Are we there yet? Travelling with Family…

Travelling with family creates memories. Long holidays or quick getaways often form the basis for ‘family legends’ and are one of the greatest bonding experiences. Many of the best “Remember the Time..” stories start with a car or plane trip.

That being said, the actual process of travelling with family can be a slightly different reality! The combination of small children, frazzled parents, unusual departure times or traffic can sometimes mean more nightmare than dream trip.

It can be all too easy to hand children an electronic device to keep them quiet, but then they spend the entire trip focused on something fictional and miss the very real beauty and experience around them. Too much time with the head down can also exacerbate travel sickness. Encourage the whole family to embrace the entire journey, rather than only valuing the people and activities at your destination.

Be prepared

Plan your trip to include the actual travel time and save yourself the vexation of answering that age-old question, “Are we there yet?” from five minutes out of the driveway!

Explain the journey to children and include them in the process; for example, “we are going to visit a really pretty beach and we are going to be there by lunchtime, so it will take as long as you at kindy/up to morning tea time at school/your netball game.” Set out interesting landmarks as markers, “by the time we’ve been over a large bridge and through three towns, we’re more than halfway.”

Try where possible to travel with fed, well-rested and comfortable children. It is a good rule of thumb for adults too. Pack snacks for emergencies and try to avoid travelling over meal times, unless there will be a convenient place to stop and eat that can be factored into the trip.

Travelling with family is a great opportunity to talk and really catch up. Ask questions and allow the conversation to twist and turn where it may, or suggest games that everyone can participate in and there aren’t too many rules. Telling stories about the people and places you are going to visit is a wonderful way to pass the time. On the way home, find out what everyone’s personal highlight was.

Plan some fun along the way

Play games and sing songs. Even the most jaded teenager can be coaxed into actually having fun if they can forget themselves for a moment and join in to a good old game of Eye Spy. It is a good idea to have a few games in mind before you leave and spread them through out the trip. Below are a few suggestions that work well to pass the time.

Travel Alphabet is a simple, cooperative game in which everyone works together to find an object outside that starts with each letter of the alphabet (difficult letters like Q, X, and Z can be omitted). For example, for A, “air,” “aeroplane,” or “animals” are some possibilities. I like that this game encourages the children to look out of the window and to see the scenery (of course this game doesn’t work at night, but by dark, hopefully, the kids are asleep).

Silly Licence Sentence is a funny game where players challenge each other to come up with a sentence using the letters on a licence plate. The game starts with the first player challenging the next player to come up with a sentence using the words that start with the letters on a licence plate — in order! So if the licence plate was AKPA 569, you might come up with, “All kangaroos play around.” The sentences can be extremely silly but must be grammatically correct.

Can you guess the mystery song? The first player hums a section of a song for the other players to guess (it must be a song that the other players have heard). The next player can either be the one who guessed correctly or the next player in order from youngest to oldest.

Start your holiday as you mean to continue; well organised, happy and expecting a great time.