This is the third year we have driven to Montagu. The first year I flew down, David joined us a week later with the bus and then we all drove back. I was pregnant at the time and it actually wasn’t that bad.
Last year I drove down with the kids and my folks and then we all drove back together, it was probably the least amount of fun because I was exhausted going down and Emma wasn’t loving the whole experience going up.
This year I was a lot more prepared and I can honestly say it really was a pretty pleasant experience. Travelling for 14+ hours in a car with kids under 5 is never going to be the best fun you will ever have but it can be tolerable.
The biggest key to success is obviously planning properly and being prepared!
- I packed the kids individual snack boxes. If you have more than one kid, you will know you can not pass a bag of food to the back and expect them to share happily (or maybe its just my kids?) but someone will always feel someone else has taken more than them or took the one they wanted. So I searched for months to find the perfect snack boxes and settled on these from Plastic Warehouse for R35 each. They worked really well.
- Pack lots of activities (in seperate bags). Apparently it takes kids 27 minutes to get bored, over a long trip that’s a lot of bored time but Jack especially spent a lot of time playing with the toys and activities I packed in for him. He had a book bag with a white board book that he loves to trace and his peg board. His toy bag had cars and super heros in which he also enjoyed. Emma is still a bit small to be entertained by much for very long but she did also colour in and play with some of her toys. It was just nice to have different things to offer them.
- Snack and Play Trays. I saw these a while ago and have been checking them out but I needed two and couldn’t justify paying R500 for something I wasn’t sure the kids would use but then I found these ones on Takealot and used my eBucks to get two. They were such a hit. When the babies had finished with them, the bigger kids used them. So definitely worth it if you spend a lot of time in the car.
- Stopping when we needed to. David would drive straight through and do quick petrol stops if given half the chance but this time we stopped for a proper breakfast and a proper lunch with a few toilet stops in between. The longer stops really did help to let Emma especially, run around a bit and stretch her legs and get rid of some latent energy.
- Plastic bags (and easily accessible towels) are a must. Every time we go anywhere longer than an hour we have an issue with rubbish, the car looks like a tip when we get out so I made sure I had lots of plastic bags, let me tell you this is probably what kept us the most sane. An hour into the trip going down Emma threw up. There wasn’t really anywhere to stop so we undressed her and popped all the vomit stuff into a plastic bag. Then about an hour from my moms house she vomitted again then had 3 poop nappies! There was nowhere to stop, like really we were in the mountains, even the towns we did pass had nowhere for us to stop. So clothes and nappies were again tied tightly in plastic bags! I did high five myself for being so prepared at that point! (Both babies threw up on the trip home).
What are some of your road trip tips?
4 Responses
Very good tips. On long road trips I believe in stopping ever 2-3 hours. Breaks the journey up and allows everyone especially the driver to get a breather.
I have a potty and plastic bags and a toilet seat cover in my boot. Joys of potty training a toddler who refuses to go in her diaper.
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My biggest tip is NOT having my husband in the car. We took a trip to PE, and husband decided that he wanted to go with the bike, and left me with the two kids in the car. It ended up being a lot more relaxed.
That trip we planned beforehand for the kids to watch movies, because I know they get car sick if they do any activities where you look down (so no reading, colouring or playing games). We were at Vanderbijl when we had our first vomit, so movies is out as well, and taking kid out of the car to clean up he managed to step on a bee. Luckily I was prepared with towels, wet wipes and plastic bags. Just don’t get your plastic bags mixed up and accidently throw the Naartjie shirt in the dustbin. But, we had a horrible start, and the rest of the trip was a pleasure.
Oh and my Mom in Law took one trip with us to Sabie, and said she knows best and packed individual entertainment boxes. The activities made them car sick, they refused the snacks, they had the same items, but one would break something, and cry because the other one still had it etc etc. The entire car was full of little stickers, pieces of toys etc. Too many toys are also not a good idea.
What does work for us is having CD’s where they can sing along (only works if husband is not in the car), and playing games where they look out of the window (I spy, couting windmills, spotting animals etc). And lots and lots of stops.
These are all great tips. I particularly like the one about individual snack packs because my kids also cannot agree over who gets to hold the bag and find a million stupid things to fight over. Thankfully I haven’t had to do a long trip with them both YET, but want to take them to JHB at some point. Give me strength.
Such great advice Laura! We went to George from Joburg for a week this holiday and travelling with our 2 under 5 was definitely challenging. We packed iPads and books as well as lots of individual snacks, colouring in stuff and toys. We had our first car sick experiences on this road trip, probably related to the iPads so I don’t know if they are such a good idea. I even got to the point where I was able to catch some of the vom in a plastic bag – Ninja Mom style! Plastic bags are a must, next time I’ll take more. I like the snack boxes you used, I think I’ll get some too. The trays are great but the price… ouch. I saw your Facebook post about those trays and packed some normal trays for the kids, which worked ok for them. I’m definitely going to keep your tips in mind and be more prepared next time!
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