How To Plan A Road Trip With Kids (& Keep Your Sanity)

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We are big fans of taking road trips, they are our favorite way to travel, especially when traveling with kids!

But when you have so many different age groups and interests in your family, it can be hard knowing how to plan a road trip with kids in a way where everyone is entertained and happy.

While we think a road trip with kids as highly enjoyable and memorable travel experience, we know it’s also a challenge – the thought of being in a confined car space with your kids, especially toddlers, is frightening!

That’s why we’ve created this road trips planning guide, so you can plan a family road trip with kids and preserve your sanity and have an amazing adventure!

Tips For Planning A Road Trip With Kids

Planning is tough, we get it. When we left for our 18 month road trip around Australia in 2013, Kalyra was six and Savannah – our highly energetic child – was two.

15 minutes into that trip and she started throwing Vegemite sandwiches at my head while trying to escape the car seat and screaming at us.

Although it started out manic, it wasn’t long before we could drive 6 hours straight and have her enjoy it.

We’ve been doing full-time family travel ever since, and even spent 12 months road tripping the United States after our epic Australia road trip.

Below are some of the top tips we learned from our two long road trips, and several smaller road trips, to help make sure you don’t make the same mistakes as we did and have an enjoyable time!

1. Start By Asking Yourself These Questions

Every road trip is different, and the planning will differ depending on the answer to these questions:

• What sort of road trip experience are you looking for?
• Who is going on the road trip?
• What type of car are you driving?
• Are you wanting a warm climate or a wintry destination for a change?
• When are you available to go and for how long?
• What kind of activities do you want to do?
• How much stuff do you need to travel with?

These questions are designed to help you plan the type of road trip you’re embarking on and will help you plan your destinations.

Once you have answered these questions, you have the foundations of your plan, and you can start working out the rest from there.

2. Do Thorough Research, But Leave Wiggle Room