RV’ing with kids is a wonderful way to spend not only quality time as a family, but it allows you to experience new places and nature! But traveling with kids can be a little challenging. With the proper planning and some patience, however, the rewards of memories you will be creating will be well worth it!
PART OF THE PLANNING
Even little kids can have creative ideas and like to be part of the action. Include them in the planning. Show them some videos with campgrounds and ask them what they would like to do at a campground. Going to see a National Park? Order a guide book on the park and let them look through it and pick out some of their top places to go. This will not only get them excited about where they are going, but it will give them some ownership of the trip and only make it that much more special.
CUT DOWN ON TRAVEL TIME
As adults, we sometimes will push the limits and spend very long days driving just to get to where we are going faster. That’s not so easy with kids. Long road trips can be tough for little passengers. If they are in car seats, that’s a long time being uncomfortable and bored. To keep them excited, and to try and prevent meltdowns, try cutting your travel days down to shorter periods. And to help on those days when you can only count so many farms and cows out of the window, be sure to have plenty of hand-held activities and snacks to keep your little ones occupied.
PLENTY OF BREAKS
If you are rv’ing with kids, long gone are the days of pulling into a gas station, jumping out to start pumping gas and while pumping running into use the restroom or grab snacks and running out. Stopping to use the restroom with kids can be an experience in itself. Before hitting the road, look at maps and ensure that there are ample places to pull off. If not, be sure to “schedule” your potty breaks. This is very helpful depending on what type of RV you are driving/towing. Not every place is easy to maneuver for a big rig. Pro Tip: Rest areas are not only easy to get in and out of, but it avoids having to spend a long time or trying to drag a screaming child out of a gas station because it’s more like a tourist destination. Ever been to a Buc-ee’s? I have seen many parents dragging screaming/crying kids out of there! One step into a gas station like Buc-ee’s and not only have you just spent over an hour walking around, but now you have to pack away all the merchandise and snacks you just bought!
HAVE FUN RV’ING WITH KIDS
Traveling and rv’ing with kids can be stressful, for you, for the kids, for everyone. Everything might not go as planned, and there probably will be some meltdowns. Sometimes bad situations can make the best bonding opportunities that will last a lifetime. Make sure you show your kids that camping is fun, so they will want to continue to go RV’ing for years to come. Make the best of any situation, and remember that kids in general are easy going and like the simple things. That is, at the core, what RV’ing is-getting back to nature and unwinding. Let them get dirty, play in the river, help build the campfire, forage for marshmallow sticks and show them what RV’ing is really like. And don’t forget to take pictures. Not only you, but your kids when older, will want to look back on these awesome adventures!
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