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Lessons from our recent Road Trip

Lessons from our recent Road Trip

Whinypaluza Wednesday

Rebecca Greene
November 29, 2023

There are many times that I look forward to a road trip with my family. This was not one of those trips. I was not in the mood to drive 8 hours to Virginia, but I was going to get in the car and do it anyway. We made the mistake of sleeping in. I dragged myself out of bed at 7:45 AM on Wednesday morning and by 9:15 AM we were all packed up and on our way. Note to self: Do not sleep in. Get up early and leave! Driving in the morning seems so much easier than driving ALL day long. At 5:30 PM we finally made it to my brother and sister in law’s home. The last hour was the hardest, and it was a very long day.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family. It was my father’s birthday, so it was a double celebration. A lot of food and football made for a nice day. I really enjoyed being with my family. It is always nice to get away from the normal routine and go see all our family in Virginia. Not only does my brother and his family live there but so does Seth’s brother and his family. It feels like pieces of us live in Virginia.

It is so great to see the cousins together. My heart was so happy and was also dreading the long drive home. At least it was only 8 hours. It could be worse, I told myself. We could be driving home from Myrtle Beach, which we have also done. Flying is sounding better and better until I heard how crazy the airports were. The good news is a I can pack up my car and go. The bad news is that we had a long drive ahead of us.

Sunday morning, I heard my parents up at 5 am getting ready to do the long drive home. You are probably wondering why we all don’t drive together? I don’t really know how to make that happen unless I lease or buy a really large vehicle. We would have all had to squeeze into my SUV and it was hard for us to fit our own luggage. Maybe we need an RV for the trip.

My parents were off on the road at 5:30 AM and I quietly started getting ready. By 7:15 AM our car was packed up and we were on our way home. I learned from my mistakes. I did not go back to sleep. I wanted to leave early, and I wanted to get home early. None of that sleeping in nonsense when we have a road trip ahead of us.

Note to parents: Travel when the kids are sleeping or groggy. The earlier the better.

Lillie tells me that she didn’t sleep well the night before and quickly falls asleep back in the third row. Max was feeling carsick on the way to Virginia so on the way home we gave him the front seat. We are off and running. Max isn’t feeling carsick, Ella is listening to music and Lillie is fast asleep. I think this is going to be a much easier ride home and I was partially right.

Want to hear what happened next, and how our son Max identified two "patterns" in our family that will help us in the future and might help you too?