Why Road trips are a good idea for Family
third fourth Friday of every month, Cameron Wears of Traveling Canucks is here to give us tips and advice on how to travel with your children better. This is a frequently requested topic, so I'm excited to have him on our team!
Traveling As a newcomer parent who thought may feel like an overwhelming proposition with your infant or toddler. You do not put your life on hold while you raise your child, but at the same time, you do not want to take a trip that to be a pleasant experience more headaches.
Introducing our two little boys on the world an extremely rewarding experience. We appreciate our together time and enjoy with them our passion for travel and adventure to share. But it is not always easy. In fact, sometimes you can travel with our boys be quite a challenge. I think that's part of what makes it so satisfying. Like a mountain trekkers reach the summit after hours of painful climbing, the reward is not just about the view at the top or the ability to say: "I did it." The reward is the preparation and the journey, the unexpected moments in between.
This is what we love most about road trips. They make the trip the adventure, the objective secondary. Road Trips were a big part of my childhood and some of my fondest memories. They are a wonderful way to spend time together as a family, traveling on a budget, and to see much of the landscape. Here are reasons why you should consider a trip for your next family vacation into account and ways to make it happen.
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Whether you drive your own adventure
While on a trip through the Canadian Rockies this summer we had to visit the Freedom what attraction we wanted. When we drove the Icefields Parkway from Jasper to Banff (probably the most beautiful drive in the world), we found repeatedly pull us the highway waterfalls, canyons, glacial lakes and Rocky Mountain to see viewpoints. We would never be able to stay been in this incredible mountain lodge in Banff National Park when we were traveling by bus or train.
The great thing about car trips that every day is different. Morning brings new landscapes, new cities, new attractions and new hotel rooms. This is exciting for the kids and the parents, because every day is a new adventure. It also means that you can change your itinerary at a moment notice when something better to do.
Dates are not important
One of the most stressful parts of the family trip is to make your departure time. No matter how well you plan, you will always feel rushed on travel days. Packaging, feeding, cleaning, dressing - there is never a shortage of things to do (and that's before getting ready to start up). Planes and trains do not wait for families unpunctual, so we often begin "the process" for several hours prior to departure.
Road Trips You can go at your own pace, to remove the unnecessary stress that comes with strict timetables. On our summer road trip through the Canadian Rockies, we had a lot of itinerary with activities planned for each day. But, as the journey evolved, changed our itinerary. We have stops we stop away. We decided to swim in the pool after breakfast instead to hit the road.
What I love about car trips, is that if your kids (or you) are a little slower to move, you can push back your departure time and let things happen naturally. If you spend more time in a tourist attraction, this is no problem, take your time. This is the journey, so you get to call the shots.
Save on Flights
Now that we travel with two little boys, our flight costs have doubled literally money. Although our youngest is under two years old, he is an inquisitive little guy who still can not sit for more than a few minutes. For this reason we need now to buy four seats when we fly so that he can have some space (and give us of keeping him for hours a pause).
purchase flights for a family of four is not cheap. In fact, to pay for flights, find the money is often the biggest limitation that prevents from traveling young families. Domestic flights cost at least $ 500 each, so that a single trip within North America can run us about $ 2,000. By removing these costs, we have to stretch able our travel budget, so that we can travel longer and deeper. Most car journeys we take total less than $ 2,000, which means that we can go more often.
a journey from home allows us to use our personal vehicle, so we eliminate the cost of renting a vehicle and the automatic addition of insurance. $ 100 may cost per day renting a vehicle, so use our personal vehicle saves us a lot of money.
After a vehicle allows us the freedom to stay in hotels or apartments that are located outside the city center, which tends to save us considerable money on the price of accommodation and overnight parking (not overlooked, the cost of parking in the downtown of a big city - it may be as high as $ 40 per night) [
traveling frequently
Based on the above point, to save money on expensive airfare, we can more travel experiences. Road Trips must not last more epic cross-country adventures weeks; sometimes a weekend a few hours from home is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Big trips to exotic destinations or distant tropical islands can sometimes feel unattainable, if you are caught in the daily routine your child rearing, but that does not have to stop travel. I'm sure you think a couple of goals in a 3-5 hour drive from home, that "you always wanted to visit" but never found the time. Why not that city / beach / National Park your next adventure?
The road trip mentality allows us (and you) the ability to travel more because it can be a last minute decision, which is not very expensive, especially if you to camp with friends and family want or stay.
pack what you want, not what you
I need love the amount of space we have, if we take road trips. traveling with small children, no longer means we travel light, so packing can be quite a stressful ordeal. Did we bring the playpen and / or portable highchair?
for a flight package forces us to make difficult decisions about what essential and what must be left behind. Young children are unpredictable, so that more clothing and with "comfort toys" is ideal. a vehicle that allows us to bring the doubtful things "just in case."
One of the questions we asked most frequently is, whether we travel with baby car seats. They are large, heavy and cumbersome, as many parents struggle with the decision to hire a car seat at your destination or bring your own (to answer the question, we bring more car seats with us). A road trip with our personal vehicle eliminates these headaches, because the car seats are already set up.
Take breaks on your terms
Have you do not forget your first long flight? Do you "get me that damn plane away" a moment? I did. I felt suffocated and trapped. Everything I was walking around and wanted to do some fresh air (not a good idea, at 35,000 feet).
children are not going to get otherwise. You need a break from the chair, they need to stretch their legs and take a deep breath of fresh air. The problem is that young children have a hard time to understand why they can not get up and walk around or get off the plane (not an easy thing to a two year old to explain). Road Trips, you can have the ability to slow down and take as many breaks as you need, so the trip much more enjoyable for all.
routine is important, so we try our best over long distances during typical napping hour drive. If they fall asleep, we enter on the gas and try to cover as much ground as we can. Our boys over long distances in the car not like to be (who does?), So we try to schedule breaks to the daily activity or attraction
bring your own food -. And save money!
Our child has a severe food allergy difficult find restaurants, it may be such that cater to his diet. It is a challenge, even in our hometown, where we are very familiar with the options available. traveling in a vehicle that allows us to stop at a supermarket and buy foods that have ingredient labels. This is very important for us.
We bring a small cooler with us and charge it with the food, so we must not rely on restaurants. Eating in a restaurant as a family of four usually costs us $ 30-50 in North America (no alcohol). If you eat 2-3 times a day, adds to that number quickly. Through food purchase in bulk, we save time and money, and allows us to draw, and have a picnic at random parks that always fun.
Spend time together
This is my favorite part of the car trips. Life is busy. We are always plugged in and focused on what is "out there" or we are too busy with our daily routines. to spend a long time together gives us the ability to attract and connect on a completely different level. We blow up songs on the radio, play games like "I Spy", and actually talk to each other. We love to hear their stories and learn how to handle the world. Children have found a way to simplify complex situations.
I have often heard parents say that travel to difficult and expensive with small children. While they may have perfectly valid reasons for this line of thinking, when travel is important then is a great solution to load the car and take a trip. If you have recently said to himself: "I need a vacation, but the timing is not just right," do yourself a favor and take a road. Open a map, select a destination you've always wanted to visit, and go.
Need some inspiration Road Trip? Here are a few points to help a few seeds of plants:
- Great Road Trips Ideas in Canada: 9 routes to you for the summer Pumped
- National Geographic: Ultimate road trips
- Top 10 American road trips
Cameron Wears is one half of the duo behind the award-winning Canadian travel blog TravelingCanucks.com. Having traveled to over 65 countries and territories on six continents over the past eight years, he now lives in beautiful Vancouver, Canada, with his wife Nicole and their two boys. You can her family travel adventures on Google+, Twitter and Facebook.
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