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summer
2012
maskmatters.org
27
road trips create a challenge
of more time in a confined
space. Thankfully, the solution
can be summed up in three
words: Keep them entertained.
sheri Wallace, editor of
roadTripFamilies.com, offers
these sanity-saving suggestions:
Be creative.
Consider coloring,
scrapbooking, drawing, starting
a collection, writing a letter
to friends or grandma, etc.
Oldies But gOOdies.
Play traditional road games,
such as license plates or spotting
animals. Assigning points and a
prize at the end will make this
popular with kids of all ages.
scavenger hunts.
Create a list of things to
find on a trip, including some
odd items. It will get the kids
asking questions and a give them
a reason to research the place
they visit. “We once tried for 10
days to get a picture of a dog
on a beach, and our daughter
still laughs about that.”
On the rOad.
make extra stops, including
some unplanned ones; bring travel
games and trivia questions; create
a family playlist together; and have
everyone take pictures and talk
about the story behind the photo.
Healing Souls Counseling in Gilbert, Ariz.
“Communication in families has taken
a nose dive with the age of technology.
Headphones, DVDs, iPads, iTouch,
i-everything creates a big barrier in family
communication. Even though things like
Facebook have helped us check up on our
kids, it hasn’t helped
our kids want
to talk to us any more
about their lives
than before.”
So parents need to
look for opportunities
to make memories that
build togetherness,
Talamante-Polhmann
says. Consider making
extra stops, taking a
hike, creating a scavenger hunt or playing
road games instead of getting lost in
individual entertainment.
“Positive [memories] and the more
colorful experiences can be the best stories,”
she says.
Linder says the connection isn’t always
obvious to kids, especially when they can
easily get on each other’s nerves. But, as she
found as an adult, the trips help build that
family bond and conversations.
“The value of the time you share with
your kids is immense,” she says.
Amanda Reyes, a mom of three children
under age 6, took road trips to reduce
vacation costs and stress. A meltdown on a
flight from Chicago to Phoenix cemented
her decision to hit the road.
She’s found it’s also helping the family
get closer.
“The time in the car gives us the
opportunity to talk about things we might
not otherwise,” Reyes says. “[The kids]
are prompted to ask questions about the
different things they see out their windows.
And what I love most is when the kids are
sleeping, my husband and I get tons of time
to talk and reconnect.”
The chance to connect doesn’t make a
trip easy or 100 percent pleasant, however.
“I’ve experienced some particularly bad
road trips, lots of issues with car trouble
[and] wrong turns,” Reyes recalls. “I think
that the issues like that just add character. It
makes the trip more memorable.”
When planning a road trip, don’t get
carried away with an agenda or fitting too
much in.
“I think if you add some extra
opportunities in with your planned vacation
activities you will have all the connecting
you can handle,” says Talamante-Pohlmann.
“Remember that the best memories are the
ones that just happen spontaneously.”
Sheri Wallace, who has a 12-year-old,
concurs.The family mixes up the activities
every day, to fight off potential child
boredom. But they don’t over schedule and
avoid long drives.
“We take it easy and enjoy the journey,”
explains the Tucson mom, who also runs
RoadTripFamilies.com, a road trip advice
website. Families also need to plan time to
adjust to the trip, especially if they decide to
leave the majority of techie toys at home.
“We get used to being entertained
at every moment and those phones and
whatever else are addicting. So it takes 24
hours to detox,” she says. “During that time,
just be patient with each other and get out
of the car a lot.”
Tension will occur no matter how
well adjusted the family. So include some
individual activities, suggests Talamante-
Pohlmann.
“We all need some quiet time to
rejuvenate and regenerate our energy and
focus,” she says.
Still, regular road warriors can’t imagine
traveling any other way.
“When we come home and look
at the pictures in the dead of winter, or
hear our daughter tell her friends about
the adventures, it’s something you can’t
describe,”Wallace says.
“Communication in families
has taken a nose dive with
the age of technology.“
– maria Talamante-Polhmann
Road tRip
•
Tips
•
✪
{
DID YOU KNOW?
}
42.4 million Americans participate in car, backyard or RV camping.
watched buffalo roam, taken in the views at the
Grand Canyon and gotten wet while river rafting.
The misadventures and silly moments, from worrying
about the presidential faces on Mount Rushmore
melting away to dad baking a dud cake to souvenir
shopping with Sacagawea dollar coins, brings a smile
to mom’s face and plenty of laughs at home.
“We know we’re not going to be here forever, so we
want to make as many memories as we possibly can,”
Nina adds.
Taking a road trip forces togetherness for families.
That’s big these days, as many are so busy juggling
individual activities that really connecting takes
work, especially when everyone gets lost in their own
technology.
“Connecting is definitely not natural,” says Maria
Talamante-Polhmann, a family counselor with
26
maskmatters.org
sUMMER
2012
behind
the wheel
engage
story // Yvette Armendariz
N
ina Linder fondly remembers family road
trips through Kentucky and Tennessee as
a child. Each vacation, whether visiting
Opryland or checking out Elvis’ gravesite at
Graceland, turned into a bigger adventure thanks
to the togetherness of the ride.
Inspired by good memories, Nina and husband
Jason, who also road tripped plenty in his youth,
invested in a motor home when their children
were toddlers.They, too, would experience the
sites and smells of life on the road.
“We’re lucky they don’t get carsick,” says the
Chandler, Ariz. mom, whose children are now in
fourth and sixth grades.
Her children regularly bring up road trip
adventures at the dinner table.They’ve camped
Yellowstone National Park, zip-lined in Colorado,
Hit the Road