The Paved Frontier

We’ve been spending a lot of time in the RV with the boys lately- Tristan is now 6 and Rowan is 4.  Katherine (that’s me!!) and the boys lived in the RV for about 5 weeks before Stu came home, then we left immediately on a 5 week RV road trip.  We quickly worked out some tricks to survive in such a small space with two rambunctious boys and how to travel down the road with less stress.  Here are the top 5 things we couldn’t live without this summer:

1) Cups with lids! We’re using kid size reusable water bottles.  Even though in our home the boys do just fine drinking out of cups with no lids or with straws, spills happen too often in the RV.  And when you’re traveling down the road, puddles can really travel (we’ve had puddles stretching literally the full length of the RV- ug!).  Even Stu and I only drink out of reusable water bottles or travel mugs, because cups tilt and fall often.

These Daixers Sports Water Bottle are perfect, because of their simple design.  The less small parts, the easier it is to hand wash.  We have four water bottles for the kids and it’s worked out well.

Napping while watching a movie on the drive.

2) Laptop or portable DVD player!  We like to encourage creative and imaginative play as much as the next Generation Y parent….but come on!  We’re on the move for up to 8 hours a day…day after day after day.  There is only so much a kid can color and play with action figures, especially when their crayons and Legos just end up on the floor.  This momma doesn’t feel like hopping up every two minutes to crawl under the dinette and collect all that (I have to jump up every 10 minutes as it is to take them to the potty or to get drinks, snacks, etc.).  Save yourself some stress and let the kids get their screen time in while traveling.  They can use their imagination out on the playground when you pull into the next RV or State park.

In addition to the laptop or DVD player, don’t forget a 12 volt adaptor to plug that thing in!  The BESTEK AC Car Adapter is a good one on Amazon.

We usually use that non-skid drawer liner under the laptop to make sure it doesn’t slide off the dinette table.

Rowan and Tristan in their toy loft.

3) Their own space! We use the loft above the cockpit to store all their toys.  This is works out great for two reasons- A) The kids can climb up there to stay out of the way.  Let’s be honest- young kids are always getting under foot!  And when you’re space goes from 1500 sq. ft. to 100 sq. ft., it gets worse!  B) The toys tend to stay in that one spot- Hallelujah!!! While a few stray toys make it into the other living areas, a vast majority of them tend to stay up there in the loft.  When we’re going to pack up to leave, it’s Tristan, our 6 year old’s, job to put everything away.  Limit the amount of toys brought to cut back on clutter, and bring along versatile toys too.  We have Legos, cars, Army men, and action figures.

You can see Rowan playing in the toy loft in our Youtube video here:

4) A tray to keep everything together on the dinette! I got mine from Target for $3 and glued a patch of the non-skid drawer liner to each corner.  It works great to keep coloring books, crayons, snacks, wipes, and other small items from sliding off the table every time we make a turn.

5) Plenty of quick snacks and drinks! Eating schedules can get thrown off when on the road.  Some nights we don’t pull into a spot until 6:00 or 7:00 pm, and dinner sometimes doesn’t happen until 8:30 :/  We keep a few of the kids’ favorite snacks on hand- such as Nutrigrain bars, Poptarts, grapes, and dried fruit.  I even keep a few treats (chocolate chip cookies or ice cream) on hand to use as bribery- yes, I’m shameless! These pre-packaged snacks and juice pouches can cost a lot more than a whole box of crackers or juice concentrate, but when going out to sight-see or when we’re all tired, it’s so much easier to just pull them out of the cabinet.  I try to find a balance between making snacks while on the road and using these pre-packaged items.

What’s your must-have when traveling with your kids?  Have you worked out any tricks to make travel easier with kids?

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