Road Trip Travel Tips

This summer I will be taking some time to visit the Calgary Stampede in Alberta Canada. Like every good trip we have planned out a few major activies that have to be done, from taking some time to check out the mountains to what Stampede Breakfasts we will be visiting every morning! We know how much everything is going to basically cost, and we know which hotel in Calgary we will be staying in. Everything sounds like it is running smoothly right? So here is the twist:

6 people in one car for almost 20 hours. That is right this is Road Trip. So I thought I would put together a few tips for everyone driving across their own state, province or country this summer in search of a family vacation. The less stress there is the more fun everyone will have.

Family Road Trip Tips:

• For older kids, give them a "travel budget" of maybe $5 or $10 that they can use to make a purchase in the airport or at a rest stop during a car trip. Having the ability to make some choices while in transit might be a great distraction.
• Prepare a map to chart the trip. Give kids a map to help them understand where they are and how far it is to the destination.
• Give each child a responsibility for the trip. Depending on their age, it might be taking care of their own luggage, organizing the games they want to bring along or preparing a mixed tape the whole family can listen to.
• Bring some classic travel games such as Battle Ship, Checkers, Scrabble, Trouble (a personal favorite), or sorry all of which come in travel sized games!
• Put the child with the shortest attention span, or that gets sick easily, next to the window; if your child is placid, give them a book or crayons and give them a middle seat or if they always feel the need to be a part of things, put them in the middle so they won't have to disturb everyone else to be a part of the action.
• Do not feed your kids a lot of snacks with sugar to avoid bouncy off the walls in the back seat

While I was doing some road trip research I found that a lot of these family road trip tips translate nicely into a group of friends going on a road trip.

Friends on a Road Trip Tips:

• Perpare a map to chart the trip, and make sure everyone knows the route you are planning on taking.
• Drive in shifts, everyone with a licesne should drive at least once on longer trips. That way it gives everyone a chance to rest.
• Do not feed your friends sugary snacks, and try not to eat a lot of fast food to avoid unwanted pit stops, and uneasy tension with the really hyper friend you have.
• Bring some classic Travel games or if you all have sort attention spans a portable dvd player to watch some classic cartoons and movies.

For everyone I think there is one important tip that you should think about: Relax, have fun, you are on holiday, the last thing anyone wants is to be mad on their vacation. It is like a week of thunderstorms on your tropical honeymoon. It just isn't as much fun.
Do you have any road trip tips? Let me know, I will add them to my list, and take them into account when I leave for my own Road Trip to Calgary.