Enjoy The Ride: 12 Tips For Better Family Road Trips
- Updated: 08/09/2023
- Janice
Ready to hit the road? Make the most of your long-distance getaway with these 12 tips designed to help reduce hassle and elevate the enjoyment for road-tripping families.
Table Of Contents
At-a-Glance: 12 Expert Tips for Family Road Trips
Click the link and jump to the sections below for more detail.
- Schedule Pre-trip Car Maintenance
- Get These 6 Essential Road Trip Apps
- Know How to Download an Offline Google Map
- Provide Charging Stations for All Passengers
- Consider Buying or Renting Wi-Fi Hotspot
- Increase the Capacity of Your Vehicle
- Pack the Car Like a Pro (With These Lists)
- Give in to Devices
- Find (& Download) the Best Entertainment—Audiobooks, Podcasts, & More
- Remember Headphones
- Strategize Bathroom Stops and Coffee Breaks
- Bring Fun Snacks. And Remember the Drinks!
BARFY BONUS: How to Prepare for Vomit & 4 Essential (Related) Road Trip Tips for Dogs
In Detail: 12 Road Trip Tips for Prep, Packing & Play
1. Schedule Pre-trip Car Maintenance
If you plan to drive your own car on a road trip and do one thing on this list—get car maintenance done before you go.
Make that appointment particularly if you realize it has been a long time since your last oil change, tire rotation, or filter replacement—or your projected trip mileage will put your vehicle in its scheduled service window.
Pro tip: Have a resource ready for 24/7 roadside assistance. Check to see if your auto insurer includes this roadside benefit with your insurance. If it does not, consider purchasing roadside assistance from a company like AAA.
Preventive vehicle maintenance will help you avoid unplanned and potentially costly issues while on the road and when you are supposed to be enjoying vacation and not in a repair shop.
If you do not know the recommended regular maintenance for your car, check out this helpful article by Lifehacker.com or this one by Kelly Blue Book. Read about what to maintain and when and get links to other resources to help you find the information you may need for your specific vehicle.
Renting a vehicle? Know the number to call in case of a roadside emergency. Or purchase roadside assistance as a benefit along with your rental car insurance—if you choose to buy it. Ask for more information at the rental counter.
2. Get These 6 Essential Road Trip Apps
The best apps for your trip are the ones that help you navigate, find more fun things to do, and save money. Consider downloading one of the six apps below to elevate your road trip experience.
1. Google Maps. My all-time favorite and most frequently used app. Use this mapping app to navigate from point A to point B (or point C). Just be sure you know how to download offline maps (tip # 3) when cell reception is poor.
2. Roadtrippers. Plan and share your trip. Find fun things to do and places to stop along the way.
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3. Gas Buddy. Find the cheapest gas along your route.
4. Roadside America. For more along-the-way adventures, use this app to discover “offbeat and odd” roadside attractions.
5. Hotel Tonight. Find last-minute hotel deals for overnight stays along your drive.
6. Guide Along. Especially for national park visitors, where Guide Along provides the most extensive content, find and download a well-done, informative, and entertaining audio tour to listen to and learn as you drive.
3. Know How to Download an Offline Google Map
Unless you have GPS in your car or bring a portable GPS, like a Garmin, you may need to rely on your mobile phone mapping apps.
If this is the case, you may regularly find your cell signal weakens or drops as soon as you hit backroads or more sparsely populated areas—making you lose your navigation completely.
Complete cell signal loss can happen frequently, including as recently as my North Carolina ladies’ getaway, where we were never more than an hour outside of Asheville.
To avoid these signal-less backroad scenarios, download an offline Google map of the entire area you plan to drive before every trip. Saving these maps to your phone will allow you to navigate when you lose your signal. Learn how to download a Google map for offline use by watching my YouTube video below.
As another backup, bring along a printed map. Or pick up a paper map from a local gas station and consider the few dollars you spend on it as cheap insurance against not getting lost. Plus, these maps make for good souvenirs.
4. Provide Charging Stations for All Passengers
If your car does not have multiple outlets bring a multiport charger and a good supply of mixed-length USB cables.
Most of these chargers have four or five USB plug-ins—perfect for families or groups to recharge all devices on long rides.
When not traveling, I leave the multiport in my car to conveniently recharge my phone whenever needed.
The charger featured here is a good option. And it is far more streamlined in size and design than the one I bought just a few years ago.
5. Consider Buying or Renting a Wi-Fi Hotspot
Especially for families with limited cell phone data plans or younger kids on non-phone devices—having access to a Wi-Fi hotspot on car trips helps keep everyone connected and overage charges in check, depending on your mobile phone plan.
You can buy or rent a mobile hotspot. If you buy one, know that cell service providers often offer discounted pricing on hotspot devices when purchased with a service plan.
Check out this article by PC Mag on the best mobile hotspot devices. And contact your cell service provider to see plan options and purchase prices.
If you do not want to buy a hotspot, consider renting one. Pick up a hotspot rental either through a rental car company—if you are renting a car—or from a company like Travel Wi-Fi which rents mobile hotspot devices in the US and 130+ countries.
6. Increase the Capacity of Your Vehicle
For road trips, vehicle space can become limited quickly, and it pays to have the luxury of more. To get it—consider investing in capacity-expanding accessories for your vehicle if you do not already own them.
A few years ago, as part of our big embrace of road trips, we purchased several items to add carrying space to my compact SUV. These items include:
- 2-inch hitch. E-trailer was an excellent source for this.
- 4-bike hitch tray rack. We bought ours from the regional bike shop, Wheel & Sprocket. They helped us affix it to our vehicle and walked us through how to use it.
- Roof rack cross bars. These were the supports we needed to attach the cargo box. We bought ours from REI.
- Hard-top cargo box. Also, bought through REI.
If the thought of figuring out the right accessories for your vehicle is overwhelming, do not let it stop you. When I started learning about which ones I wanted, I had no idea what I was doing. I did not even know if my car already had a hitch on it. It did not.
And although I made a few embarrassing mistakes (see my pro tip below)—it did not take away from my sense of accomplishment in having a souped-up vehicle ready to hit the road for any adventure.
A few of my most helpful resources in figuring out how to focus my auto accessory expansion included etrailer.com, Popular Mechanics, YouTube, and REI.
YouTube, in particular, helped with which bike rack to purchase—hanging vs. platform (platform, though more expensive) or Thule vs. Kuat (I went with Kuat). I also used it to learn how to install all the fun things I bought.
Pro tip: A 4-bike platform rack needs a 2-inch hitch to support it—not a 1 ¼-inch. I learned this the hard way. Fortunately, the local auto repair shop that installed my 1 1/4-inch hitch and then replaced it with a new 2-inch hitch one week later—was gracious enough not to make me feel like a complete idiot.
7. Pack the Car Like a Pro (With These Lists)
With all that increased capacity, it is time to talk packing. I create my family-road-trip packing lists with careful attention to detail.
I categorize my car travel packing lists according to the location in the vehicle—such as cargo box, trunk, daypacks, etc.—and by the user (e.g., parents, kids, dog). For an example of the detail, view my packing list for a driving trip to Michigan here.
In addition to keeping everything organized, this approach makes for more straightforward packing and keeps essential items—such as chargers, snacks, devices, and drinks—easy to find and accessible while en route.
If you love packing lists, get a free downloadable and editable version of my universal and editable packing list usable for any trip by signing up for my monthly Gather and Go Travel Discovery Newsletter.
8. Give in to Devices
I am a pushover for unlimited family device usage while on vacation, especially on transportation days.
My point of view on devices relates to how I view my vacation time—as a break from the relentless parenting required to keep homework, chores, and music practice on task.
And for my kids—it is a break from doing all these things too. So, I approach travel days—especially the road-trip ones—with a no-limit, free-for-all device policy, which means my kids love these days.
9. Find (& Download) the Best Entertainment—Audiobooks, Podcasts, & More
One of the things I look forward to most about our road trips is listening to audiobooks and podcasts while we drive.
Long drives provide an excellent opportunity to listen to a story together—ideally, one that might inspire and generate family discussion. Cue dramatic eye rolls from my teens if they ever read this sentence (they will not).
However, like most humans with emotions, my kids find they cannot ignore the pull of a well-told story.
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When searching for content to play in the car, I search for highly-rated audiobooks to inspire us about where we are going through excellent storytelling.
While driving in Ireland, we listened to Ireland, an outstanding novel written and wonderfully narrated by Frank Delaney. The story centers around the life of a 9-year-old boy captivated by an itinerant storyteller in 1950s Ireland and his life journey to find him again. It is a story within a story, and it was magical listening to it with our kids while driving through the Irish countryside.
Or, en route to Great Smoky Mountain National Park, we listened to Bear In The Backseat, a wonderful collection of stories from a wildlife ranger. It was a terrific way to get our kids excited for a walk in the woods.
Since audiobooks purchased individually can be expensive, I either download them free from our local library or use a monthly Audible membership credit to buy them.
Do you love to connect your reading to your trip destinations? Check out my destination-based book lists on Bookshop.org or my “What to Read Before a Trip” articles.
In addition to books about places, our other favorite family road-trip audiobook genres include non-fiction books about economy and sociology, such as many of Malcolm Gladwell’s books like Talking To Strangers and David and Goliath. And also memoirs, like Shoe Dog by Nike founder Phil Knight.
And when we do not have an audiobook handy or the ride is a shorter one, we rely on podcasts. Some of our favorite podcast programs include:
Ted Radio Hour. An excellent source for good-news inspiration and innovation.
How I Built This. Stories of entrepreneurial struggle and success from brands we recognize that our kids love to hear.
Revisionist History. A quirky and excellent series by Malcolm Gladwell about misunderstood or misrepresented figures and events.
There are so many other good podcasts catering to every interest—a quick internet search or inquiry to friends and family you trust for their opinions will shower you with suggestions.
Need more recommendations for podcasts for younger kids? Check out this excellent list on Fatherly.com.
And when all else fails, or you forgot the download, cue up your favorite road trip playlists on Spotify, like “Classic Road Trip Songs,” and rock out.
10. Remember Headphones
To ensure peace, harmony, and happiness in your vehicle, remember to have the kids bring headphones. Whether your car is hot spotted or you have chosen for your children to go unconnected, they will still have plenty to do on their devices that makes noise.
Unless you love hearing their music or video games, be sure that working headphones in good condition are on your do-not-forget list.
On the splurgy side, my favorite headphones are these Bose noise-cancelling ones.
However, earbuds or this set of Bose lookalikes make for an excellent and more affordable alternative.
11. Strategize Bathroom Stops and Coffee Breaks
On drives, we usually stop every two to three hours—sometimes less, sometimes more. To avoid emergencies, we regularly ask, “Does anyone have to go?”—especially when approaching convenient highway exits.
These days, I watch how much coffee I drink on road trips to avoid making more frequent stops.
Coffee is a diuretic and is single-handedly responsible for getting me into more than one near (bathroom) emergency.
12. Bring Fun Snacks. And Remember the Drinks!
Is it a car trip if junk food is not involved? The answer in our family is—no.
On car trips, I offer up a selection of sweets and junk food and announce free rein access (which works well when your kids are old enough), a sort of no holds barred anything-goes-in-the-car thing.
Our family has indulged in unhealthy food on car trips since the kids were young. And perhaps, it was even my mother-in-law who started it when she decided to give my then 2-year-old an entire bag of Pirate Booty—which my daughter happily ate undisturbed and in full on our drive down to Cape May, New Jersey.
This may be why, many years later, my kids view junk food and treats on car rides as an enshrined family tradition.
And if I am not coming directly from home and am already on the road, I use snack gathering as a fun opportunity to stop along the way.
Making a snack pit stop at a gas station, grocery, or farm stand is fun and an excellent chance to pick up unusual souvenirs and gifts. My mom, originally from Dallas, and the reason why I had so many 12-hour drives down south as a kid, has been the very good-natured recipient of creative, Texas-inspired pit-stop gifts more than once.
Plus, snack stops offer one more excellent opportunity for a bathroom break.
Speaking of snacks—remember the drinks! I once forgot to bring water for the kids on a long car ride, and given their memorable complaining—I will not forget again. Mainly because now, I make them bring their own.
So, on every trip, I have everyone bring a reusable water bottle, and we fill them up whenever there is an opportunity. Here are my favorites from Contigo, which conveniently come in a 3-pack to replace the one you know your kid will eventually lose.
BARFY BONUS: How to Prepare for Vomit & 4 Essential (Related) Road Trip Tips for Dogs
Speaking of things that go into the mouth, it is good to acknowledge what comes out. There are few things worse than cleaning up vomit from a car, and a little preparation goes a long way.
There is not one of our kids—including our sweet dog Duffy—who has not vomited in the car multiple times. So, on this subject, I regrettably write from experience.
To protect my vehicle and my olfactory senses, I bring an individual emergency sick bag for each kid.
If you can “borrow” one of these bags from a plane—please go for it—they are the ideal receptacles. Otherwise, the next best option around the house is a Ziploc bag. Although its see-through nature is distressing, Ziplocs hold up far better than the average plastic grocery bag—prone to developing holes and ripping (not ideal).
Or, if you are good at advanced planning, you could buy a supply of emesis (puke) bags like the ones shown in this photo.
When traveling, I also bring a few just-in-case towels for the ride. When the inevitable projectile comes, and we do not have time or opportunity for a mid-ride deep clean, the towels act as an effective cover-up for the odor and the affected areas.
And for my poor dog Duffy, who gets motion sick after any ride longer than ten minutes, we learned the below dog-related road trip survival skills the hard way.
4 Essential Road Trip Tips for Dogs
1. Avoid feeding the dog before your car ride because it may immediately come back up.
2. Employ “insurance” in the form of a handy car cover to protect the surface on which your dog will be sitting. And one that is also easy to hose off. Here is an example of the one we bought for our SUV.
3. Use the just-in-case towels mentioned above to place where the dog cover does not reach. Have you ever tried to clean up dog vomit that slid down between the gap in the hatchback floor and the wheel well? I have, and tragically it cannot be done—at least without the help of professional detailers.
4. And finally, our most important lesson—pick up anti-nausea medication (as recommended by your vet) and give it two hours before any ride. In addition to helping our pooch feel much better in the car, it has happily kept our rides incident-free. This medication, combined with giving him a nice long walk immediately after any long ride—to get everything out of his system (also learned the hard way)—helps us achieve incident-free road trip success.
Now my children are teens (and Duffy is medicated), car sickness is less of an issue, thankfully. Though—I am not quite ready to let go, loosen up, and believe the barf is behind us.
So, I maintain caution, remember all the right supplies, and rest easy only when I know I (literally) have things covered.
Related Reading
For travelers hitting the road, check out my related articles below that will help smooth your travel and get out the door with less hassle.
- Rental Car Insurance: When You Need It & When You Don’t
- Autoslash: Why You Live Love It for Rental Cars
- Enjoy the Ride: 12 Tips for Better Family Road Trips
- Pack Faster & Better With This Universal Printable Packing List
- 25 Expert Packing Tips to Help You Travel Better
- Pre-Trip: A Practical Checklist to Close the House & Pack
Additional Trip Planning Resources
To further help you with travel planning, I share my go-to resources for every trip below.
Google Flights. My first research stop for affordable flights for every trip. Learn why here.
Google Hotels. Use its “Where to stay” button to discover the best neighborhoods to base your visit.
Booking.com. For hotel and rental bookings, I appreciate its flexible cancellation, candid user reviews, discounts, loyalty program, and easy-to-use interface.
Viator, Get Your Guide, & Airbnb Experiences. Quickly find and book highly-rated tours and activities on these sites.
Google Travel Things to Do & Google Maps. Find more things to do in your destination on Google Travel, then record where you want to visit on a custom Google Maps list.
AllTrails. Love to hike? Me too. I religiously use AllTrails to discover hiking and biking trails and download its offline maps to manage my hikes.
Guide Along. 5-star self-guided audio tours that are GPS-compatible for US road trips and national parks. We loved the Glacier National Park tour.
Insure My Trip. I never travel internationally without trip insurance. Learn why here. My preferred place to shop and compare policies is InsureMyTrip.com.
Plus, check out the 15 travel apps I use on trips, my preferred guidebooks, and my free customizable travel itinerary template, downloadable in four file formats.
About the author: Janice Moskoff is a travel writer and blogger who loves hiking, exploring the world, and reading. She writes to inspire travel-loving families, adult friends, and couples on her blog, Gather and Go Travel. Check out her bio, learn how she became a blogger, and discover how to work with her. Sign up for her monthly Discovery Newsletter to get her latest travel recommendations and how-to’s.
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Affiliate Disclosure: Some of the links on this page may be affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I earn a commission if you make a purchase. I only recommend products and companies I use. And the income goes to keeping the site community-supported and ads minimal.
Welcome to Gather and Go Travel, a blog inspiring families, adult friends, and couples to explore US and international destinations and to get outdoors. I am Janice, an experienced traveler to over 50 countries and a travel writer, book lover, and blogger. Learn more about me, read our story, and how to work with me.
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4 Responses
Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment.
It’s really important to be ready all the time when doing a road trip and totally agree with all the guide you shared. Thanks for sharing.
You are welcome! Thanks for reading, safe journeys, and my pleasure. Glad to hear it might have helped!
I just made a checklist that I have to buy for my car as I am planning a family trip in car a long drive trip, these all points are useful and I will keep the things in my list. Thanks for sharing the informative blog with us thanks.