Road trip with the little

I work myself up and most of the time make myself over prepared. I rather be over prepared than not at all. As y'all know, we recently had a road trip to Texas for  a family reunion. The trip down went great, but as you read in my last post, the way back was not so honky dory (read it here). Well, I like to think that some of these trip hacks made the trip that much more bearable.

Before heading down to Texas I decided to look up different ideas for a road trip with a one year old (or probably any kid) in the car. Texas is a far drive (24 hours straight). We were buckling down and decided to drive straight through. I have done this plenty of times as a kid but not the parent. Now it was my turn.

These are some of the essentials that I found to make our trip a bit easier:

1. MEALS/SNACKS

Glenn and I had some cash on hand for our trip specifically, but we did not want to spend it all on the way down. We figured out what meal times we were going to be on the road and planned for those. We packed stuff to make easy sandwiches, pringles (less messy than a bag), and grapes for lunch. For breakfast, we packed a thing of bagels, cream cheese, and bananas. We also threw in plenty of water, paper towels, and plastic knives. However, I found a great idea for Johnathan that made the trip so much easier. We used a small, cheap plastic tackle box to store his snacks/lunch. I prepared the container ahead of time and placed in the cooler. This way, I just needed to pull it out and set in on his lap and let him choose what he wants. This helped so much because I did not have to dig for different food items and find something to put it in. It worked great. When he was done with what he wanted to eat, I would close the lid and put it back in the cooler until next time.

I also got a small plastic bin with a lid to store some more snacks and divided them up into plastic bags. I also threw in some plastic cups for easy passing and filling for the driver.

 I loved this idea for an apple while on the road (also great for lunch boxes). Cut an apple and tie it back up with a rubber band to prevent browning. Pictured on the right is another toddler friendly snack container. They can enjoy the snack without it spilling every where. You can buy these in the baby section of any store probably.

 2. GARBAGE (not pictured)

Now that we are set on food, where should we put the garbage? Glenn and I would always bring a bunch of plastic grocery bags for garbage, but they would sometimes spill out. We did not always know where to put them, etc. We got one of those plastic cereal containers and placed all the unused bags at the bottom and then put one in like a garbage can and placed the lid back on it. When needing to throw something away, we just flipped the little pour section open. It was great and compact. Kept the trash where it needed to be.

3. CONVENIENT STORAGE/MIRROR (pictured below)

We bought this handy seat organizer on Amazon. We attached it to the back of the passenger seat, and it was handy to have all of Johnathan's things right where we can easily access them. We filled it with diapers, wipes, toys, books, sanitizer, etc. We also pushed the passenger seat all the way up and one of us sat in the back with Johnathan at all times, so we could easily help him out if needed. Pushing he seat up all the way gave us more leg room in the backseat.

 4. SLEEPING ESSENTIALS

For the adults, you may want a blanket and/or a pillow to make yourself comfy (the one not driving). However, if your kid sleeps with something at home. . . bring it. We brought Johnathan's blanket and monkey. He sleeps with them every day.

 5. SENSORY BOTTLES/ONSIE (not pictured)

I made a couple sensory bottles for Johnathan on the road. Cheaper than buying new toys to entertain the little one. You can look up lots of ideas on pinterest. Also, to make it easy for diaper changes, etc. we just dressed him in a onsie, so we did not have to deal with pulling off and on shorts.

 6. CRYSTAL LIGHT CAFFEINE PACKETS (not pictured)

If you are planning on driving straight through, these crystal light drink packets are perfect. Also, no sugar and carbonation like soda does. So, you don't feel crappy afterword.

6. REST STOP APP/GAS BUDDY APP

I have a rest stop app on my phone. It is great because if you are driving in the middle of no where and you need the bathroom, this can at lease tell you when the next one is. Also, the Gas Buddy app tells you where you can find the cheapest gas. When you are getting to a town with gas, you can just look up which one/where the cheapest one is.

7. CAR IS READY TO GO/EMERGENCY MONEY

Glenn and I made sure we changed the oil before we left on our trip, however, on the way home, we had some other surprises hit us. The Sunday before heading back our service vehicle light turned on. The next day, we had about $250 of repairs done to get us on the road again. Lucky for us, we have an emergency debit card with our emergency fund on it (thanks Dave Ramsey). When we finally got about 5 hours from Rexburg, we had a tire completely shred. We knew we needed new tires, but were at least hopping to make it home first. Again, our emergency fund came in hand.

I am sure I could list more hacks, but this is what we found to get us through this trip of ours. Happy Travels.