Long-Distance Road Trip Survival Tips When Traveling With A Baby.
We moved from US to Canada with our 10-month old. In our car.
On an average, it takes about 21 hours for a non-stop road journey between Los Angeles and Vancouver. You can break it down into 2 days if you are in a rush or 3 days (or more) if you are at leisure. How many days would it take if you had a 10 month old with you? If you were moving to another country? If..there was no “home” to go back to and the only way was forward?
We really, really wanted to drive up to Vancouver. But we opted for the more ‘practical way’ because we were with a baby and the pandemic was still going on. Ship the car to Seattle to a friend’s place, fly down from LA and then cross over to Vancouver from Seattle which is about 2–3 hours by road. Easy peasy. However, a last minute change granted us our wish- the drive up north :)
Here’s how we ended up with the most adventurous, amazing and successful road trip of our lives (till date!):
- Practice, Practice, Practice with the baby
We started going out for drives with our baby since he was 3 months old. It started out for 20 mins initially and then slowly, we worked it up to 6 hour road trips a day. Day trips to Joshua National Park, Big Bear Mountains and Phoenix city (we stayed over the weekend) helped us test and improvise on what we should be prepared for while on the road.
We realized that our baby preferred early morning drives and was most comfortable (and not cranky) when asleep in a bed by late afternoon.
2. Plan according to the baby
A happy baby is a happy you! Plan your day around the baby. Trust your instincts as a parent. If at any time, you ‘feel’ that the baby isn’t comfortable, halt for the day.
While we would have loved to cover a longer distance each day and drive for 8 hours between us; we ended up doing just about 5 hours a day. We hit the road by 5.30 am. With meal breaks and bathroom breaks, we used to check-in into a hotel by 2pm. Lunch. Rest. Re-pack. Wash the laundry, if needed. Dinner. Sleep. This made sure that all 3 of us were rested, stress-free and safe on the road.
Please prioritize sleep and safety when on the road. Better be late than sorry.
3. Take your time to reach your destination
We did not pre-book a hotel during any of our 5-day journey. What helped was that we were passing through relatively higher populated areas on the US West Coast and so, we could book about 1–2 hours before we actually checked in. We stuck to one hotel chain (Holiday Inn Express) all through out and so, were familiar with the hotel process and the room interiors. We also stuck to Taco Bell for all our meals throughout the road journey. Because, familiarity and hot food!
If booking on the same day is not an option for you, keep the travel time for the day realistic and simple. Anything that takes 6 hours on Google Maps is actually 8–9 hours with meal breaks, bathroom breaks, feeding breaks, traffic and road conditions factored in. So, break your trip down into smaller, achievable stops and make your booking accordingly.
4. Remember to enjoy yourself
Yes, traveling with a little one is constant work and a big responsibility. But, don’t forget to enjoy the view! Put on some good music, click some pictures, find out what that ‘big, grey mountain’ is. Relax and enjoy your trip.
Thank you for reading. I am Shubhangi, founder of Blackboard-Digital.com. I work with executives, founders, and businesses to get seen and heard on LinkedIn. Connect with me on LinkedIn. Subscribe to my weekly ‘no-overwhelm’ newsletter, AI in Marketing.
What did you do to make road trips with babies easier? Let me know in comments.
