8 Ways To Plan A Trip That Won’t Leave Your Kids Saying “Are We There Yet?!”

“Are we there yet? How about now? When will we be there??” How many times have you heard that from the back seat while you’re on a family vacation? If your kids seem to be bored within five minutes of getting in the car, maybe it’s time to try an RV vacation. A family RV trip can alleviate a lot of this boredom.

But what if you’ve been going on RV vacations for years and the thrill of traveling in what’s basically a little moving house is gone? Don’t worry; you won’t have to listen to the kids claim they’re bored or hear them ask if you’re there yet a minute after leaving your house. There are a number of things you can do to prevent boredom and make life on the road exciting.

BOREDOM PREVENTION
The first thing is to deal with boredom. Here are a few tips to help with this:

• Map out your route. This way, your kids will be able to get excited about what they’re going to see. You can provide pamphlets or other resources about these sights so they can spend some time researching during the trip. You can also make a list of the relatives or friends you’ll visit and tell stories about them.
• Let each family member pick a stop on the trip. This can be anything from a beach or amusement park to a museum or concert. Do one thing on the trip that each person is passionate about. Ask them to share information about their stop.
• Have a rough idea of how far it will be between each stop. This can give you an idea of how often you may need to make pit stops. Kids may be great in the RV for a few hours, but after that, they might need to stretch their legs a bit. Estimating the distance you’ll travel each day will also help you determine which RV campgrounds to stop at.
• Watch the weather and have a plan for any area that looks like it could be hit with a storm. Nothing ruins a vacation faster than setting up at a campground only to be stuck indoors due to heavy rain for the day. You may even want to avoid areas that are going to see storms.

LIFE ON THE ROAD
You can also make life on the road a little more interesting, relaxing, and fun so that even when you’re on the road, your kids are taking part in the vacation.

• Give each kid a blank scrapbook and the tools they need to make their own trip notebook. This can include markers, stamps, and all the other scrapbooking tools. That might not appeal to teens, though. Talk to them about creating a blog or slideshow of your trip. They can use their cell phone to take photos and videos, then edit them together into a presentation for the family. If they do have a blog or social media, they can share their pictures and videos instantly.
• Another idea is to give each kid a disposable camera to use to take whatever pictures they want. You can even buy Polaroid cameras again, so the pictures can be almost instant. There are a number of cheap digital cameras on the market, too. After the photos are developed or printed, each child will have their own unique record of the vacation that focuses on the things they loved about it.
• Pick out a few audio books that the whole family would enjoy for the days that are mostly travel. This will keep everyone engaged in a story. As an added bonus, it’s also likely to keep everyone reasonably quiet, so there won’t be a lot of loud, distracting noise for the driver.
• Look at what campgrounds offer. Sometimes, a day spent at a campsite can be more exciting than one spent doing something else. Most campgrounds offer playgrounds, swimming pools (or even lakes to swim in), and more. You can rent bikes and explore the area. This is a great time for the adults to relax while the kids have fun and run off some energy.

IS AN RV TRIP RIGHT FOR YOUR FAMILY?
With these tips in mind, you may still be wondering if an RV vacation is right for you and your family. You can never really tell until you try it out! Talk to the experts at Fleetwood RV and see what vacationing in an RV is all about. Set yourself up for years of fun vacation experiences that will grow with you and your family leaving you with countless memories.