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I remember when I was 3 years old we went to visit grandparents in Tennessee. It was my first fishing trip; the first vacation I remember. (My older sister on the left, Me on the right.)Growing up, we pretty much always had summer vacations. I remember my parents starting in the winter to plan out our summer vacation. I remember my dad would bring home brochures, and they would discuss and decide and then announce to the 7 of us the plan. My father's top dresser drawer was ALWAYS full of brochures of places he wanted to go. Don't know if it still is, now that we have the Internet, but it was quite the collection back then. Sometimes our vacation was visiting relatives in Tennessee or going fishing in the U.P. of Michigan. And sometimes it was a "big deal" like visiting Canada and Niagara Falls. Most of the time, though, money was tight for our family of nine, so our summer getaway was simply a weekend of camping. I have fond memories of Turkey Run State Park as well as other camping trips. And of course, no matter where we went, we always traveled by car.
"I don't always enjoy roadtrips NOW because..." (CONs)
- I hate being the only adult driver.
- I hate driving in bad weather
- I hate trying to stay awake, or worse, having to take a "cat-nap" at a truck stop. (too vulnerable)
- Sometimes the kids get restless and get on each other's (or my) nerves
- With kids we have to make more pit-stops along the way, thus adding a little more time here or there.
- It is a reminder that I no longer work for the airlines, therefore giving up my free-flight benefits.
- I worry if my vehicle will make it, or if I breakdown in the middle of nowhere.
- As a single mom, I feel a little more vulnerable while traveling or camping.
"But...I also like Road Trips because..." (PRO's)
- They bring back memories from when I was little.
- I love seeing new places along the way.
- I enjoy "scenery".
- I get to eat junk-food to keep me awake!
- I like the "bonding" with the kids...(even though now they watch dvd's and have ipods, etc).
- I like planning my routes, and gauging my time and feel a sense of accomplishment when I am "making good time".
- I have a great sense of direction and rarely miss a turn. So, I guess I feel like it's something I'm "good" at.
- It feels like an adventure, and I love adventure.
- I know that there is another adventure waiting for me when I get "there".
How about you? Do you enjoy roadtrips? What are YOUR pro's & con's?
17 comments:
I love road trips. Luckily my husband does as well and our kids are still young enough that they usually sleep the entire way. We even like to go on "Sunday" drives where we just drive around.
I like them because of the scenary, the chance to talk about whatever, and to explore. I'm game for a road trip any day.
After I drove from salt lake to phoenix I realised how glad I am to live in a country where if you drive for more than 5 hours most times you'll end up in the ocean.
LOVE road trips. LOVE vacations, even if it's just for camping an hour away--- the memories made are always worth the bickering in the car. And, for that, I'm grateful for DVD players in my van!
My kids have travelled LOTS, so they're pretty good at it, thankfully.
Right now? NO! I hate if I have to go anywhere over an hour. LOL
BUT non-pregnant me loves them. We'll probably take a weekend trip somewhere when the new baby is about a month old, just like we did with Moose.
I think it's almost easier to travel with babies than kids or teens. Sure, Moose gets on my nerves when he whines but give him some food or a book and he's good. Otherwise, he sucks his thumb. And we don't have to worry about potty breaks because we have diapers!! lol
I do enjoy roadtrips!! I love the journey.
I love that picture of you and big sis, how cute! Yes, we love a good road trip, in fact that's probably my topic for next week's posts.
greenolive and i went on a roadtrip together in college. actually, we were driving to college. we drove 21 hours to your house and then 3½ hours to rexburg. three of those hours between middlebury and salt lake city were driven by greenolive. the other 18 was all me. she played navigator and we just cranked up the tunes. it was a fun trip.
I'm game for a road trip. I too like to plan the route, the time frame, what to pack and the activities. I remember the songs we would sing and the games we would play while on the road.
I like to Be places, but I don't like the Getting there. Luckily I do not mind flying and it cuts the travel time way down. I ususally fall asleep on road trips ergo not much seeing of scenery. Although I have been awake to see some beautiful scenes down south, out west, up north, in the east, and on the islands. Vacation time to me is getting away from home and the routine there. So even camping on a weekend is a vacation to me. Those were some of the best times... when we just up and went camping. The best trip we took was to Wisconsin Dells. No cooking for me to do, yay, We ate out all the time and got souveniers, saw shows and just had a great vacation. We saw the House on the Rocks which was really fun. Thanks for a chance to remember
I love roadtrips! That is the only way we traveled when I was growing up. Billy isn't a big fan, so it is nice when he finally gives in to any!
We just got back from a long 7 day road trip. I think I enjoy flying better, but it is nice to see the country too. I enjoy short road trips, 7 days was a bit much.
I LOVE road trips. i agree with most of your 'pros': bonding, eating junk food. I love the scenery, too, except here in UT, where it's all DESERT!!! BORING!!!! But other than that, it's pretty good.
we love road trips!! plannig ours soon. we love the talks Jared and I can get pretty deep in the talking department. or just LAUGH the whole way! of course the kids are doing what they do best and play games and watch movies the whole time! This year we are going to limit them on those kind of things and us spend time talking and being a family! stoping on a whim to look at or do somthing! fun!
I've been having quite a few roadtrips now that my daughter is in high school and wants to go places. I'm the only parent that will usually drive the kids anywhere so we have lots of "adventures".
I love road trips! We actually just got back from one.
The only bad thing is I keep falling asleep. I am supposed to keep my Hubby company but there is my head falling all over the place. Then he yells when I snore. Opps.
I also love getting junk food on the road. It is a woo hoo feeling. Of course I gained five pounds last week from our trip so maybe that should be a con:)
Pro's: getting the heck away from all the stresses that come with being HOME (phone never stops ringing, etc)
Making memories (hopefully good ones) for the kids to remember
Con's: Kids bickering or getting moody
The drive is always slightly stressful because dh HAS to have the radio on the whole time. Gives me a headache, I'd like quiet.
the amount of packing and unpacking for our family of 8. It's a HUGE job!
I have plenty of fond childhood road trip memories myself; although at the time I'm sure all I did was complain. No matter where we went there was always the same travling food: Chips Ahoy cookies, licorice, and sunflower seeds for dad. There was also usually a stop for lunch involving mini sandwiches on crackers. I still end up buying the same foods for road trips now that I'm an adult, even if I don't eat it. It just seems like it's part of getting ready.
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