1st BIG Road Trip: Organizing help

[Brancaneve]

I know that many of you have great ideas on how to keep the kids busy in the car. But how do you keep the car organized? Does anyone have any tips on how to store items, and how to essentially keep your car from looking like an expensive garbage can?

We are driving for N. California to the Grand Canyon in a Prius with our two kids: DD7 and DS5. The Prius is a rental, so I want to make sure that it is returned in good shape. This is our "test" road trip in preparation for our cross country next year when we drive from CA to WDW!!!

Any ideas would be lovely!

 

[Taja]

I'm not a fan of road trips--still have nightmares about the ones with my father (and mother, but father was the driver) when I was young! *LOL* Actually, it's funny now, but it turned me off road trips for life!

Here are my suggestions:

1. Have one bag/suitcase for clothing for the road trip. Pack it in the most accessible place in the vehicle.

2. Limit each child to one "carry-on" piece of luggage that fits in the seat with them. Everything they will use (except clothing) during the road trip will be in that backpack, duffel bag, etc., including electronics and related items. Exercise parental control over the items they take--some things really aren't suitable for a road trip! *LOL* Limit the number of items that each child can have out at a time--a stuffed animal or doll, a book, and a game. Something like that.

3. Be sure all crayons, pencils, etc., are in a clear container with lid that the children can see. Limit the number each child can have out at a time (similar to #2). And be careful about the crayons in the heat--I had one large multi-coloured crayon after a cross-country trip when I was three years old! *LOL*

4. If you're taking coolers with food, take a small one in the vehicle with you with a few bottles of water (juice, or what ever you prefer) and a few snacks for the day. Pack the larger one in an accessible area (with the bag from #1) so you can take it into the room each night and refill the smaller cooler.

5. Pack everything else snugly and leave it in place until you reach your final destination.

6. Leave a bit of extra space in case you have additional items on the return trip.

Relax and have fun!

 

[kkmcan]

When we do road trips, the kids each pack a mini backpack with all their toys, books, and one small stuffed animal. They keep these on the floor beneath their feet.

I put a shoe box sized rubbermaid container between them on the seat. It holds the dvd movies, headphones, ipods and nintendo ds's. I put the lid on and then all that stuff isn't floating around the car. Lastly each kid can bring a travel sized blanket and pillow.

We clean out the trash everytime we stop so that doesn't accumulate.

The trunk is usually packed to the top. There seems to be so much stuff we have to bring.

 

[dis-happy]

When we do road trips, the kids each pack a mini backpack with all their toys, books, and one small stuffed animal. They keep these on the floor beneath their feet.

I put a shoe box sized rubbermaid container between them on the seat. It holds the dvd movies, headphones, ipods and nintendo ds's. I put the lid on and then all that stuff isn't floating around the car. Lastly each kid can bring a travel sized blanket and pillow.

We clean out the trash everytime we stop so that doesn't accumulate.

The trunk is usually packed to the top. There seems to be so much stuff we have to bring.

This.

We also have a small cooler for drinks that goes on the floor between the two back seats...easy reaching distance from the front seat. A second softsided cooler held snacks. One of the those folding fabric box squares (that fit into 12x12 bookcases) was used for holding toys for the baby in the back seat...the other kids each had a backpack.

We drove cross country last Christmas, family of 6 in an SUV, stopping 3 nights at the Grand Canyon too. There wasn't much room; I packed everything in 3 rolling suitcases (2 people per bag) for a month long trip. These stacked behind the last seat of the SUV. The 2 gal. ziplock bags were a must, both to keep the seatcases organized and to save space.

Bring some of those plastic grocery store bags...they fold up nice and small if you press them neatly and are great for storing trash in the car as you go along. Whenever you stop for gas make sure the trash gets tossed too. Each night I would re-organize the car as needed so we had a fresh start the next day. Instead of a box holding electronics/dvd player/movies we had a smallish canvas bag (the Disney movie club bag). I liked it because it was easy to grab and bring in at night...electronics is one thing you don't want to leave in the car overnight in case of theft.

Hanging toiletries bags are fabulous. I bought ones from LLBean a couple of years ago. Makes life in a hotel room much easier and neater.

 

[mom2travel]

There are some really good ideas above from PPs. Just a few more thoughts... Make sure you have several plastic bags (like target bags) for illness, garbage and wet clothes. We also make sure we have baby wipes or wet ones handy. Every time you stop the car (gas, food, etc) dump your trash. Limit the amount of "stuff" the kids can bring - both so nothing gets lost and so they don't start complaining that each other's stuff is on "their" side.

If you have some car games (like finding the letters of the alphabet, looking for license plates from different states, madlibs etc) that might keep them busy without needing lots of stuff.

And try not to overpack clothing and shoes for the trip. There's nothing worse than squishing stuff in and out of a car for a week and coming home not having worn half of it!

Have fun!!

 

[Brancaneve]

You are all amazing! Thanks! As I was looking through my trash to be recycled, I had a when I looked at my empty plastic coffee tub with a handle. I placed a plastic garbage bag(that so many of you suggested taking) and screwed on the lid. Instant garbage can, and easy to hold onto while getting sick..........

Please.....KEEP IT COMING!!!!!

 

[carolinagirl121]

We have made several cross country drives in our moves. The best tip is to have an accessible change of clothes for everyone is a small bag that is easy to access. There is nothing worse than having to dig out all the suitcases to get a new shirt. Also, make sure you have plenty of snacks and drinks. We buy a bunch before we go and ration them out along the way, much cheaper. For entertainment, you can do audiobooks (you get deals for free ones a lot of times on audible.com) or comedy cds. Loading up your IPod with stuff is a total life saver. Also, you can print scavenger hunt sheets from the internet or look up other games to entertain young ones as time goes on. Always try to have something in your back pocket in case a meltdown sets in. Good luck!

 

[disneymomoftwins]

We always print maps for each of the kids and highlight the route we are taking. Even if they cant read the names of the cities we pointed out to them where we were and it kept them from saying "are we there yet?" and "how much longer?".
Our kids are 13 now and we still do this for them.
When they were smaller we gave each of them a roll of quarters. Let them know the quarters are to play video games when we get there. Every time one asked "are we there yet?" or "how much longer?" that one had to give up one of their quarters.

 

[dis-happy]

Also, for our cross country trip last year, I bought a roll of quarters for each of the kids. When we stopped at a rest area they could use "their money" to buy something from the vending machine. A little bit expensive, yes (and we did have snacks in the car) but it was a treat that broke up the long drive for everyone too.


Also, make sure you pack a tire guage. Driving cross country/long distances and through different weather means you might need to add air to your tire. A friend of mine was killed in a tire blow/rollover accident during a driving vacation so I'm always very conscientious of tire safety!

 

[robinsegg]

My kids are now 9 & 7, so I've been where you are
Here are some things I haven't seen mentioned:
1. We use *only* colored pencils. Markers can leak (and mark on the car), crayons can melt.
2. We got a cheap tarp (or plastic thing you lay down when painting) to put on the kids seats. Then, we took a towel to go over it and pushed the edges in wherever we could. The plastic keeps liquids from getting into the seats. The towel keeps liquids from running down the plastic into the back of the seat, and makes the seat more comfortable with the plastic.
3. Find old parlor games, esp. word games the family can play in the car. It really keeps the kids thinking!
4. We make up a 3ring binder for each child. In it goes a map of where we're going (same as a pp listed), some coloring pages, some games (I make up car bingo and scavenger hunts), and anything else I think they might enjoy. This keeps the paper contained, findable and unwrinkled (for the picky child).
5. Take an extra towel along with your bag of accessible clothes. It works great if a child gets carsick to keep from getting it all over him.
6. 100 calorie packs are great snacks on vacation, both for in the car and for while outside touring. You can make your own with ziplock baggies, if you prefer.

 

[Bastiansmom]

We are driving from central Oklahoma to CA (DL) this summer. Me, DH, DDad and DS7 are going.

In order to keep the "are you there yet?" questions down to a minimum, I have this planned:

I bought DS7 a metal, folding lap tray. This will be good for eating in the car, coloring, etc. I bought a 25 pc Mickey puzzle for Dollar Tree. I am going to put magnets on every puzzle piece and will give him one every 40-50 miles. He can then put the puzzle together piece by piece on the underside of the tray (where it is out of the way), and will know that when the puzzle is done.. we are there! When I get this project finished I will post pics.

Also, he has asked for a few things lately (new DS game, pillow pet, etc) and we are waiting to get/ give him these things until we are on the road. A few simple, unexpected surprises can certainly help pass the time.

 

[Brancaneve]

I love the idea of placing a plastic sheet and then a towel over it. That's a fabulous idea! The puzzle piece idea is also great, as well as doling out quarters for good behavior. Keep it coming!