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10 reasons you should go for road trips with your toddler!

1. Sense of freedom.
2. Uninterrupted family time.
3. Can be cheaper* than going abroad.
4. Customize your trip however you want.
5. Support locals, instead of going abroad.
6. Discover your close surroundings.
7. If you stay close, you’ll be more an eco-traveler.
8. Your child will be introduced to new places, meet new people.
9. Packing is more permissive than in case of flying.
10. Your child will become more open, kind, curious human being.

*depends on your preferences

With setting the foundation, let’s have a closer look on the ‘What to pack?’ question – because let’s be real: a good road trip hugely depends on the success of your packing! 🙂

• 1 current favorite
• 1-2 small but engaging ones like stickers, book, magnetic toys.

When she was a baby, basically any object did the trick, so don’t overthink the toy question. Nowadays, we pay attention to continuously rotate the toys, so it doesn’t get boring too soon. There was a time we always had to have the water coloring, but recently she likes to play with the PC magnetic games.

• We’re in the phase when we can start playing like finding blue cars, red lights - basically a road trip bingo.
• Listen to some cool music. Tbh I don’t really fancy baby shark & his friends. A good K-pop always puts us in good mood! 🙂
• Talking is a pretty good one. We always tell her where we are going, what we’re going to do, what she can see if she turns right. Now it’s getting more & more amusing chatting with her as her communication has skyrocketed last year.

💁🏼‍♀️ Unpopular POV No1.:

• Screen time. It’s not an evil thing in our opinion. We filter (like crazy) what we allow her to watch but in general 20 min of her favorite cartoon can be a holy grail. We just make sure it isn’t the first choice. Golden rule: iPad has to hang in front of her in eye-level. Looking down never made any good. Trust us.

💁🏼‍♀️ Unpopular POV No2.:

• I usually accompany her at the back when we have a longer ride because we found it easier to ease her discomfort when I’m with her. Because the happy mom = happy kid is valid the other way around: happy kid = happy mom. 🙂

After revealing all the fun stuff, now let’s see the road trip essentials & what’s inside of our car?

While this item is not necessarily something you have to further detail, but I have a thought to share about car seats. A must-have! Without it you cannot even start any journey. For the record: there are gazillion types of car seat, and you will choose the one which is right for you. But, for a little reminder, consider reading through this guide I came across lately:

🎁 PRO TIP No3 🎁

Do you know exactly how to install your car seat & be sure about its correct placement? If your answer is wavering even for a bit, here is a guide to help you out: 20 common car seat mistakes.

• Above mentioned toys (except the magic mini sand toy kit) – it’s placed at the back
• Wet wipes
• 1 swaddle type of cloth for potential accidents
• For longer trips extra set of clothes
• +1 Water bottle (not just for her, but for us too)
• Light swaddle (mostly for shading)

• In the baby period we used the jumbo stroller + carrier combo.
• But when we had the chance to change from jumbo to compact stroller, we did. Első körben egy Kinderkraft-unk volt, most pedig a NAGY nyári utunk előtt beszereztünk egy Babyzen picire összecsukható babakocsit. We used it for a decent amount of time, but tbh, she was never a stroller-fan.
• Nowadays we mostly use our Tushbaby hip seat. If you visit their website, you can get 15% off with the code: TRAVELFAM.
• If we plan a hike, or a longer walking - in a not scorching hot month -, we also place our Manduca carrier also in the leg space.
• Also, the balance bike (Kinderkraft) or scooter (Decathlon) is a permanent tenant in the trunk lately, for outings we know there’s a chance we’ll use it.
• Lastly, our current favorite is our Fuxtec wagon. This is a more than handy, sturdy & fun way to move. Ideally, we use it for the beach (or any sort of water places), but it’s great for outings like a children day in the park, picnics, stroll in the zoo. Also, it’s possible to go sightseeing, or even grocery shopping. 🙂

I must say, it’s designed for longer road trips, but last year we had a bliss when we found a good place we can rent from. 🤩

In total honesty we love road trips, but for 2-4 days there is no need for one, however for a weeklong summer holiday it was more than useful! And let’s be also honest about spending huge chunk of money on something you’ll use maximum twice a year.

So, we rented! The pros:

• Doesn’t affect your speed (under 130 km/h).
• You don’t have to squeeze yourself into the car with all the luggage stuffed in.
• Totally epic way to store your packing cubes - especially if you have a stopover somewhere & you only need one packing cube with the essentials.
• Renting is way cheaper option for 1-2 times a year than buying one.