Our Family Car Trips

Posted by Diane Laney Fitzpatrick Jun 29, 2007

I would love to get a regular car. One with four doors, front seats and a plain old back seat, maybe a hatchback, or even just a trunk.

I flip through my husband's car magazines, planning my new life as a car owner, dreaming of the day when I can get rid of the SUV and see the word "sedan" on my car insurance card.

But then I think about our next vacation or trip back home to visit relatives.

Since the day we "went mini-van," back when I was pregnant with our third child, we have enjoyed roomy interiors, and car trips in which we could all stretch out, eat complete meals and take comfortable naps.

From our first mini-van, we moved up to a larger mini-van and then to our current mid-sized SUV,which seats eight people and makes road trips pretty darn comfortable.

I don't like to fly, plus we've found vacationing by car more affordable and more convenient. We've packed the kids in the car and traveled far and wide, on vacations and back to northeastern Ohio to visit family and friends.

I have to admit, I enjoy our time in the car together. We take lots of food (and try not to eat all the Cheez-Its before we get out of our neighborhood), play games together (our favorite is the Initial Game, which we've mastered to the point where we don't even use initials), and listen to music (my son makes mix CDs for each trip, from his laptop right in the car).

We stock our vehicle with so many comforts, the kids sometimes don't even want to get out at pit stops. On one trip, my husband and I got so involved in the Initial Game that we had driven through the entire state of Virginia before I correctly guessed Tom Jones.

If you're planning a car trip, check out my recent articles, Car Trips with Kids: Planning a Vacation Road Trip and Family Car Games: Fun Things to Do on Your Road Trip.