We hit the highway about 3-4 times a year. Our road trips generally run 5-10 hours each way. I'm not a pack rat, but I do like to pack.
In the past, this has meant we dragged a pantry and a toy chest into the minivan. I pack snacks galore. Dry snacks like Clif Kid Z Bars and fresh snacks like cut up veggies and fruit.
I tote along the chapter books my boys are reading along with a small toy or two.
We bring iPads, fully loaded with their favorite apps and movies. We also bring along a car outlet charger so we can charge our iPads, cell phones and laptops on the go.
I make sure we have hand wipes, paper towels, water and even a small emergency kit.
You would think that I drive the Grapes of Wrath truck but nope, my car isn't cluttered at all. I'm just a model of efficiency when it comes to packing. I'm prepared!
I seem to like to play the "What if?" game. What if we pop a tire and find ourselves stuck in the middle of nowhere? What if we're stuck in traffic? What if we can't find a place to eat? What if we find ourselves at the beach and we don't have our bathing suits? What if someone throws up?
Then there's my sister-in-law. She lives in Turkey with her 6-year-old son and visits us every year or so. To get here, they travel by bus and by train and by plane and it takes FIFTEEN HOURS.
After visiting us recently, they then traveled by bus and then by train down to LA, a trip that took at least 12 hours.
15 hours!
12 hours!
My God, my kids would go stir crazy!
For the 15 hour + 12 hour trip, the boy's mom packed a couple of granola bars, a notepad and an activity book.
That. is. all.
I know because I asked.
What if the boy grew thirsty... bored ... and/or hungry?
Granted, I have a minivan and they were traveling with backpacks and carry-ons but still. I just can't imagine bringing along so little. They travel as I did before I had kids, backpack style.
Our Turkish cousin is a good traveler, requiring very little. He probably colored and did some math activities and nibbled on his granola bar, maybe even napping a little in between. When he was thirsty, they probably just bought a bottle of water. Simple needs.
His spoiled and not-so-mellow, you-hit-me-brother-I'll-hit-you-back cousins would not have been fine.
There would have been meltdowns to avert and thirsts to quench and boredom to combat.
Our Turkish cousin is the real deal, unspoiled and well-behaved. He has no idea that life with an iPad would change his world. My boys? They are of the can-I-play-with-your-phone generation. They need to be entertained in the car. They need to eat in the car. And this, coupled with my worst-case scenario thinking means, I've got to be prepared.
So it's all my fault. It's how we roll in our minivan, especially on road trips.
French friends visited last summer. They had four young daughters in tow and like our Turkish cousin, they all traveled light.
My boys can't go from San Jose to San Francisco without being thirsty, hungry or bored. I can't mentally make the one hour San Jose - San Francisco journey without thinking of the what-ifs. What if the fog rolls in and we've forgotten our jackets?
We've got a road trip coming up. What could I do without? My emergency flashlight? Crayons for the boys? The gallon of water I keep in the trunk for on-the-go hand and feet washing (beach sand, for instance)? Could my boys leave our iPads at home?
Is packing light, the way my sister-in-law does, wise and practical or is it just short sightedness?
We may be road trippers but sometimes I just can't see the forest through the trees.
This is an original post to Chalk and Cheese Chronicles.
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