Before we get started: After quite a bit of thought and researching I linked up with Amazon to be an affiliate for their site. While I don’t typically go into a lot of details about our working lives, the current situation in congress is affecting our financial status right now (as I’m sure it is affecting a lot of people). When my husband started this site for me about three years ago he went with a paid site that he could run most of the software/design update aspects of it.

I really want to keep my blog, so in the interest of being able to do that and keep you all updated (you know all ten of you…HA! I love each and every ten of you 🙂 ) I decided to do a bit of affiliating to bring a very small amount of profit. Not to be long winded, but I guarantee that anything I link up with on the site are items I genuinely recommend, not just random stuff I found on Amazon. And I will still recommend and discuss items that aren’t on Amazon too. Those items I do not receive a monetary payment for…unless you want to throw a Chanel bag my way and have me recommend it on the site…which, yes, of course I will do…maybe a pair of Jimmy Choo’s as well? Hahaha.

And as this is mainly a family followed site, don’t worry family. I am still going to post pictures of the boys all the time.

Boom. There’s one. See, something’s got to pay for those lambies’ ears to be washed. Oh and let’s not even start into the discussion that this child is wearing a 2T shirt.

Okay so enough of that talk. On to more important discussions….trip essentials for on the road.

When we travel there are a few things that we do that make traveling with toddlers easier.

1. Map out your route. We locate rest stops, restaurant stops, and hotel stops ahead of time. My husband typically is in charge of this as my sense of direction probably wouldn’t get me out of a paper bag in an emergency. I have to say that we usually don’t schedule a hotel ahead of time. What we typically do is get a printed out list of hotels at certain stopping points (say hour 4, 5, or 6 on the road). I will be honest and say this isn’t always the best idea because we have encountered some serious meltdowns when we try to push our luck and go a little bit further.

Sometimes a better idea is to go ahead an schedule a hotel at several places and find out what their cancellation policy is. If you can cancel with no fee the same day, then when you reach your destination cancel the other hotels.

An even better idea? Pick a designated goal (that is within reason for your kids’ age) and stop there. So if you plan to make it six hours the first day, stop after six hours…go ahead and schedule your hotel ahead of time.

2. Bring a battery charger that you can jump your battery without road side assistance. My Dad bought my sister and I each one of these one year for Christmas. We keep them in our glove boxes. If you are ever traveling alone it is super helpful to have.

3. If you are traveling with a child in diapers, for the car trip (plane rides too!), put them in one size larger than what they normally wear. Trust me on this one.

4. While we are on the subject of diapers. I prepare a diaper changing area for the car, so I don’t have to change J at the rest stops. The boys have seat protectors like these Eddie Bauer ones. The bottoms of them have three pockets. In front of J’s seat I put diapers in one, wipes in another, and a tub in the other.  that used to hold hand sanitizing wipes, but now holds Target bags. On the pocket in front of his seat I put a changing pad and a towel. When we stop I pull out A’s seat (he is now in a booster, like this Graco one). I lay down the towel, changing pad and change J there. I also put a little ziploc with random items in it to distract J while I change him because he likes to flip over. His favorites are these Sesame Street books, or a plastic baby fork or spoon like these First Year’s brand.

5. Bring change in case you run into a toll road and put it in an easily accessible place (like the little change spot in your side arm panel or wherever it is in your car).

6. Clean and vacuum your car out before you go. I know it seems counter-productive because the car is just going to get messy again, but I have to do it. It’s genetic.

7. Prep for whatever you might need at hand while you are on the road. One of the things I always do is put a bottle of Tylenol in the arm rest between the front seats. Nine times out of ten about an hour into our drive my husband gets a headache.

8. Bring a list of “cannot leave without” and put it in the car and check it off before you leave. Wallets, cellphones, cellphone chargers, camera, glasses/sunglasses usually make the top of our lists. There are some things that you can do without if you forget them, but you don’t want to have to turn around to get something thirty minutes down the road.

And I think that’s it! Am I forgetting anything?? Let me know! 🙂 Have a great Monday!