Traveling to Long Distance Weddings by Car

How to make kids feel comfortable during long distance drives.

Every once in a while we all travel to a beloved friend or family member’s long distance wedding by car. This is especially true for those who have young children at home as the price of gasoline is much cheaper than plane tickets are in today’s economy. Plus, it’s easy to make a vacation out of a trip to a long distance wedding and do some fun things with the kids while you’re away from home.

So, once you’ve gotten the vehicle packed with all the necessary wedding items (formal dress for you, little girl’s dress for your daughter, a boy’s suit for your son, an adult suit and tie set for your husband plus all the formal shoes and hair accessories), it’s time to start thinking about how you’re going to keep your children entertained during the trip. Below are a few suggestions to help make the ride more bearable.

• Bring Reading Material and Coloring Books – The first thing you need to pack are some of your children’s favorite reading books. You may also have success by purchasing a few new books that they haven’t read and surprising them on the trip with them. If your children are too young to read on their own, then pack some coloring books and crayons to give them something to do.
• Play Games – Another great way to keep children entertained during a long car ride is to play games with them. Of course, these games have to be games that can be done in the vehicle. One of my son’s favorite games to play during road trips is “I Spy.” While I easily get bored with the game, my son will happily play this game for 30 minutes to an hour! A great game to play with older children on long car trips is the license plate game. Give each child a piece of paper and pencil and have them write down each new state license plate that they see on the ride. You can either put a time limit on the game or wait until you reach your destination to see who saw the most (different) license plates.
• Buy a DVD Player – Once of the great things about living in 2012 is now we have portable DVD players for vehicles. While you won’t want your children glued to the DVD player the entire drive, these nifty “gadgets” make it possible for adults to enjoy a conversation with each other during long-distance vehicle trips. I’m not sure about you, but if I’m able to get an hour break of the constant chatter coming from the back seat during a trip, I’m much more pleasant to be around – portable DVD players make this possible!