Summer seems to have come early with the hottest April since 1949, and if you’re like most people, you’ll be considering getting out the barbecue and potentially heading out on a road trip. Indeed, when the sun has got his hat on, England can be a great place to live and travel – yet despite the weakened pound, many families are still jetting off abroad in search of guaranteed sunshine, both to Europe and more faraway places like America.
It’s now easier and faster than ever to cross the channel – with more and more families taking long distance summer road trips to coastal regions of France and Spain.
Whilst flying can be cheaper and more convenient with low cost airlines able to transport you to such destinations in less than a couple of hours, flying as a family can be somewhat hasslesome; there’s a certain independence that comes with taking a road trip, yet family road trips aren’t without their challenges.
Here’s a few tips to manage long distance family journeys this summer…
- STOP OFF ALONG THE WAY
The days of arguing over a paper map are mostly over – as now, at least, there is a common enemy to get mad at when the SatNav gets it wrong. However, it’s a good idea to plan out a route that allows for some interesting stop-offs along the way. Driving straight down the motorway for five hours might be the most efficient way to get to your destination, but the thing with road trips is that they are just as much about the journey as they are getting to the final destination.
- KEEP YOUR CHILDREN ENTERTAINED
The trick here is to ensure your kids have plenty of engaging activities that don’t require adult participation – whether that’s watching a film on a mobile device or something more ‘old school’ like a colouring book and some crayons. A great idea is providing them with a strategy game like Final Fantasy XV that they can really get lost in, as this way, their attention is on the game rather than the incessant question “are we there yet”.
- KEEP THE ADULTS ENTERTAINED TOO
It’s important the adults have something to keep them entertained too; often this can be as simple as a great soundtrack for the journey, a good book, or an interesting debate to keep the driver engaged. Whilst it’s important to keep the adults entertained, it’s equally important the driver is free to focus on the road, so if you’re a passenger, unfortunately, you’re position is chief entertainer!
- EAT OFTEN
There are plenty of pharmaceutical and alternative remedies that help travellers with motion sickness but one of the best tips is to eat little and often throughout the journey with an adequate supply of fresh air. Ideally, eating outside of the car is best for people that suffer with motion sickness and ensure a decent supply of mints or boiled sweets are available for this appears to satiate the symptoms of motion sickness surprisingly effectively.
- HAVE A GREAT SOUNDTRACK
A great game to play with your family, particularly if you have a Spotify account or similar, is to create a playlist before you go on your trip that includes the favourite songs of each person in the car; presuming you have access to the internet, an even better way to go about this is to pass the device around the car in turn so that each person selects a song.
Lots of fab ideas there thanks
Great ideas, especially the one about motion sickness, my husband suffers terribly with this, he usually has medication for longer trips but we’ll have to try more eating! Thanks 🙂
I’m here from your competition page 🙂
Some great tips here ..thankyou
A little time spent planning for journeys is a really good idea. Thanks for your suggestions. I like the children to choose a few items to bring with them in the car or train.
Great post. Planning ahead and taking plenty of breaks really is key when planning a family road trip. Accepting that things won’t always go how we plan but enjoying it anyway also goes a long way.