Road Trip:Family Vacations From A Parent's Perspective

Road Trip: Family Vacations in the Big Brown Wagon

I remember family vacations in our old brown Chevrolet station wagon -- the kind with bench seats, no air conditioning, and a huge ‘way back’ that was big enough for camping equipment, luggage, ice chests, fishing poles, and our Golden Retriever.  As the oldest of four and desperately prone to motion sickness, I would jump at the chance to sit in the front, squeezed between my parents, directly in front of our AM radio.  I always assumed that as the six of us piled in, we were all equally ready for adventure.  But now that the tables have turned and I’m the parent, I have a whole new perspective. 

As a child, I would scoop up my favorite stuffed animal and pillow and head for the car.  All I really worried about was having enough Nancy Drew books to read and Doublemint gum to chew along the way, and not having to sit in the ‘way back’ and get car sick.  I had no knowledge whatsoever of what went on behind the scenes of these highway ventures. 

I now realize the exhausting efforts my mom and dad must have gone through to pack up four kids and a dog for any kind of road trip.  My husband and I begin planning our packing weeks ahead – will our two kids have outgrown the gear from last summer?  Do they have the proper clothing, beach paraphernalia, hiking equipment and reading material?  Where will we stay and what will we eat?  What route is best -- the shortest yet curvy, or the boring, straight interstate?  Is the car due for an oil change?  Are the tires good enough to go the distance?  What will we do with the dog? Cancel the newspapers?  Call the neighbors?  Water the garden, change the thermostat, and clean the house so it’s nice to come home to.  Items get ticked off our checklist as we countdown to an early departure time.

My parents weren’t always ‘crack of dawn’ type of travelers, and looking back, I can see how that wasn’t such a bad thing.  Driving in daylight offered lots of time to find ways to occupy ourselves as we cruised along -- license plate bingo, comic books, crispy oatmeal cookies and occasional bathroom stops highlighted our trip.  Sometimes, if we were really well behaved, we dined at the Golden Arches.  Arriving at our destination was of course a highlight, but not to be overshadowed by the ‘character building’ that occurred in the big brown wagon as we jostled for position and amused ourselves along the way, bare legs and arms sticking to the vinyl upholstery.

Family vacations today with my husband and two kids are significantly different, yet we try to recreate some of those fond experiences that we carry with us.  Our car today, while not equipped with the almost standard DVD player in the back seat, does mercifully have AC.  Gone are the bench seats and cramped quarters of the old Kingswood wagon, and our ‘rocket box’ on top has become the repository of all equipment too awkward for the cargo space.  We try desperately to keep our kids unplugged and off the electronics in a nostalgic attempt to replicate the conversations of our youth.

On this summer’s family vacation, we’ve done a pretty decent job.  We turned a 4.5 hour drive into 7, stopping along the way to get out and look at the view, check out a funky roadside store, and have a picnic at a table by the lake.  Our pre-planning has allowed us to be armed with ample picnic supplies to curb the crankiness of hungry children, and so far no Dramamine has been needed.  Now I understand those moments of before when I’d find my mom sitting alone by the tent, or just taking a quick run to the store.  There’s got to be some way to build in those sanity preserving moments that help us endure the travails of the family road trips.  I’ve managed to work in some ‘me’ time to sit, think, and write about all that is going on around me while the kids run, swim and play at the basketball court near our cottage, sounds of laughter and conversation serving as my background music.

What I’ve learned is that despite all the planning, packing, and occasional complaining, being a ‘road trip parent’ is a pretty cool thing.  I send quiet gratitudes to my own folks for all the work they did for us which has encouraged me to do the same for my children.
I’m still learning that it’s ok for me to take some solitary time to sit back, relax, and watch the memories unfold in front of me.  That, and to carry a pencil and notebook to jot it all down. I wouldn’t want to forget a moment of it.

For more essays on life lessons, please visit my personal blog at http://mamawolfe-living.blogspot.com