Away We Go
July 14, 2010 – 12:11 pmAhhh…the American rite of passage…the long, drawn out car ride. As I pack up the kids to embark upon our family vacation (referencing the iconic 80’s movie), thousands of checklists swirl in my head. “Remember the sunscreen, don’t forget to pack enough undies and don’t forget to pack the limitless number of chargers for iPods, cameras and laptops.”
I’m also working while away so I can’t forget files and information needed to do my job too. With road trips, you can pack a little more for your trip such as food, sand toys for the kids and a few other necessities.
My children are also at the age where they should be able to pack for themselves. I use the word should because although at age 9 and 13 you should be able to put a suitcase together, that’s not always the case.
So I went searching on the Internet for vacation packing checklists. Didn’t find exactly what I was looking for, but I found some sites that provided a decent outline suitable for nearly any family vacation.
For example, the Universal Packing Checklist allows you to input some pretty specific information such as where you are going, the kids’ ages and transportation mode. This would be a great tool for someone going camping or overseas-it literally covers just about every area that you should consider for packing.
Another site, Lucy Travels, is an information hub that provides a myriad of options. From RV’ing to backpacking and skiing; this site probably has every list you need. I liked the section about immunizations and safe travel too.
In addition to checklists, I needed “stuff” for both to do in the car. Among the portable DVD player, iPod and magazines I’ve added a few educational worksheets to each child’s backpack. “Groan,” says the child.
The website, Super Teacher Worksheets has a wide array of both math and reading worksheets that are easy to complete in the car or on the plane. For example, my daughter learned multiplication this year. She could rattle off her facts in less than five minutes toward the end of the year. Two weeks ago, when I tested her, she missed a lot. So, I’ve printed worksheets from multiplication tic-tac-toe to multiplication word scramble to interject in between viewings of Twilight and reading about Justin Bieber’s new haircut.
I’m sure that although I’ve taken great pains to plan and plot for ways to survive our road trip, the backseat will still be a mess. But I guess all you can do is plan and let the chips fall where the may…all over the seats!
Gina Ragusa is a freelance writer and mom from sunny (and sometimes not) South Florida. Her 15 year experience ranges from writing about banking to tattoo parlors.
One Response to “Away We Go”
You have done such a good job researching this there seems to be little to add. However, even after many years of travel, both with kids and as a couple, I still find it a pain to pack. In fact, we start planning the packing up to a month in advance.
Now, if you add the problem of Air Travel, it has just gotten worse. I sometimes think that if I were rich perhaps we could just take the clothes we have on and buy what we need on the road. But, unless we bought tents to wear, how would we get the new cloths altered? Oh well, isn’t life fun
By Instrument Microphones on Jul 29, 2010