Road Trips...

I remember road trips as one of the undisputed highlights of my youth. I asked my parents if they were also fun for them or if I am remembering a rosy tinted version but they said they loved them too! The only answer I have for this is that I was an only child until I was 13 so never had any siblings to yell at during the trip. That and I had no problem reading, drawing and writing as we drove so kept myself occupied pretty well.

I have been thinking of the humble road trip and how I can make them fun for my child (and maybe 'children' in the future). I am keen to hold off the lure of the in-car dvd for as long as possible as I would like to give my kids the fun road trips of my youth. Plus, the sound of Dora the Explorer in the back of my head might be unsafe for me as both a driver and a person (honestly - is there any way I can keep that perky, ugly-merchandise selling little girl out of my little girl's life? Please tell me there is...)

We were in Sydney on the weekend (I would talk about the flying but to be honest Bebe is kind of 'another day, another flight' about the whole thing now) both working and visiting the grandparents. We went to dinner with some friends for a 40th bday party (happy birthday Julie!). I met a lovely couple who told me about their massive road trips between Darwin and just about everywhere - I think if was 13,000kms in 6 weeks (could that be right? That seems like a lot - I may have been a bit tipsy). They were determined to not use DVD players so they had some great tips:

1. Cup holders. If you don't have them in the back seat they suggest cutting the bottom off a large Coke bottle or similar and putting that in the door or seat pocket. That way there is always water or juice handy.

2. Fill a large crate with toys (they have one that is about double a milk crate size) which sits in between their two kids and is filled to the brim with books, toys, pencils, crayons etc, etc. One by one each item gets played with and then thrown on the floor so at the end of the day they just fill it back up and it is ready for the next day when it all happens again.

3. Eat in the car. They always take their sandwiches, drinks and snacks with them in an esky and then everyone eats as they drive so that when they stop (every two hours - see below) the kids are given missions like 'run over to that tree and back', go and find a large twig and bring it back here' etc. Otherwise the kids just sit there in the break and don't get the blood moving which makes their threshold for sitting in a car all day a lot lower.

4. Stop every 2 hours, get the kids to run around (see above), stretch your legs yourself, all go to the  toilet and fill the car with petrol. They say that even up north in true outback there is generally not more than 2 hours between petrol stations so this is totally doable most places in Australia.

So there you go - anyone else got some good road trip ideas/advice?

x
Ali