We are currently on our annual summer road trip. As you can imagine a lot of planning goes into this getaway! It really makes me appreciate all the work my parents did to make road trips happen when I was a kid. Road trip planning is not for the faint of heart but today I’m sharing some road trip tips that will hopefully help you plan your next adventure!

road trip tips

First and foremost–decide what’s going to be your thing when your family goes on road trips. What do I mean? Well, for example our family has a goal to see as many National Parks as possible. Anytime we’re on a trip we see what National Parks we’re by and we stop if we can! Maybe your family’s “thing” will be taking a picture with each state welcome sign, or stopping at every roadside oddity you come across (you can find a list of the weirdest roadside attraction in each state here!). Having this fun family travel goal almost becomes a trip within a trip.

| Screen Free Road Trip Ideas for Kids |

I can’t stress this enough–when it comes to entertaining your kids for thousands of miles don’t overthink it. I saw an Instagram Reel the other day where the individual was sharing ALL THE ENTERTAINMENT they were bringing on a trip for their toddler. To each their own, but it was a little much for me. It’s okay for your child to be bored for a few minutes. It’s okay for them to just read (unless they get really car sick). Or they can follow along on a map, or listen to an audio book.

For younger kids we love Color Wonder books and markers, my older kids love to read, and the whole family loves playing with WikkiStix! Sometimes when the kids have had a long day we’ll have build competition with the WikkiStix. Then we display the winners on the dashboard. Don’t get me wrong, we like screen time too but definitely in moderation. It always comes after other things and almost as a “last resort”. We also have a strict “no screen time in a National Park” rule.

| Follow along with our family’s fun on Instagram with #YoungFamilyJaunts |

Spontaneity can be a fun adventure, but for family road trips you should plan ahead. You might be able to eat and sleep whenever, kids will have an easier time with schedules. Rather than just driving “until you’re too tired”, make a plan for each day for how long you’ll drive for. This also allows for time at fun roadside stops or unique eateries. Plus, if you plan ahead you can book the best hotel deals instead of being at the mercy of last-minute pricing. When we’re planning our big road trips we plan them 6-12 months in advance. We almost always book through hotels.com because we can earn free hotel stays and most of their hotel affiliates allow you to cancel up tp the day before, should your plans change.

| Road Trip Packing Tips & Free Printable |

To some extent try and plan your meals and snacks ahead of time. As a large family we save so much money by packing easy things for breakfast and lunch. Not only that, but sometimes it gets really old eating fast food all the time, don’t you think? In addition, since we save money by not eating out for every single meal, we can splurge a little bit when it comes to dinner and try out some of the unique eateries at our destination! Want some easy meal ideas that you don’t need refrigeration or a microwave for? Make pancakes in a Dash Mini Maker that you bring along. Or boil water in a coffee maker and have some cup of noodle soup.

Does your family like to go on road trips?

The photography in this post was shot by Britney at Your Creative Counterpart:

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