car travel

We are led to believe road trips with kids are certain to be fraught with danger, frustration, endless whining, and so much stress. That can leave us with so much fear and trepidation that we may never strike out at all! However, road trips don’t have to be scary or intimidating. Car travel is a great way to get from point A to point B and provides amazing opportunities to see the country and spend time together. Today we have the amazing Nichole from Luckey Wanderers here to dispel a few myths about road trips with kids and share all the road trip safety tips she implements while on the road. Nichole is a self-proclaimed road trip renegade and frequently does multi-day/multi-state road trips solo with her two kids. Here’s how she keeps them safe when adventuring and how to practice responsible bravery.

Road trip safety tips

Safety is our number 1 priority anytime I’m on the road or traveling with my children. The road trip safety tips I’m sharing today are not made up on a whim – they’re tried and tested. However, they cannot guarantee safety. I’ve developed a pattern that I go through on all of our road trips. A pattern that became a habit, hewn out of determination to keep me and my family safe. But also a determination to not let media or fear dictate the adventures my family and I would share.

In our family, we practice “responsible bravery.” We take chances, we make mistakes, and we get messy. But not without doing our research first and looking at a situation from all angles. From the hotels where we stay to campgrounds we visit, from the coffee shops where we hang out to the off-the-main-avenue adventures we have – I am always researching and scoping out the scenario before we go. I choose to be brave, but responsibly and respectfully so. We go, but I know the situation as best I can and am aware of the risks before we ever hit the road. Below, I will walk you through my top ten road trip safety tips that I use to keep our family safe while choosing to be responsibly brave.

Travel tip #1 – put down your phone

Road trip safety tip number one is to put the phone down! Resist the urge to scroll as you roll. No matter how empty, wide, or flat the highway is. Do not do it. Use talk to text on your phone, utilize the built-in voice assistant on your phone or connect it to your car’s Bluetooth if you’re able. If I need to book a hotel or research a route while we’re on the road, I pull over. I’ll find an interstate on-ramp or find a park to pull into for a few minutes so that I can use my phone safely. Use it as a chance to take a quick stretch break. Road trip selfies are fun but keep those snapshots in your memory only and please resist the urge to take video while you are driving! The only exception to this is when someone else is driving. In that case, I can do all the research I need to and record ridiculous AC/DC and Bon Jovi karaoke videos safely.

Travel tip #2 – check a map before GPS

Tip number two is to check your map before your GPS! I am not ashamed to admit that I rely heavily on my phone’s map system (Google maps or the navigation in my car). But, before we roll out in the morning, I always check the map. Looking at a map gives me the big picture idea of where we are traveling and a good break spot for the day. If you know/suspect you may lose phone service due to traveling in rural areas or national forests, it is a good idea to download an offline copy of your map. Or (gasp!), buy an actual paper map of the area where you are headed. I don’t keep a road atlas in the car, but it’s a great idea. Learn how to read a map and teach your children how to read a map. It’s an important skill that I am afraid many people are forgetting how to do.

Travel tip #3 – pack snacks and activities

Road trip safety tip number three is to pack all of your children’s snacks and activities at the beginning of your day. Or even the night before. Each child gets a medium sized, insulated snack bag, that is filled with the day’s snacks and a refillable water bottle. They know that once it is gone, that’s it for the day; this is also a really great lesson in self-control. Sometimes if it’s a very long day we will get treats along the way, but those are a bonus.

I also put a plastic tote that is filled with things to keep the kids busy. Here are a few of our favorites:

• coloring books
• small dry erase boards and dry erase markers
• a pencil case with some colored pencils
• sticker books (I also really like the Usborne ones)
• magnetic activity tins
• Buddha boards
• flashcards
• travel scavenger hunt games
• travel bingo
• mad libs

Again, this is easier with older children, but if you begin doing this with age-appropriate toys they learn to entertain themselves and to put the toys back in the tote after they are done.

Travel tip #4 – keep water bottles full

That brings us to tip number four: always keep your water bottles full! My children are somehow always dying of thirst whenever we are in the car. I make sure to refill water bottles in the morning and keep them full throughout the day. The same is true for me. However, I usually don’t drink enough water and instead drink too much coffee. Make sure you and all of your travelers are drinking water! Otherwise, you may end up having headaches and fatigue in the afternoon when you still have many hours to drive. Drinking plenty of water is key to staying focused on the road.

Travel tip #5 – bathroom safety

Tip number five comes from something that my Mom always taught me while we were growing up. If you need to stop at the bathroom, look for gas stations or truck stops that you can see from the interstate and are well lit. That won’t guarantee a clean bathroom but it will make you feel safer and be easier to make the stop a brief one.

Confession: I am not opposed to side-of-the-road bathroom breaks. When my son was little it was so much easier (and cleaner!) to pull over on a quiet on-ramp and let him go to the bathroom out the side of my old van. It was a little harder for my daughter but I still cringe every time she sits on a dirty gas station toilet seat. Sometimes we still opt for a side of the road bathroom stop in remote areas. It’s cleaner and faster, but again, do so responsibly and respectfully.

Part two of this road trip safety tip is to take your children into the stall with you. When my husband is traveling with us, we divide and conquer. However, if it’s just me and the kids, they both come into the stall with me. I do not care. I would rather have them in my sight and safe than waiting outside of the bathroom. If I let my son wait outside the stall, I make him stand where I can see his shoes. I’m sure I will have to amend my ways at some point, but for now, the system works for us.

Travel tip #6 – no broadcasting and be vague

When we began traveling, my children loved to broadcast the fact that we were traveling alone. Obviously, this worried me. Over time (and with lots of practice and patience) I have trained them not to mention that we are traveling alone. They also know that if I say something like “Let’s get back to the car, Dad’s waiting,” that is their clue that I am feeling uncomfortable and it is time to go. The same rule applies to hotels/motels/places where we are checking in. I always say there are four of us staying in the room and ask for two room keys. It makes no price difference for our occupancy rate and it gives me peace of mind.

I am by no means saying that a spouse or significant other is necessary to feel safe. However, I am saying that there are times where me sharing that I am not traveling alone is a prudent idea. I am quite confident in my skills as a solo traveler with my children and have never been in a situation where I felt otherwise. Be confident, bold, and forward when you need to be. And for me, training my children to not publicly claim that we are traveling alone is my way of being responsibly brave.

One more item of note here. When asked directly where we are from, where we are headed, or where we have been, I am always purposely vague. This is also a good opportunity to train your children to not blurt out the city and state they are from when asked by a stranger. There have many, many, times my children or I have been asked these questions by well-meaning retirees. While I know their purpose is mainly out of curiosity and a desire to strike up a conversation, my knee jerk reaction is to be vague.

Travel tip #7 – use the backpack system

Tip number seven is one of my favorites! When I first began traveling with my children, I would stress out each night when we arrived at a hotel. There was so much to unload and I still had to check us in. That’s when I developed our backpack system. My children each have their own backpacks with nightly toiletries, swimsuits, pj’s, change of clothes, their electronics and charger, and a favorite stuffed animal. I have a backpack with my valuables, toiletries, swimsuit, pajamas, and the next days’ clothes; as well as my purse and camera bag.

Having a few small bags allows us to make one trip into the hotel/motel/Airbnb with everything we need for the night. It makes me feel less vulnerable and we only have to park the car once. When my husband is with us we actually use the same system, but sometimes bring a bit more in since he is with us to help carry things. This has become easier as my children have grown. But, from the time my daughter was two she has been able to carry her backpack with her things into the hotel room.

Travel tip #8 – hide your valuables

Tip number eight is an important counterpart to the last tip. If you are not taking the valuables in with you, hide your valuables! However, if it’s something very valuable or extremely sentimental,  I highly recommend taking it inside with you.  Hide anything of value you leave behind in the car. A visible valuable might as well be a target on your car. This is true for any of our stops, whether overnight or just for lunch.

We always hide everything, every stop. Usually, this means moving things to the back of the car or inside other suitcases or bags. We always hide cords as well, because those can catch a wandering eye and perhaps make your car a target. One bonus of traveling with children: a messy car is usually a deterrent. And my car is always a mess when we travel. But the mess that I leave visible is usually sticker books, spilled snacks, stuffed animals, and mysteriously single socks.

Travel tip #9 – walk around your car

The next two road trip safety tips are two that you may not hear as often but are part of my normal routine. While there is some truth to insidious papers being placed on windshields, nails behind tires, and card skimmers, it is not as common as the media would lead you to believe. Tip number nine is to walk around your car before you leave, every time. If we have been parked for over an hour and the car was out of our sight, I always walk around the car quickly before we leave. I unlock it so my children can get in, but I do a quick sweep around the car.

Here is what I look for: any door dings or damage to note, tire condition and what is around the tires if anything, flyers or pamphlets placed on the windshield, that the backup camera is free of debris and anything suspicious. While I do not believe all the scary news stories about abduction techniques are true, I do believe that diligently checking your vehicle is a wise way to spend a few minutes before you leave. This behavior pattern has become a habit and second nature for me now whenever we are loading up to leave.

Travel tip #10 – ATM safety

Along with tip number nine, road trip safety tip number ten relates to being aware of your surroundings. I’ve never had any issues with card skimmers. However, we have had to replace our credit card before after traveling due to fraudulent charges. This is a small note but worth doing: look directly at a card reader before you pump your gas or get money out of the ATM. Card skimmers are fairly easy to spot, so long as you are paying attention.

On a similar note, be aware of anyone close by when withdrawing money or trying to get a look at your pin number. Those that would do you harm or attempt to steal from you are counting on you not paying attention. So, make the choice to be responsibly brave and be aware of your surroundings. These habits are easy to adopt, it simply takes small changes in your traveling routine. But these small changes can help steer you from a place of fear to a place of responsible self-reliance. There are usually plenty of ATMs around, so if one doesn’t feel safe, move on to another.

Road trip renegades

Road trips are our favorite way to travel and explore and have become an important part of our family culture. Here is a post about how we got started and a little bit about our why we road trip.

Here is a list of ideas for low tech road trip entertainment for kids of all ages.

And here is a fun story about choosing yes to spontaneous adventure. By having a system for safety in place I have gained confidence which has given us more freedom to chase adventure when it calls to us.

I hope that these road trip safety tips have inspired you to begin forming your own safety systems for travel.

What do you do to stay safe on the road?
Share your road trip safety tips with us below!

Nichole is mama to two incredible adventurers, an older boy and a younger girl. They are on their third year of homeschooling. She has been married to her best friend for nearly twelve years and they share a mutual love for the outdoors. An Iowan native now living in the south, she is happy to claim Arkansas as home. She is a wanderlust (and coffee) fueled, fearless, road-tripper who has been known to take off for epic adventures at a moments notice. Hiking and camping (of the backpacking variety) and crystal digging are a few of their favorite family activities. You can find her in the woods somewhere, (probably up a creek and jumping off waterfalls) or online at http://www.luckeywanderers.com.