Traveling with your KWSNs

Or, as I like to call it “A direct route to Crazy Town”.

I know exactly what I’m talking about here, folks.  My family and I have traveled quite a bit in the last 4 years.  Half of our family lives in Florida while the other half call Minnesota home.  We live in Kentucky.  That’s right, directly in the middle of all of our family.  We’re either really crazy for being so far away or sly like a fox.

Either way, we do a lot of traveling.  Christmas, Thanksgiving, Fall break, Summer break, Spring break…it never ends.  In doing all of this traveling, I’ve devised a plan for staying moderately sane.  Here it is:  Don’t stress over the small stuff.  Easy, right?  Shyeah…not so much.  Seriously, I pick my battles with my kids, let my husband do the driving and let the GPS tell him when he’s wrong.

Sane Traveling Tip #1:  Make your list and check it more than twice.  I always make a packing list for each member in my family in addition to a “van list” which will include things like the DVDs case, books and activities for the kids (which they pack themselves), snacks, a cooler filled with drinks, fruit  cups, and cheese slices, and our iPad so that we can find a nice hotel for the first night.

Sane Traveling Tip #2:  Have your kids pack as much as they are able to from their list.  If you have a picky 4-year-old daughter like I do, who likes to pick out her own clothes (whether they match or not), it is imperative that you let her pack her own clothes within reason.  Let them pack their activities and books bag as well.  Each of my kids has their own bag that I let them put whatever they want in them.

Sane Traveling Tip #3:  If you have a stop scheduled in your trip before you get to your final destination, pack a separate bag so that you don’t have to haul all of your suitcases into the hotel.

Sane Traveling Tip #4:  Pack all medicines and medical equipment in one bag, if possible.  Our son has asthma, and some other health issues so I make sure to have his nebulizer and all his meds in one bag.  His BiPap and stethoscope are in their own bag.  My medications go in my toiletries bag to keep them separate from my son’s.  However, I make sure that all of Jamie’s medical things are put together when packing the van.

Sane Traveling Tip #5: Pack the van/car/truck/etc.  It’s like a puzzle.  Heavy stuff goes on the bottom, delicate stuff goes on top.  Put the heaviest items (suitcases) closest to the backseat.  Make sure all medical supplies and your hotel bag are within reach for the first stop.  I didn’t do that the first time and boy, was that a mess.  We were those people you saw emptying out the whole van at the hotel at midnight that one time.

Sane traveling tip #6:  Make sure your children have the proper restraints.  My husband is a former race car driver, so he knows a lot about safety in a vehicle during a crash.  He always takes our safety as the most important thing on a trip.

Sane traveling tip #7: Stop frequently for potty and stretching breaks.  Our son needs a lot of stretching after riding in a van for hours at a time.  Our daughter always has so much energy she needs to expel.  If we wait until we get to the hotel, no one is getting any sleep for hours.  We let her run around at rest stops, in a safe spot, of course.

Sane Traveling Tip #8: Try not to eat so much fast food.  At least not the fried kind, if you can help it.  I know how tempting it is to just get the food and get back on the road.  You just want to get there already!  But, you will pay for that burger and fries sooner or later.  Your tummy will, anyway.  Inevitably, someone in my family ends up with some sort of gastro issue if we succumb to the Golden Arches.  We have learned over the years that it is not a good idea.  We now try to eat at any restaurant that has a menu you can hold and sit down and be served.  If we’re in a major hurry, I try to hit a “jiffy store” and pick up things like juice, milk, water, bananas, apples, and any other thing I can find that has any sort of healthiness to it.  It’ll tide you over until you can get to the next exit and/or have the time to stop.

Sane Traveling Tip #9: Call ahead to your hotel and request the kind of bed you need for your KWSNs.  We usually request a pull-out sofa and then rearrange the room when we get there.  Both of our kids are still small enough that they can share the sofa bed.  We move it against the wall if we can, or we pull every chair and table against the edge of the sofa so that Jamie can’t fall out of the bed.  Since he wears a BiPap, the alarm will sound if he pulls the hose out of the machine meaning he’s getting too close to the edge of the bed.  That thing goes off all the time, and I’m pretty sure my husband and I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since Jamie was born.  🙂

Last but not least, Sane Traveling Tip #10:  Try to relax and enjoy your trip.  If you’ve forgotten anything, hopefully, you can buy it when you get where you’re going.  That’s what the list is for.  Making sure you aren’t forgetting anything super important.  If it’s a sweater, buy it when you get there.  If it’s a medicine you’ve forgotten, maybe your pharmacy can give you enough to get you through until you get home.