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Summertime is upon us and that’s exactly why I’m talking about the 5 things to do before the family road trip!
Even if you’re not necessarily going very far, I still think all of these points are something you should do!
1. Packing list
When it comes to you as a mother packing up the family and everything that will be needed for the duration of your time away, it’s a large job.
Not only are we trying to pack everything for ourselves but for the husband, pets, and children too. Holy cow children need so much stuff!
The best thing you can do to make sure that you’re not turning around and running to the store every time you turn around while is to make a list.
Start your list a week or so before you’re to actually start packing. That way you can really monitor your day to day and see what are absolute must haves for your upcoming trip. This also is a great way to make sure no one forgets to pack underwear!
This is also a really good idea because depending on where you’re going you may need different items for each trip. If you’re heading to the beach you can pack the sand castle stuff. Off to spend more time in the woods, bring all the bug spray. Regardless of the time of trip or the many stops you may make along the way, you can be sure you’re prepared.
I also like this method because when you see all the items needed you can decide HOW to pack them.
What I mean by that is you can keep the things that are necessary for easy access close by and then other less important travel items stowed in the trunk. Like if you have a little one in diapers you don’t want to have to stop and empty out the trunk to change them. It’s things like that you can then consider and pack accordingly.
This will truly make your life easier.
2. All The Laundry
This is a huge must do! Especially if you have a larger family.
Even if you’re taking vacation somewhere that you’ll have access to a laundry machine…still do all the laundry in your house before you ever leave.
Laundry tends to be something that piles up quickly and the last thing you want to do when you get home is unpack and find that you’ll be doing laundry until next year.
It’s best to make sure that everything is clean and put away before. That way when you do get home you’ll just have the things from your trip to clean and put away. Not to mention, the looming laundry will ruin your vacation anyways because you’ll be thinking about it the entire time!
3. Prepare Entertainment
This will be different for ever family and every road trip. But, the idea is that you give the children something to keep them preoccupied or from getting fussy over the many hours that will be spent in the car.
This can be little things like milestones or landmarks that you will stop and see along the drive. OR it could be new toys that you’ve bought especially for this trip for the little one.
No matter the age of our children always be prepared to give them something to do. Plan activities or have entertaining items ready in a bag. Bring out one thing at a time and allow the child or children to play until they no longer find interest. Then move on to something else. This keeps kids in a surprise state and they will look forward to all the fun things you’ve brought for them.
ALSO, prepare movies!
This can mean bring the dvd’s for the portable player or have them downloaded to a tablet for internet free streaming. Be sure to over download. With road trips you never know what could happen so it’s always best to be over prepared.
4. Clean House
This point is a lot like the laundry point just on a larger scale.
Have you ever left the house for the day and come home to a complete mess?
Now imagine that on a larger scale. There is literally nothing worse than being gone for a week with your entire family having the time of your life. To have a long trip home and walking through the door to the chaos that you left behind.
Definitely make your life easy for when you get home because, you never know what will happen when you get home.
Tackle and touch every room in the house. Ensure that things are put away, dusted and washed. I promise you this will make your “I just want to be home” feeling that much sweeter when you actually get there!
5. Car Clean & Service
This is probably just me being over cautious but I think it’s something that is often overlooked.
When we take a family road trip usually it’s not just two hours away.
Nope, we’re usually packing up the entire family and loading up the car full of our belongings to trek across the United States.
That’s a lot of driving and a ton of wear and tear on your vehicle so you want to be sure that everything is ready to go before the big trip. Routine maintenance usually is enough. Have the oil changed, tires rotated and checked (along with the spare) and get the inside of it all clean!
With road trips everyone is packed into the car for what can feel like weeks. It’s always a good idea to clean it out really well before you take your trip. That way when you start loading it down with all of your belongings you have nothing to get in your way.
Time to go!
These are the things that I like to do before any big trip and we’ve been taking road trips across the US for years now. Being a military family means we get to travel the world and see really amazing things. But, it also means that sometimes we have a 3 days drive to head back home to see family!
Regardless of how far we’re going, I find that these 5 things to do before the family road trip help me to feel more relaxed while away AND keep me from worrying about the list of things waiting for me when I get back home!
I’m curious…is there something that I didn’t list that you do before each big road trip?
