Family Road Trip Hacks

Hitting the road for a vacation soon? These family road trip hacks will help keep your travel experience enjoyable for everyone while you’re road tripping.

Living in California, we have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to road trip destinations. Two hours can take you from snowy mountains to a buzzing metropolis on the coast.

It’s magical!

We’ve raised our young kids to be travelers, logging thousands of miles and starting when they were months old.

Now that the kids are nearing double digits, we’ve got a treasure trove of family road trip hacks for all ages.

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What to do Before You Leave

A little prep work can make or break a road trip! And some of my top prep recommendations don’t have anything to do with consulting a map.

Charge everthing. Whether or not you have chargers in your car, I always recommend charging all of your tech! This can include phones, tablets, your car, or any gaming systems your kids might bring.

Download media. Chances are, if you’re driving a long way, you’ll run into some dead spots without cellular or wifi service. I recommend downloading anything you can to your devices, rather than relying on streaming. Think podcast episodes, movies or tv, music, and so on.

Add pins to your map. Again, you may not be able to rely on Google Maps if you’re out of service range. So it’s incredibly handy to create a general map ahead of time in Google Maps, add pins for any stops, and download this to your device.

Establish a broad schedule. I like to keep family road trips pretty flexible, but we do always have a general idea of the plan. For instance, we’ll know that we plan on driving for 2-3 hours and stop in a specific city for lunch.

Find food and gas or chargers along your route. It’s great to depart knowing that you have some food and fuel options in the general area of your planned stops. Use Google Maps to add stops or locations to your route.

Set expectations. This one is about communication! Talk with your kids ahead of time to let them know what to expect. If you’ll in the car for 3 hours, let them know that. For younger kids, you can give them a point of reference: “We’ll be driving for about the same amount of time as two movies.” Or, “We’ll be driving long enough for you to take a nap and have a snack.” Older kids are more able to think in terms of hours/time.

Necessities to Pack for a Family Road Trip

Snacks. Starting with the highest priority, obviously! But seriously, see my entire section below on the snacks I recommend and how to transport them.

Chargers. We recently got a new car with USB ports in the front and back, which is a total game changer. But either way, bring your chargers. I also love to bring this power bank, which holds a massive charge and works incredibly fast. It also has a variety of cables and is compatible with every single one of our tech items.

Comfort items. Make it comfy! For us, this means a pillow for the kids, and sometimes a small blanket or stuffed animal when the kids were younger.

Entertainment items. Get to know how you and your crew like to pass the time on a road trip! Some ideas include books, a small toy, tablets, gaming systems, pencil and paper, and more.

Just-in-case items. Keep a small supply of items to help you navigate unforseen situations. Some of our list includes:

• Sunscreen
• Ultrathin microfiber beach towels (use them for towels, blankets, etc.)
• Umbrella
• First aid kit
• Sanitizer wipes

Keeping Kids Entertained on Road Trips

You know your family best! But I thought it would be worth sharing how we handle keeping kids entertained on a family road trip.

Early on, we established a rule that the first hour of a road trip is a no-screen time. We take this time to talk, play word games like I Spy, or just watch the scenery go by.

It feels important to me to teach our kids how to just be, without always being entertained.

That being said, I’m not a monster. No one wants to be forced to drive for hours on end without entertainment! So after that first hour, we let the kids choose an activity.

Some of their most often picked options are listening to a podcast, watching a movie on a tablet, reading books, or listening to music (mostly Broadway musical cast recordings).

Family Road Trip Snack Must-Haves (And How to Store Them)

Water. We bring each person in the car their own insulated, leak-proof waterbottle with a base that fits in a cup holder. This one fits the bill pretty well.

Dry snacks. Ahead of a road trip, I always pack individual Ziploc baggies of the kids (and my) favorite snacks. I try to include a mix of carbs and protein to keep them going. And I pack 3-4 snacks per person, per day.

Another goal is to try to keep car snacks relatively tidy. So we don’t bring a lot of things that will leave fingerprints (like Cheetos) or get crumbly (like Nature Valley bars).

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Crackers
• Granola bars
• Protein bars
• Dried fruit
• Nuts (almonds, pistachios, and cashews are favorites)
• Pirate’s Booty
• Trail mix
• Applesauce pouches (for younger kids)
• Jerky (I like Chomps)

Fresh snacks. This one is tricky, especially if you’re on a days-long road trip. It’s often easier to buy fresh snacks along the way.

But there are a few that work well! Apples, oranges, and bananas are great options. If you’re eating them day-of, blueberries and grapes are also easy for family road trips.

Finally, depending on your snack storage, you can bring items like string cheese or even yogurt pouches. Check out how to store these below.

Stack storage. Ziplocs are great for dry snacks. We usually bring a stand-up zipper tote filled with nonperishables.

For fresh snacks, one option is an insulated zipper tote with some ice packs inside. This will last you probably a day.

Alternatively, if you have space and an outlet in your car, a car refrigerator is a major luxury. You can keep snacks, drinks, or medication cold for days on your family road trip.

Road Trip Stops for Families

We have an incredible travel library, filled with city guides in places throughout the world!

I love this itinerary for a California road trip, but be sure to check out our archives for dozens of more ideas. Happy trails! xoxo