6 Road Trip Mistakes Families Make Over and Over Again

The road trip is one of the most popular types of family vacations. It allows for more flexibility compared to flights, lets you bring everything you may need to enjoy the trip, and is simply affordable compared to any other type of travel.

And yet, anyone who has ever travelled long distances by car with little children knows the frustration when a road trip turns into torture instead of relaxation.

Fortunately, there are just a few mistakes one should not repeat in order to ensure that the trip is smooth, pleasant, and full of joy instead of stress.

Read about them here and learn how to avoid them to make sure the vacation will be memorable for the right reasons.

Mistake 1: Overloading Days With Too Many Miles to Cover

If you are like most road-tripping parents, your main mistake is the trip planning itself. People tend to think of the route as a sequence of days, and while they might seem reasonable on the plane or in the office, the actual situation in the car is quite different.

For instance, a 600-mile day might look fine to adults, but babies have to eat and pee several times during the day, toddlers start complaining and getting hyperactive within a couple of hours, while teens become restless after several hours of sitting in a car seat. Any unexpected delays become a reason to push further and make more mistakes.

Therefore, try to plan the route in terms of stops, rather than miles to cover. As many experienced travellers say, it’s better to spend no more than 300 miles per day or arrive at a destination before 3 pm, whichever happens earlier. This leaves you enough time to explore a place, find a hotel, relax, and have a shower.

By the way, planning the route beforehand and researching interesting sites along the road might help you make the trip even more enjoyable. Think about a couple of funny roadside attractions that can entertain your kids.

Mistake 2: Not Taking Care of the Vehicle

No one expects an engine failure when traveling in the comfort of their own car. However, it is better to think of possible complications and take care of the vehicle before leaving the house, especially if you plan to cover thousands of miles. All you need to do is to conduct a check of the main components and fix them.

Here is what you can do on your own.

• Take care of the tires: replace them if necessary, check their pressure and condition
• Change oil if required and top up other fluids
• Check whether the battery is okay, all the lights work, and the air conditioner is operational

In addition to checking the main components of your vehicle, it’s also a good idea to take a closer look at what you should have with you, start with an emergency kit including:

• Battery charger and jumper cables
• Flashlight
• Car charger for electronic devices
• Power bank
• Some cash
• First aid kit
• Water

If your vacation includes remote areas, make sure to take a map with you and download offline maps in advance because you may experience a lack of Internet coverage in some places.

Moreover, check whether your roadside assistance service is active if you are subscribed to it. You may subscribe through your car insurance or auto club and even via some credit cards.

Mistake 3: Treating Screens as the Only Source of Entertainment

Tablets and smartphones are incredibly useful devices in any situation. On a road trip, they can help children relax during the journey and kill time in airports. Still, relying solely on technology as the only source of entertainment is a huge mistake because there are lots of things your children will be able to do with your involvement.

Firstly, audiobooks are a great solution for those traveling long distances because you can listen to an audiobook for an hour and share it with others. There is a huge number of exciting stories for children of any age and interests and you can listen to funny and entertaining games which will occupy children and adults alike. 

Find more fun road trip ideas to keep kids busy here.

Two important notes regarding the use of electronic devices. Firstly, download movies, games, playlists, and other files before you depart. It will help you save Internet traffic. Secondly, take several chargers and a power bank.

Mistake 4: Using Open Networks Without Protection

As mentioned above, using smartphones and tablets is essential for road trips, but what you might ignore is the question of security. Most likely, you need Wi-Fi access on the road. After all, you connect to the Internet on hotel networks to look through the route, make arrangements with your relatives, watch movies, check emails and messages, pay for things and etc.

However, it is important to know that public networks can be accessed by hackers and that tourists are an easy target because they use various services. In order to prevent any security issues, make sure to adhere to several rules when connecting to open networks.

• Try not to connect to networks you do not trust (it can be done manually).
• Never use open networks to connect your bank accounts.
• Prefer using services that use encryption protocols.

Of course, if you need maximum safety, you can subscribe to a virtual private network (VPN). You should remember that most of the sites use HTTPS protocols that encrypt Internet traffic. Still, if you spend most of the vacation time on the Internet, it is worth subscribing to a VPN. 

Another thing to consider is to protect children’s devices as well, because they also use the Internet on public networks. Remember that a good VPN has extensions for browsers, so you can install extensions for your browsers, such as VPN Chrome Extension, in just a couple of minutes.

Mistake 5: Allowing Your Family to Spend Too Much Money on Food

When discussing road trip expenses, the majority of families agree that most money was spent on food. Indeed, covering three meals for six people for the entire journey can cost a fortune, especially since you have to pay additional taxes in restaurants.

Therefore, take care of your diet in advance. The first thing you need to do is to take a cooler with sandwiches, cheese, yogurt, and snacks that will serve as light lunches. You can visit grocery stores along the way, stock your cooler, and spend less money.

Finally, do not forget about snacks. Children tend to become irritable because of hunger, so you should provide them with snacks and candies so that you can skip purchasing products in a convenience store.

Mistake 6: Not Thinking About Your Accommodation Before Travelling

Spontaneity is a great asset of road trips because you can go wherever you want. Nevertheless, it is recommended to pre-plan several locations where you will stay. For example, book the first and last hotels where you stay overnight and other ones located in popular destinations. Before every day of travel, take a quick look at local events.

If you plan to travel through large cities, you should know that festivals, concerts and sports events mean hotels will be booked up quickly, so do not wait with reservations in such towns. If your vacation includes the holiday season, the situation is even worse. Therefore, make sure to find a hotel well in advance to avoid problems later on.

When choosing a place to spend your nights, focus not only on the price per day. Parking, free breakfast, and availability of swimming pools can be much more important for your vacation than the price difference between hotels. Finally, choose hotels providing a refundable reservation option.

Road trip planning includes a lot of aspects you should pay attention to. Among other things, you should think carefully about the length of the route, take care of your vehicle, provide entertaining activities and food for children, be ready to solve possible problems with security, the Internet, and accommodation. With such an approach, your road trip will turn into a truly memorable vacation.