There's always a good road trip story. There are so many things that can go so right or oh so wrong. We take an annual road trip with the fam every year and out of those trips come lots of stories. Most are positive, happy memories, but I have to admit there have been times when I would have preferred jogging along side the car rather than dealing with the kids inside the car! Either way, it is always a bonding experience spending so much time together.
There was one particular road trip that I can laugh about now, but at the time I am pretty sure I wanted to cry. My dear friend had free tickets to Magic Mountain for me and my two boys. We were already in San Diego for New Year's, so I decided to just rent a car and drive up the coast with my boys. We rented a convertible for the day and even though it was January, we drove with the top down. It was frigid! We were wrapped in blankets with our hoodies on. But it was a day with my boys I will never forget -- we had so much fun!
So that is a positive road trip experience. But the ride back to Arizona...not so much!
My friend ended up not able to take her large suburban because of mechanical issues, so brought her husband's truck instead. Uh oh. We had to squish 2 large teenage boys, 2 tweens, and 2 mamas in a truck. Saying it was nice and cozy is putting it mildly, but we persevered. After piling all of our luggage in the bed of the truck, we took off on the freeway for Arizona.
Within about 5 minutes of leaving, the rain downpour began. We pulled off to the side of the road, I grabbed my large camera bag and somehow lodged it at my feet. I was sitting next to my friend's 12 year old son....squeezed in so tight we were touching legs....when he suddenly looked at me and announced he didn't feel so good and that is when it happened.
He threw up ALL over the car and all over me! Basically I had to employ the Lamaze breathing strategies I learned in 1999 to keep from throwing up myself. Now I don't want to go into detail about what happened next, between that unfortunate experience and our 5 ½ hour drive home....but just let me say, I will never again make a road trip without a road trip essential car kit! Where are the wipes when you need them?
I decided to go home and make our own road trip essential car kit that we could have ready to go at all time. I grabbed an old zipper lunch box that my son used last year, cleaned it out well, and it now houses all of the essentials. It can be easily stored underneath the front seat of the car.
It has everything from baby wipes to bandaids to hand sanitizer to napkins. Basically you are prepared for almost anything life throws at you! The baby wipes for cleaning up everything from dirty hands to throw up and hand sanitizer to pick up the pieces. Kleenex is essential for the runny noses. The Advil for the mamas after listening to the kids fight over what to watch on the DVD player or over who is invading their space. I keep that Advil handy on our road trips! 🙂
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I hope this Road Trip Essential Car Kit saves you like it has saved our family many times. You can tailor make to your own personal needs but there's nothing like feeling prepared when you head off on a road trip.
Here's a list of HEALTHY TRAVEL SNACKS for your next road trip adventure.
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