Toddler Travel--Road Trip Edition

So happy to be writing from Southern California after our road trip out from Colorado. It has been so nice to see family and enjoy cooler weather and time at the beach. This was far and away the longest Avi has ever been in the car, and it was definitely less relaxing to drive long distances with a toddler, but it actually went better than I thought it would.

I love road trips, so I'm happy that this is something we can look forward to lots more of as a family. In case anyone else is planning to travel with their little one(s), I thought I would share a few things we did that helped, and a few things I wished we did differently.

Tips:

*Bring various activities that can be easily done from a car seat. I brought some of Avi's favorite toys including: a toy she could buckle and unbuckle, a chunky beads and thread kit, and a paint with water set from Melissa and Doug's. I also brought bubbles which were a big hit although we left them in the hotel, so we didn't have them for our longest day of driving. I rotated out these, so we used some one day and some another to try to keep up the novelty.

*Have on person in the back with the child if possible and one driver. This made it easier to swap out activities and talk with Avi about what she was seeing.

*Look to your surroundings and describe what you see. On our trip we drove through tunnels, farm land, canyons, and mountain forests, so there was lots to look at and talk about.

*Have some music your child loves downloaded. I don't know if I can ever listen to the Hamilton soundtrack again, but it definitely helped to fill the time.

*Bring some books! Avi was able to look through some one her own, and when I was sitting with her I read to her as well.

*Bring lots of snacks! Apple sauce packets were easy, and it was fun to practice peeling mandarins and bananas with Avi.

Next time, I want to:

*Have a bag packed with one change of clothes and toiletries packed for each of us. That way when we get to the hotel late at night, we don't have to scrounge around and grab things from everyone's bags.

*Have a lap board that Avi can use to color on.

*Make sure there's a trash bag easily accessible from the back seat.

*Have a better system for storing car toys and activities so that they are easy to find.

Do you like to road trip? What are ways you like to pass the time and make long car rides more fun?

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