5 Must-Haves for Long Distance Road Trips

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1. Sugar-free snacks. Hoo-boy! You only have to get trapped in an enclosed space with the kids when they’re bouncing off the walls (literally) on a sugar high once and you’ll never do it again. In fact, forget the high-energy phase; what about the crash that follows close on its heels, complete with irritation, fatigue, and in most cases, a meltdown of some sort? It’s definitely a good idea to have snacks on hand so you don’t have to pull over every five minutes, but for goodness sake forego sodas, candy bars, and anything else that has artificial sugar. Your best bet is to include fruits, which have natural sugars (and plenty of fiber to balance out all the fast food), vegetables (most kids will happily munch carrot sticks and celery with a bit of peanut butter), and more filling items like string cheese and trail mix. And instead of soda, stock your car with water. Bonus tip: don’t forget the trash bags! Spills and car sickness are bound to occur, and you definitely don’t want the flooring area of the back seat to turn into one giant repository for empty food wrappers and uneaten scraps.
    
2. The perfect play list. You don’t want to listen to listen to ten hours of The Wiggles any more than your kids want to hear your favorite ’80s hair bands for the entire trip. You could let everyone take turns, but why not just have the whole family contribute to a massive road-trip playlist and then set your MP3 player to shuffle? The compromise will keep the whole car happy and there are bound to be songs that you can all rock out to.
    
3. A variety of entertainment options. In-car entertainment systems are certainly a god-send for keeping kids occupied, but you may also want to include a tablet (or three) stocked with age-appropriate movies, books, and games. A trip to the local library is also a good idea, as is downloading some audio books for their iPods for times when the noise level in the car is too distracting to read. Travel games can also be fun (albeit messy), Mad Libs will get everyone laughing, and you can find all kinds of road-trip related game ideas online before you go (twenty questions, I spy, and sweet-and-sour are just a few examples).
    
4. Nap gear. Sitting upright with siblings in the back seat all day is not ideal for most kids, but it can be made more comfortable with the inclusion of pillows, blankets, favorite toys, and anything else that lulls your kids to sleep as the miles fly by.
    
5. Roadside assistance plan. Whether your auto insurance provides for roadside assistance or you join an independent agency like AAA, it behooves you to have this emergency plan in place before you head off into the wild blue yonder. When you run out of gas, blow a tire, or bust engine a back road, you’ll be happy you took this precautionary step.