I have lists ticked off, the house clean to get back to and so on so that I can properly switch off and enjoy our family time together.
