Tag Archives: road trips

Tips for Traveling with Cats

Cats don’t generally travel as well as dogs do. I’m lucky because Mr. Meow is an exception. He does very well if we give him the freedom to decide between his carrier or roaming around the vehicle. (If we just keep him locked in his carrier he’ll meow constantly like mad until we unlock him.) And once he can be out and about, he quiets down and generally picks a spot and stays there. Sometimes it’s my lap, sometimes it’s on the seat beside me (if we’re in Wayne’s pickup), or it’s next to his brother Murphy. But we now … Continue reading →

Traveling with Mr. Meow

I’ve only had to travel long distances with cats a couple of times. Once when we moved from Tucson up to Phoenix and we relocated Sneakers with us. The next time was hauling Mr. Meow up here from Jacksonville, and then for our family road trip to Denver for Christmas 2005. The reason we chanced the road trip to Denver with both Murphy and Mr. Meow was because he traveled so well on the nine hour drive from Jacksonville to Nashville. I was really worried about him and had even gone to the vet to get him a knock out … Continue reading →

Driving the Healthy Highway

Sitting in the car all day can cut your usual daily calorie burn by as much as four hundred calories! If you’ve got a family road trip planned, use these tips to keep the highway a little healthier. Adjust your calorie intake accordingly. You’ll burn four hundred calories less sitting in the car all day, so you should be eating four hundred calories less, too! Stock up on drinks. That recirculated air (or open windows) can dry you out and make you thirsty. If you’ve got bottled water and other healthy drinks handy, you won’t be tempted to stop at … Continue reading →

A Few Tightwad Tips for Road Trips

It’s spring break season. A time when most people are planning (or dreaming about) taking a family vacation somewhere warm and sunny. Not me, I am packing up two preschoolers and heading north to visit my family and friends in Minnesota. I consider myself to be a professional family road-tripper. I take this fourteen hour jaunt every two or three months. (That’s one benefit of working from home – I can pack up and head home whenever I feel like it). That being said, traveling is expensive. As I am watching the gas prices rise almost daily, I’ve been thinking … Continue reading →

Vacation Planning for the Single Parent

I will never forget the first year as a single parent when I decided to take my son and daughter on vacation. After saving enough money to go some place decent, I decided we would head down to Branson, Missouri, about a four-hour drive from Kansas City where we live. Branson is a great place in that it is affordable, especially when staying during the off-season, there are tons of things to do for every age, and the scenery is beautiful. However, I had never taken a vacation as the only parent of two kids so I remember feeling a … Continue reading →

Survive the Drive: How to Get Your Kids to Behave in the Car

Are family car trips maddening enough to send you into irritation overdrive? Ever wonder what you can do to make things “run” a bit smoother? With seven children, I’ve learned some techniques for keeping things calm in the car. Depending on your child’s age, type of behavior problems, and cognitive ability, you might select one of the following options: 1. Involve the kids in an activity. It’s hard to squabble or whine while you’re having fun. Get the kids playing a game of “I spy,” or “bingo.” And on long trips, portable DVD players can be worth their weight in … Continue reading →

On The Road With Children–“Sanity-Savers”

Featured

My mother is a born craft queen. I am not a loyal subject, but will accept any and all completed projects she sends my way. We are getting ready to take my toddler daughter on a long car trip so my mom has put together some supplies that will hopefully avoid a major backseat meltdown. I agree, regardless of the ages and attention spans of your children, portable DVD players and hand-held video games are sanity-savers on long car trips, but these ideas may come in handy as well. · Books on tape (with a twist). My mom got my … Continue reading →

Psyching Up for Summer

Summer time is rapidly approaching and for a lot of families that means road trips. Road trips are a time-honored tradition in my family. Every summer, my grandmother packed us into the car and we took off for parts known and unknown. Some of the best vacations were the ones that began with: “Where are we going?” “Wherever the road takes us.” So if you’re getting ready to head to the beach, to the mountains, to the National Forests or just to grandma’s house – here’s some road trip rules and tricks that worked when we were traveling. Make a … Continue reading →