How to Road Trip with Children

We love road trips and it is hard to imagine that it is only recently that my family and I have found a love of road tripping. As well as many small road trips for days out or weekends away we have done two epic road trips both over 10 days across several Saudi towns and cities and covering a few thousand kilometers. Traveling with kids is never the easiest and when we started our youngest was two and our oldest was eight. Our oldest son also has autism and what this means for us as a family is that we make sure our road trips are sensory-friendly and easy for him to enjoy by giving everything a little extra thought. Road tripping for us has been a lot of trial and error but there are some things I do to help the long journeys along a little.

Allocate the children their own space in the car

Let them make it their own by making it cozy with a blanket, pillow, teddies, toys, and games. I purchased seatback organizers so that the children can have their own things around them at all times, this gives them a comfy, familiar space for all times of the journey and prevents arguments over space and belongings.

Make entertainment packs

I make a folder with coloring books, a notebook for journaling or scrapbooking our adventure, stickers, and pens and if it is a long road trip I buy them a new switch game and download a few movies on the iPad so there is plenty to entertain them while driving. For my youngest, I tend to include some small toys in the pack too. I give these to them at the start of our first (and usually longest) driving day.

Have some surprises lined up

I keep some small toys hidden in the car for a distraction in case of upset or grumpiness. Kids in bad moods can be a disaster when you are all stuck in a car together and catching a bad mood early with a play stop, toy, or snack distraction can eradicate it for good! I have used a collection of little people finger puppets and had them jump out when needed for my youngest, five surprise or similar surprise toys and also fidget toys and puzzles like Rubiks cubes and magic boxes work well for my oldest. Of course, some special snacks work wonders too.

Start with a big breakfast

If we are doing a long journey then we have to get a good breakfast within half an hour of traveling so if it is over 4 hours traveling we tend to get a McDonald's breakfast in the car and leave very early, other times we take breakfast with us or if we stay in a good hotel and have time we can have a big breakfast there, it makes a huge difference for all of my children and stops any potential travel sickness in its tracks too.

Do your driving at the best time of day

We have noticed that an 8-hour drive can go fast if we leave at 6 am and a 4-hour drive can be grueling if we leave in the afternoon. Setting off early on long journeys works the best for my family, but you should try to find the best time for you to travel. It may take a few shorter road trips to learn the best routine for your family.

Take movement stops

As well as food, petrol, and toilet stop we actively mark parks on our route plan so that we can factor in play. We usually plan to eat a picnic and take a toilet stop at these times since, in Saudi, any parks have toilets which is great. If there are no parks then there is no shortage of desert for exploring to stretch those legs. It is not unusual to see families on long journeys pulled up at the side of the road having a picnic, praying or the kids running around the car here and I love that.

Don't overload your itinerary

On days with over 4 hours of driving, I tend to book accommodation that is part of the experience so that we do nothing much except get there. On other days we may go to just one or two places. Keeping things relaxed means that there is plenty of time to enjoy unexpected surprises and you are likely to enjoy everything more when the children are happy and not overtired.

Use headphones if you need to

we use headphones most of the time since my son and I have sound sensitivities. This is probably the most important thing we do to ensure smooth car journeys and on long journeys, getting in the routine of designated quiet times with headphones on watching a movie can be amazing!

Let them lead the adventure

My children love taking photos of old places and sunsets. They love leading expeditions into wadi's and jebels and like to choose new food from the menus in places where we wouldn't usually eat. When children can lead the adventures then the whole family will make amazing memories that they will remember for years to come.