As Christmas approached my wife and I knew that we had yet another task ahead of us: travel. Our invitable 15 hour trip loomed over our heads like a dark cloud. We knew, however, that at the end of the cloud would be much greater than a silver lining. We would find warm beds, clean towels, and more smiles and hugs than we are able to give each other at home for lack of additional arms. The last time we embarked on this epic journey we were able to complete the trip in a single day… would the same be true again?
Sadly, no. Or, perhaps “sadly” is the wrong word. We ended up stopping 3 times during the entire trip (gas and restroom stops included). Somehow our son decided that he was going to be a “champion of travel” and sleep for a great amount of time during the trip. My wife, once again, would pump milk in the back seat of our tiny car and feed him while we were going from a bottle. My son gladly accepted the bottle as it was filled with what my mother-in-law calls “liquid gold.”
Aside from hoping your child sleeps, feeding-on-the-fly, and infrequent stops the greatest advice I can give is the thing that kept us from traveling in one day: stop for a night. My wife and I stayed in a little hotel after about 12 hours of travel. Could we have made it to our final destination by evening? Yes. Should we have pushed through with my wife sweaty, cramped and uncomfortable? No. Should we have kept going with my son trapped in an uncomfortable, spitup-filled, sweaty seat? No. Could we have kept going with Dad’s back hurting, eyes lulling themselves closed, and admittedly uncomfortable himself? No. So we stayed in a hotel. Truth be told: We couldn’t have made a better decision with such a long drive.