Wednesday Wisdom - How to Make Long Car Trips Easier

Whether your car trip is 1 hour or 12 hours long, a parent will hear this dreaded 4 word phrase many times from their kids.
"Are We There Yet?"
"Are We There Yet?"

About 15 years ago, my family stumbled upon the perfect solution that I've just got to share with you as part of my "Wednesday Wisdom" series.

Now, I'm sure many of you have played the typical car trip games like "the license plate game" or "I spy with my little eye" and these are good for a short spell and will probably work for those shorter trips. However, while my kids were young, it was a 4 hour trip to see one set of grandparents and a 14 hour trip to see the other set....so these "car games" wouldn't keep my kiddos occupied for long.
Then, there is the other trick you can use by having them watch mile markers. You know, say something like, "we'll be stopping at mile marker 127" and then just have them keep track of the numbers. However, this is rather boring and dull.
So, I'm going to share with you our no-fail way to make car travel fun, interesting, while stopping the dreaded, "Are we there yet?".

If your car has a cassette player or a CD player you are in luck! Just stop by your local library and pick up some books on tape (or CD). You can find books for all ages.
Preschoolers Pick up a bunch of the picture books and tapes/CDs. You know the ones where they hear a beep and then turn the page. Little kids don't mind listening/reading a book many times so pick up enough for perhaps one way of your travel and then repeat these books on the way back.
Elementary & Middle Schoolers There are so many good children's novels today....they are so good that trust me, you as an adult will enjoy listening to them as well. Some of the books/authors we loved to listen to included: The Harry Potter series, books by Roald Dahl, books by Louis Sachar, "The Watsons Go to Birmingham", books by Bruce Coville, and books by Judy Blume.
High Schooler & Adults At this age, you can pick any novel that interests you. We often look for novels that are the length of the entire trip (or ate least one way). This is also a great way to get some of that required "summer reading" done for the high schooler(s) in your family.
My family loves listening to books on tape while traveling. In fact, my grown daughter just went on a 5 hour car trip with her boy friend and brought along books on tape for them to listen to. His family had not done this traveling trick before. He LOVED it!
Also, at Cracker Barrel restaurants, you can purchase an audio book for full price. Then, you can return it to another Cracker Barrel (after you have listened to it) and receive full credit (less the $3.49 tax weekly exchange fee). So, although this isn't free, you can listen to a book on audio for $3.49/week. Not bad!
I hope this trick makes your family's next car trip as enjoyable as it makes our trips! {Click here to read more}