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Family Travel Quotes to inspire your family adventures!
Family travel quotes are inspirational. I love that they help remind me of the benefits of family travel and why it is so important to travel with kids. At the times when we’re at home, or unable to travel, then travel quotes help build wanderlust. These quotes inspire dreams and the deep desire to travel, to explore, to adventure and show our children the world!
Are you looking for some great family travel quotes to share on Facebook or Instagram? Or for motivation as you plan your next vacation with kids? These travel with family quotes will inspire you and remind you of the benefits of spending time together on family vacation.
Traveling with children is a way to encourage learning and exploration. While making special memories with the people you love most will help strengthen your family bond. Read on to see our favorite family travel quotes and the images that you can share.
How to Display Family Travel Quotes
My home is covered with inspirational travel quotes. They are a wonderful encouragement on hard days. These travel with family quotes lift me up whenever I see them.
The best ways to display family travel quotes around your home include:
These various forms of home decor are excellent ways to remind you of family vacations that you’ve taken. They help you to recall happy memories from special family trips. While also reaffirming the importance you place on traveling with your children and sharing those adventures with your family.
While you are back at home these inspirational family travel quotes will be a continued reminder of the benefits of traveling with your children. And help you to dream, and then focus on planning new trips to explore different corners of the world.
You can use these inspirational travel quotes in a kid’s travel journal or diary, or in a vacation photo album or scrapbook. These are all great ways to display and cherish the special memories from your family vacation.
Family Travel Quotes
These are 20 of our favorite family travel quotes. We hope they will inspire your family adventures.
You are welcome to share and use the original images below. Please give credit back to our page.
1. We were together. I forgot the rest.
– Walt Whitman
2. Oh the places you’ll go
– Dr. Seuss
3. Two of the greatest gifts we can give our children are roots and wings
– Hodding Carter
4. You call it chaos. We call it family vacation.
– Unknown
5. A family that travels together stays together
– Unknown
6. Wanderlust [n. Wander-lust]
A strong desire to wander, travel and explore the world.
7. Actually, the best gift you could have given her was a lifetime of adventures
– Lewis Carroll
8. Any day spent with you is my favorite day.
– A. A. Milne
9. The greatest legacy we can leave our children is happy memories
– Og Mandino
10. Give your kids adventures, not things. Have stories to tell not stuff to show.
– Unknown
11. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
– Dalai Lama
12. It’s a magical world, let’s go exploring!
– Unknown
13. The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.
– Oprah Winfrey
14. Not all classrooms have four walls
– Unknown
15. Time is precious. Waste it wisely.
– Unknown
16. To travel is to live
– Hans Christian Anderson
17. Having kids is a reason to travel, never a reason to stop
– Unknown
18. Every day we make deposits in the memory banks of our children
– Charles R Swindoll
19. We have nothing to lose and a world to see
– Unknown
20. Traveling in the company of those we love is home in motion
– Unknown
21. You only get 18 summer with your kids. This is one of your 18. Make this summer count.
– Ruth Hutchins
What’s your favorite family travel quote?
If you have family travel quotes that you love, then please comment below to share these. We would love to add more to this list of travel quotes in the future. And let us know your favorite quote from the list or feel free to share this post with your friends and family.
And remember, let’s BE Family so you can enjoy the journey.
BE Family Products Inc. or (BE Family Travel) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Using any of the links in this blog post does NOT cost you anything but does help us big time to support the continued content creation on this blog. Thank you so much for partnering with us, let’s BE Family.
https://befamilytravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Family-Travel-Quotes-Blog-Banner.png315560Ruth Hutchinshttps://befamilytravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/BFT-LOGO.pngRuth Hutchins2020-05-12 16:58:202020-06-12 09:09:11Family Travel Quotes to Inspire your Family Adventures
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Family Road Trip Snacks
You have researched your family vacation destination and chosen a location within driving distance. You made the accommodation reservation, planned activities for the trip, and packed clothes and toiletries for your entire family! The kids have toys and books to keep them occupied during your journey. Now it is time to get this vacation started. But wait, what about road trip snacks for the kids during your family road trip? Before you hit the road you need some quick and easy kid friendly snacks for your road trip.
Family road trips are flexible, allowing you to go directly to your destination when needed. Or you can stop and experience fun things along the way. There’s so many wonderful memories to create on a family road trip, and it goes much smoother when you have a selection of road trip snack for kids (and the adults). Certainly everyone is much happier and willing to ride for longer if they’re not starving! This post is about the Best Road Trip Snacks for Kids. It includes a FREE printable download below of our Road Trip Snacks List. These are our favorite family snacks, which your kids will LOVE!
Use the Table of Contents below to quickly skip to any section of this post.
Road Trip Snacks
Sometimes it feels like the front seat of the car may as well be a full-service restaurant! Having multiple kinds of snacks for hungry or bored kiddos is necessary for everyone’s happiness and helps reduce the number of annoying stops just to grab a snack. We are sure to include some snacks packed with protein to prevent hangry kids or so we can all hold out for that cool place to stop just one more hour down the road.
Even if you don’t end up eating everything you packed while on the road, you can have those snacks and use them for the duration of your trip. Furthermore, I always prefer to carry snacks for the kids, instead of buying something while we’re out! So packing plenty of snacks really is a win-win situation!
Road Trip Snack Hack:
We love the convenience of ordering a Prime Pantry box, when we are preparing to head out of town on a family vacation. A few minutes online can save you hours in a grocery store or two.
We have included more details, photos and handy links below to the items listed. Feel free to use the links below (assume all links are affiliate links that we earn a small commission). Using any of the affiliate links in our posts will not cost you anymore than not using the link. However, using affiliate links in our posts are a huge help in resourcing this blog. 💖 Thank you BE Family! 💖
Trail Mix
Take a healthy nut snack and spice it up with dried fruit, some chocolate, or yogurt covered raisins. Our kids love dried raisins, cranberries, cherries or apricots. We make sure to pack individual servings in a small reusable container.
Pre-packaged snacks are also a handy solution when all there’s time for us to throw together an Amazon order.
Pre-sliced apples, strawberries, blueberries, grapes, oranges. Think fruits that can be eaten with your hands. Pre-wash and pre-slice before you leave, and with kids under the age of 5, skip the grapes.
Nuts or Nut Butter
Nuts are a healthy snack packed with protein. Our kids love peanuts, whole almonds, sliced almonds, pistachios, cashews or pecans. I typically opt for roasted or unsalted nuts, to avoid the unnecessary salt making us thirsty. Nut Butter (such as peanut butter, almond butter or sunflower seed spread) in individual serving sizes are great to dip with sliced apples. Obviously, if you have young children or a child with a nut allergy then avoid these options.
Granola or Protein Bars
We keep granola bars and protein bars on-hand for family road trips at all times! Our family can be picky about the fast food and restaurants where we choose to eat during family road trips.
Kids and adults alike can make it that extra hour to the food destination we somehow all agreed on when you’ve got an extra granola bar for everyone.
These are another easy way to pack protein for the road. We always carry a small cooler and these take up very little room.
Snack Size Sandwiches / Wraps
Being able to grab one more substantial meal while still driving down the road gives us flexibility as well as a healthier option for one meal. We pack sandwiches cut into quarters and wraps cut in half for small meals as we drive.
Veggies & Hummus
Cut up some veggies and pack single serve hummus or ranch dip. Some of our go-to vegetables for road trip travel are baby carrots, sliced cucumbers, snow peas, red, orange, and yellow peppers.
Road Trip Hack:
You can use a traditional school lunch Box like shown in the picture for separating out your veggies and sandwiches for each child.
We prefer a Bento Box, which allows a lot more flexibility for separation of dips, vegetables, sandwiches, and even sliced up fruits.
We aren’t fond of giving our kids a bunch of sugar in the car. Let’s face it, asking a kid (or even us!) to sit still in the car after a bunch of sugar just seems downright impossible. But what’s better than a small sweet treat to celebrate the halfway point of the trip? We usually stick to something we need to order beforehand with less sugar, like organic fruit snacks or gummies or a lollipop. And on occasion we’ll enjoy one of my childhood favorites – a Rice Krispies Treat! We all love chocolate in our family but keep in mind it must be packed in the cooler to avoid a mess!
And what about something to drink? Water is always an easy option. Packing water in a reusable container means you can refill your container along the way.
We love the Thermos Funtainer for Kids, which is a 12 oz container available in MANY different colors and character designs. It is an insulated 12 hour cold drink stainless steel thermos, and the BEST part… it does not sweat when filled with ice!
Another great option is the Thermos Foogo Vacuum Insulated Straw Bottle, which is also stainless steel. It is slightly smaller, at 10 oz, so this may be easier for your toddler to hold. Either way we love both of these water bottles and have used them for years.
Keeping kids regular while traveling
Let’s talk about the scoop on poop! When any of us sit for the majority of the day, things can stop moving so well. There are some tricks to keeping things moving. Likewise, watch for too many binding foods. There are so many common kid favorites that can be binding. Be sure to not allow too many on road trip day. Particularly binding foods are bananas, cheese, and sugary snacks.
Also, fiber is your friend. This is where fruits and veggies come in. Our kids love hummus with their veggies and this gives them an extra boost of fiber. There are also other ways to incorporate fiber on road trip day.
Popcorn is an easy one and granola bars can be great too. Veggie pouches are a sneaky addition for even the pickiest kid.
Furthermore, regular 15-minute breaks with a short walk throughout the day. Unless someone has to sprint to the bathroom as soon as the car stops, take a few minutes and stretch your legs before heading to the bathroom. This can often help move things along and make it much easier for kids to poop while traveling. The whole family can benefit from these breaks.
Family Road Trip with Kids
A road trip with kids means being prepared for messes! Therefore, napkins or paper towels and baby wipes are handy for sticky hands or a bigger mess. Also, hand sanitizer is a must with all of the eating that happens on a road trip. We prefer to use one that doesn’t seem to leave a taste behind. A few plastic bags are handy for trash, to wrangle a big mess, and just in case of stomach upset. For helpful tips for preventing or dealing with Car Sickness in Kids read this post.
Planning a family vacation doesn’t have to be stressful if you prepare ahead of time. So, before your next family road trip make sure to read our complete guide with everything you need to know about how to Simplify a Road Trip with Kids.
We know that taking these kid friendly road trip snacks will help to reduce your stress and bring peace to the backseat. We would love to hear from your family about your favorite road trip snacks.
And remember, let’s BE Family so you can enjoy the journey. Until next time, 💕💖 Ruth
BE Family Products Inc. or (BE Family Travel) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Using any of the links in this blog post does NOT cost you anything but does help us big time to support the continued content creation on this blog. Thank you so much for partnering with us, let’s BE Family.
As an Amazon Associate BE Family Travel earns from qualifying purchases. Learn More
Make travel with kids simple – solutions for family travel.
As parents we are creating products to help end the “are we nearly there yet” boredom, and organize your back-seat for good. BE FAMILY Travel Trays will keep the kid’s activities organized and easy to reach. Parents want products that are durable, easy to clean, and that help make our hectic lives easier.
Therefore, we stand behind all of our BE FAMILY Travel Products with a lifetime guarantee. We pride ourselves on always being available to help you make your next trip more peaceful. Whether it’s across the country, or across town, we want to help you create lasting memories for your family.
Use the Table of Contents below to quickly skip to any section of this post.
Why did BE Family Travel create a travel tray?
At BE Family Travel we simplify Family Travel for you. We strive to provide you with helpful content, an engaged community, and create products that will help make your next family vacation much easier.
We find one of the greatest challenges for kids on a car ride is boredom. They are strapped in to a seat and can only hold a couple of small things at a time.
As a result they don’t really have a flat place to build Legos, color, drive their toy cars around, or play pretend with their dolls. Where do they put a snack cup without it turning over and making a mess?
Our family found a kids travel lap tray online a few years ago. At first it appeared to be the perfect solution to our back seat dilemma.
We LOVED the idea, but were quickly dismayed by the practicality of the travel trays being offered. Lots were flimsy and smelled awful. Most had to be unloaded, due to the pockets snapping on the back, to be carried from the car to the house. We could not find one SINGLE kids travel lap tray that worked like we thought it should. These other trays actually made life harder, not easier! We set out to change that.
Our goal was to create a quality product, that our kids would love to use and that was practical and durable. This mission is what led us to create the BE FAMILY Travel Tray.
A messenger bag with enough pockets and storage for all your kid’s activities. One that converts to a real snack and play tray in 3 easy steps. Best of all, when you’re ready to leave the car it just folds and zips right up.
It easily goes right back to be a stylish messenger bag, that your child will love and be proud to carry around.
All the other kids car seat travel trays we could find make you snap the pockets on the back of the bag. Therefore the other bags looked sloppy, and what can you do with all the STUFF that was in the side pockets?
These other travel trays were so much hassle. They would require you to unload both huge side pockets before it would zip up.
This made no sense to us as parents. We needed a simple all-in-one option to keep all of our kids activities together in one convenient place.
So, we created BE FAMILY Travel Trays to feature the unique design of easy fold-in side pouches that zip to secure the contents.
The zip closed side pockets with our unique flip in to close design, will allow for a lot of storage. From crayons to matchbox cars there is a place for everything your child desires.
The mesh pouches are easy to reach for quick grabs like snacks, sunglasses, or a small doll. The mesh is easy to see through so you won’t lose those little figurines, hair ties, or stray pretzels in those deeper pouches. There is also a large book pocket. Perfect for reading material, work books, homework papers, comic books, or magazines. Easy to access at anytime, located along the front of the bag beneath the lap tray.
A travel tray keeps all activities easily accessible for kids.
There is the large tablet holder with 9.5” x 6.75” protective PVC touch screen. This is designed to fit most tablets, even some with their cases on. However, it does not fit most portable DVD players, it is only designed for tablets.
Below the tablet holder there is a high quality pencil case with a zipper for securing markers, pencils, and pens safely but with easy access when needed.
The snaps on the BE Family Travel Tray are upgraded to the best possible snaps we could find. We were frustrated with cheap plastic snaps breaking and coming loose on other trays. We also spared no expense on the zipper pulls and used the best and most solid we could find anywhere. Your BE Family Travel Tray will keep your back seat organized and your kids busy and entertained for long periods of time.
We designed our BE Family Travel tray to quickly and easily remove from the headrest.
Then unique to only our BE Family tray both zippered side pockets flip inside.
No need to remove the items from inside the pockets. Just zip the pockets closed and flip inside. Then zip the bag closed while resting comfortably on your child’s lap and stow away during a break in the journey.
Alternatively, they can throw the messenger bag over their shoulder. This will conveniently carry all of their fun travel activities with them to the next location, in a neat and orderly fashion.
Finally – a kids car seat travel tray that has everything.
The BE Family Travel Tray will be your child’s favorite bag. They can pack up all their activities, toys, and even school work; quickly and easily toss over their shoulder and head out the door. It is a stylish and sharp looking bag that they will be proud to be seen carrying around. The large padded carry strap is comfortable for carrying over the shoulder. Created with a tough, yet easy to clean material this travel tray will go the distance.
The car seat travel tray with variety
Most of the travel trays we looked at online were all one color. As we well know from having two young girls, that not all kids have the same taste. Of course when they do, we still like for them to have different colors to limit the whose is this one questions. We offer a variety of colors. Currently with 3 very popular variations of the same travel tray to choose from. In this case, BE Family offers you child plenty of options to suit their individual preference.
What do parents say about our BE Family Travel Tray?
I won’t travel without this
Amazon.com review
This worked great for my three year old. She wasn’t quite tall enough to reach the top pockets but she’s three so that happens. Some one commented that they wanted it to fold up, I used the buckle that goes around the seat and clipped it around the head rest so it folded up out of the way. iPads don’t work if they’re in a bully case but easily fixed. I’m so glad I got this for her. Kept her busy!
This sturdy, easy to use toddler tray makes car rides a breeze with toddlers
Amazon.com review
Let me start by saying that this toddler tray occupied my 5 year old for at least an hour before we even got into the car. I’ll explain. We had a long car road trip coming up and even the week before, my toddler had already been complaining about the boredom he was about to suffer. Enter the BE Family Travel Travel Tray. When he saw what this tray was for from the pictures on the packaging, he immediately set out to organize his crayons, coloring pages, and books to prepare for the upcoming road trip. He spent a whole hour just getting things together, picking and choosing what he wanted, and organizing them into the correct pockets! I knew then that this was a keeper. As for the actual product, it’s great. Keeps books, papers, pencils, crayons, and some flat toys organized and easy to carry when folded up. Once opened, the table top is sturdy and makes for a great space for kids to read and color on. It also works well as a snack table and the water bottle hole is great. Only con is that he tried to sell me on getting him a tablet for the tablet sleeve because it was in the pictures, but we’re not ready for that yet. A for effort kiddo. On the flip side, a tablet of some sort would fit nicely into that pocket.
Easy for parents
Amazon.com review
This tray makes it so convenient to keep the car neat and organized- and it’s easy to clean! It quickly unsnaps from the seat when removing. Other trays I’ve seen require you to unload everything from the side pouches to snap them on the back, but this one is so simple to flip the pouches inside when completely loaded. Zip up and go! So durable too. Very happy with this purchase.
Perfect for a Road trip
Amazon.com review
This travel tray was perfect for a road trip to Disney and was used by my 6 year-old. She was able to fold it up when she wasn’t using it and fold it out on her lap to color, store all her markers, snacks, activities etc while we drove for 4 different days. It was easy to get it out of the way for when we were getting out of the car and it kept her things from getting all over the car and lost throughout our whole trip. Loved all the little pockets and compartments where she could put her things. Definitely recommend this product!
Great product for traveling with little ones
Amazon.com review
I love this product! This is perfect for my two young boys when we go on long trips. We can fit our amazon kids tablets in the front pocket, and have plenty of pockets for any other toys, goodies, and snacks. It has a pad in the middle with good support while resting across my kids lap. It also has a strap that allows it to wrap around the seat in front of them. It also adjusts too. Removable zip pouches on each side that button on and off. I’m excited to get some use out of this product. The only trouble I had was the small zipper pouch underneath the tablet pocket. When we first tried to unzip it, the zipper wasn’t lining up. But after zipping it back and forth a few times the links caught and is perfectly fine now.
Great product! Easy to use and stays in place.
Amazon.com review
Got this for our 3 year old granddaughter for a trip (drive) to Florida. The trip was 13 hours each direction. The tray worked great and provided a good play surface for games, coloring, playing dolls and more. Also worked good for carrying and storing a few things.
Buy it!
Amazon.com review
This thing is awesome! My 2 1/2 year old wants to use it for EVERY car ride. It gives him a spot to put his toys, color or just get his cup easier (sometimes his carseat cup holders aren’t easy to get the cups out of) it was a lifesaver on our trip. He didn’t drop all his cars like he normally does too so that was a huge plus!
What do YOU say about our BE Family Travel Tray?
We love feedback! Because feedback helps us, as parents, to create products perfect for other parents. Our heart at BE Family Travel is to simplify family travel. In order to do that we rely on our community to help us design and create fantastic products and content. Hence, one way you can help us, if you buy or have bought, a BE Family Travel Tray from Amazon please consider leaving us a review and feedback. Click here to review BE Family Travel Tray.
Another way you can provide feedback is to comment on this blog. We always love to hear from our community on the Socials as BE Family Travel. On Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube. In order for us to see and hear your feedback please consider following us and reaching out and engaging with us.
Together we can BE Family and enjoy the journey. 💕
BE Family Products Inc. or (BE Family Travel) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Using any of the links in this blog post does NOT cost you anything but does help us big time to support the continued content creation on this blog. Thank you so much for partnering with us, let’s BE Family.
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Tips and Tricks to Simplify a Road Trip with Kids
As a family, road trips are a part of our lifestyle. There’s no better way to make family travel more affordable, practical, and low stress, while creating great memories for us and the kids. Family road trips are flexible, letting us travel direct to our destination when we need to and also allowing us to stop and experience fun things along the way. I know the thought of a road trip with kids may be stressful, but it does not have to be.
Done right, family road trips are a great way to build strong family bonds. How do you plan a great road trip with kids? Planning. We’ll share how we plan family travel, including family road trip lists, road trip snacks, best travel gear for family road trips, the best activities to keep kids busy in the car, screen-free games for road trips, and some down and dirty parent tips from us to you.
Quick Reference Guide
We have compiled a lot of information below. I would suggest reading through at least once. However, the Table of Contents below will help you navigate to a certain section quickly. Use the Table of Contents below for future reference when you return to this post to answer questions or get back to links fast. We hope you find tremendous value.
Supply Lists for Family Road Trip with Kids
Car Supplies
We start every road trip by making sure we have basic supplies in the car. Having easy ways to take care of unexpected messes, injuries, and the occasional upset stomach are all must-haves. Not being prepared for those unexpected surprises will create a lot of stress and can get your vacation off to a rough start. Luckily we’ve got you covered with some great tips and tricks for getting that road trip going smoothly.
A road trip with kids means being prepared for messes! Napkins or paper towels and baby wipes are handy for sticky hands or a bigger mess. Hand sanitizer is a must with all of the eating that happens on a road trip. We prefer to use one that doesn’t seem to leave a taste behind. We always keep a basic first-aid kit in the car but make sure to check that it’s stocked before a road trip. A few plastic bags are handy for trash, to wrangle a big mess, and just in case of stomach upset. For helpful tips for preventing or dealing with Car Sickness in Kids click this link.
Speaking of big messes… you may have wondered why we still keep a spare diaper in the car, even with no one wearing diapers anymore. I’ll tell you below.
Disposable diaper (yup – even if you don’t have a baby, keep one in the car!)
Pillow and light blanket for each kid
Outfits for the Road
Let’s talk family road trip clothes. Nothing is more uncomfortable than wearing snug clothing or shoes that squeeze just a bit. A sure-fire way to make extra stops or hear extra complaining from the backseat is to not control what gets worn on long road trips. Our kids have actually learned what they prefer in the car and lovingly call them their road trip outfits!
The Best Comfy Road Trip Clothes for Kids (and Adults!)
Lightweight long-sleeved shirt – Wearing a long-sleeved shirt for a long day in the car means skipping sunscreen. If you really prefer short sleeves, be sure to throw sunscreen on the exposed skin. It’ll be getting sun all day.
Comfortable elastic waist pants
Easy on/off shoes – Spending all day in the car with shoes on is annoying for adults. There’s no way our kids aren’t kicking their shoes off! Easy on/off shoes means when we stop it doesn’t add time putting shoes back on. Easy shoes can include Birkenstocks, clogs, loafer style shoes, flip flops or slide sandals in the summer.
Zip-up sweatshirt or sweater for easy on/off in the car – We skip sweatshirts with hoods! These can be uncomfortable against the back of the seat.
Sunglasses
Sunscreen – Quickly applying a bit of sunscreen to everyone’s faces (and arms if needed) will prevent sun damage and the possibility of sunburn ruining your road trip.
Spare set of clothes for spills and accidents – Yup. We know there are clothes for a week in the luggage but it’s a nightmare to dig through everything in back for a new shirt after a spill. We pack a day bag with a full change of clothes for each kid and fresh shirts for the adults because who hasn’t worn coffee all down the front of them?!
Spare diaper but not for the baby – What better use for a long-outgrown diaper sitting around? Here’s a family travel hack – – a diaper is great way to soak up big spills. Water bottle spills can be a real issue on a trip but put a diaper inside out over the puddle and watch it disappear!
Road Trip Snacks
Another secret to a successful family road trip is having access to quick and easy kid friendly snacks when you are on the road. Sometimes it may feel like the front seat of the car is a full-service restaurant! But there isn’t much worse than being stuck in the car with hangry kids. So having a selection of healthy road trip snacks for kids (and adults) will keep everyone happier and make the journey a lot smoother.
Read our detailed post about the Best Road Trip Snacks for Kids which includes photos and descriptions of all our favorite family road trip snacks. And, to make your online shopping fast and convenient, we have included handy links to all the recommended items.
When we are preparing to head out of town on a family vacation we love the convenience of ordering a Prime Pantry box. A few minutes placing an online order can save you hours in the grocery store.
Spice up a healthy nut snack with dried fruit, some chocolate, or yogurt covered raisins. We always pack individual servings in a small reusable container. Our kids love dried raisins, cranberries, cherries or apricots.
Fruit
Think fruits that can be eaten with your hands. Pre-sliced apples, grapes, oranges, strawberries, blueberries, or bananas. Pre-wash and pre-slice before you leave, and with kids under the age of 5, skip the grapes.
Nuts
Nuts are a healthy snack packed with protein. Our kids love peanuts, whole almonds, sliced almonds, pistachios, cashews or pecans. Choose roasted or unsalted nuts, to avoid the unnecessary salt.
Nut Butter (such as peanut butter, almond butter or sunflower seed spread) in individual serving sizes are great to dip with sliced apples. If you have young children or a child with a nut allergy then avoid these options.
Granola or Protein Bars
We keep granola bars and protein bars on-hand for family road trips at all times! Kids and adults alike can make it that extra hour to the food destination of choice when there’s extra granola bars for everyone.
Greek Yogurt Drinks / Cheese
Greek Yogurt Drinks, Babybel or String Cheese snacks are another easy way to pack protein for the road. We always carry a small cooler and these items take up very little room.
Snack Size Sandwiches / Wraps
Having the ability to grab one more substantial meal while still driving down the road gives us flexibility as well as a healthier option for one meal. This is especially helpful with picky eaters! We pack sandwiches cut into quarters and wraps cut in half for small meals as we drive. Our favorite quick and easy sandwiches are cheese or nut butter and jelly.
Veggies & Hummus
Cut up some veggies and pack single serve hummus or ranch dip. Some of our go-to vegetables for road trip travel are baby carrots, sliced cucumbers, snow peas, sliced peppers or cherry tomatoes.
Road Trip Hack
You can use a traditional school snack container like shown in the picture for separating out your veggies, cheese and crackers for each child.
We love to use a Bento Box, which allows a lot of flexibility for separation of dips, vegetables, sandwiches, and even sliced up fruits.
These quick and easy pouches can be a lifesaver for when veggies get missed on the road.
Crunchy Snacks
Goldfish, veggie straws, pretzels, animal crackers, mini rice cakes, tortilla snacks, mini graham crackers, peanut butter crackers, Chex mix or Cheerios in a handy snack catcher.
Popcorn
You can pop your own or purchase it ready to go, popcorn is an easy and healthy road trip snack.
Sweet Treats
We aren’t keen on giving our kids a bunch of sugar in the car (or at any time, really). Asking a kid to sit still in the car after a bunch of sugar just seems downright impossible. But what’s better than a small sweet treat to celebrate the halfway point of the trip? Or to use as a bribe for later 😉 We stick to treats with less sugar like organic fruit snacks or gummies. Or on occasion we’ll enjoy one of my childhood favorites – a Rice Krispies Treat!
Short breaks on a family road trip are important to give everyone in the car an opportunity to stretch and reduce that cramped cabin-fever feeling. Most medical professionals recommend a general rule of a break of at least 15 minutes every 2 hours. In our best case scenario, we usually try to get a nice 3-1/2 hour stretch in first thing while everyone is at their best. After that, we stop every 2 or 2-1/2 hours.
Traveling with a Potty Training Toddler
Are you nervous about taking a road trip with a potty training toddler? If your child is comfortable using public restrooms around town, then now it’s time to start thinking about your first road trip while potty training. Consider bringing a travel potty or seat in the car. And before your road trip read our post to learn everything you need to know about how to travel with a potty training toddler.
Recommended Travel Products for Road Trips
To keep the kids entertained on a long journey it’s important to have a selection of activities available within reach. We alternate between games, drawing, books, play, road trip snacks and some technology time.
Printable Road Trip Games
Our kids love to start off with their BE Family Travel Trays in their laps. That way they get a chance to play, draw, create, and work on their printable road trip games.
After the first hour or so we will allow for some technology time. Their car seat travel trays make it easy as we will already have their device in the tablet pocket. The BE Family Travel Tray will help end the “are we nearly there yet” boredom.
Road Trip Technology Time
Once it is time for some technology time they can turn on their Kids HD Kindle Fire Tablets by themselves. Then they slip on their bluetooth headsets to watch a short movie or play a game.
The Road Trip Wrap-up
The thought of a road trip with kids can be daunting. However, using these packing and travel tips can really help to reduce your stress and bring peace to the backseat. We would love to hear about your tips and tricks that work well for your family. Similarly, feel free to share your successes or failures that we can all learn and grow as families that like to travel with our kids. Also, let us know if there are topics around travel that you need help with and we can do our best to address those in future posts.
As always, let’s BE Family so you can enjoy the journey.
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https://befamilytravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Tips-and-tricks-to-simplify-a-road-trip-with-kids.jpg19201371BeFamilyTravelhttps://befamilytravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/BFT-LOGO.pngBeFamilyTravel2019-12-20 12:19:092020-06-29 13:58:33Simplify a Road Trip with Kids
Our Annual Christmas Visit to the Grove Park Inn to see the Gingerbread Houses
It just does not feel like Christmas until we take the kids to the Omni Grove Park Inn to see the Gingerbread House displays. This year was The 26th Annual National Gingerbread House Competition™ held at the Inn in Asheville, North Carolina.
The Gingerbread houses are made 100 percent of edible ingredients although I’m sure they are much nicer to gaze upon than to taste. That does not stop my two kids and probably most children from begging to pluck a candy or two off the delicately arranged masterpieces. The houses are partially blocked by rudimentary fencing or stanchions but does not stop little hands from reaching through. If you’re like me, you will exclaim more than once “Don’t you dare touch that!” I think once I had to also add “No! Don’t lick it either.”
Gingerbread Houses (The Gingers)
As usual our 2-year-old checked out 15 minutes into the visit and we took turns chasing her around the public spaces of the hotel. The whole way to the Grove Park she repeatedly exclaimed excitedly “Me see Gingers!” Apparently after seeing only one hallway “the Gingers” were not as exciting as once hoped. Our 7-year-old, however, was really interested in the magic of it all. She loves arts and crafts so now she is very interested in entering the competition next year. It has yet to be fully decided upon, if her parents are ready to take on that task. We may just stick with one of these kits that we typically let the girls build.
There are of course entries from all over the country and in every age group from Kindergarten to adults. It is amazing to see all the incredible entries and all the hard work that goes into each entry. I struggle to carry our girls gingerbread kit from the table to the counter. I can not imagine what some of these families do to cross the country with these edible masterpieces.
Historic Grove Park Inn Christmas
The Grove Park Inn first opened in 1913 so the hotel itself is truly a treat to visit. However, when it is fully decorated for Christmas magnificent Gingerbread creations line the grand halls of this Asheville, North Carolina Landmark Hotel. It is truly stunning to visit the Grove Park Inn at Christmas. Creatively themed Christmas trees sprinkled in among the candy adorned displays really put you in the holiday spirit. We love sitting by the two massive fireplaces and sipping hot cocoa. There is also a beautiful sleigh and reindeer outside on the patio for pictures. That is a great spot on a clear day to photograph Downtown Asheville in the distance.
National Gingerbread House Competition™
You will want to check out Omni Grove Park Inn website before planning your trip to view the Gingerbread houses. There are only certain days and times in which the displays are open to the public. This is the excerpt directly from the Omni Grove Park Inn website for 2018’s viewing schedule.
“The Omni Grove Park Inn invites guests not staying at the resort to view the display after 3:00 p.m. on Sundays. Anytime Monday through Thursday, based on parking availability and excluding holidays (December 23, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30, 31 and January 1, 2019). Please note that only Registered Resort Pets will be permitted. No outside pets will be allowed.”
We have noticed it follow a similar schedule for several years now. Just to be certain check the website before making plans. Also, important to note there is a $20.00 minimum parking charge per vehicle and I believe that is the same if you park for 1 hour or the whole day. So when you pay to park up plan a nice long stay. They have a great cafe for lunch with sandwiches, pizza, or salad. They also have coffee, desserts, and snacks. There are several gift shops and boutiques. It’s pretty easy to spend 3-4 hours there.
https://befamilytravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Omni_Grove_Park_Inn_Gingerbread_Houses.jpg25923872BeFamilyTravelhttps://befamilytravel.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/BFT-LOGO.pngBeFamilyTravel2019-11-20 14:28:122019-12-23 12:10:45Grove Park Inn at Christmas
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