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When it comes to road trips, tech is my friend. I learned the hard way when they were young that my kids tend to get car sick. Long car trips were a nightmare until a true genius thought of offering an optional vcr and tv in a mini van. I was one of the first in line to get an Oldsmobile Silhouette with that option. I didn’t care if the car had windshield wipers, so long as the vcr could keep my kids distracted during car rides. (Unfortunately for Oldsmobile, other car companies caught on to the idea and Oldsmobile went out of business a few years later.)
That tech trick worked beautifully. On long car trips, I could listen to the radio (this was before I discovered audiobooks) while my kids were listening to their Barney videos with headphones. No one was car sick. No one complained. Everyone was happy!
When I moved back to the US from England last summer, I knew my car had to have a dvd player as an option. I was delighted to learn that Ford’s entertainment option has two screens and two dvd players. The screens can play two different dvd’s or the same one. How cool is that?
Happily for me, my kids have graduated from Barney and now either watch our current Netflix dvd or play cd games (Press Your Luck and Deal or No Deal are their favorites). I listen to my audiobooks in the front seat. Happy family.
Road trips are one of the many instances when I wonder how people survive without tech.
How about you? Does your family rely upon tech to keep everyone happy during long car rides? Vote in today’s Wonder of Tech poll and let us know!
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What magic tricks do you have to keep everyone in the car happy? Do you have a tech or non-tech way of avoiding misery during a long car trip? Do you know of helpful apps to keep the kids entertained? Please share your helpful hints in the Comments section below!
* Image by Snugg LePup
** Image by James Vaughan
Carolyn, I am amazed at how far technology has come to allow us to kill time, or be distracted while on the road.
I can still remember the road trips I took with my family, and believe me, there were very few of them, simply because of the long drives and the fighting that ensued out of boredom.
Now as you say, kids can be watching movies or playing videos. You can even connect to the internet with a go anywhere USB stick, or listen to an audiobook and use that transit time for reflection and personal development.
I don’t know how my parents survived the road trips and although I don’t have kids (yet). I will certainly have something to distract them while taking those long trips.
Take care and good luck with the blog!
Matt
Hi Matt, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I was the same way as a kid, road trips were very not a favorite pasttime. I wasn’t able to read in cars either and there just weren’t enough travel games to prevent spats between me and my siblings.
One of the great things about all the technology is how kids can be entertained, even enriched if you find the right app, while riding in a car. I agree, Matt, I am constantly in awe of how our lives are changed by tech. Imagine how many advances in tech will occur by the time you have to address this issue!
I usually agree with you a lot – but I am sorry, not this one 🙂 Call it old school, but kids of this age are way too much fed thru a screen (computer, TV, PS2, DS, Car-DVD, etc.). If there is ANY opportunity to let them go off those, as a parent, I should encourage – even if it takes little effort from me.
We decided against DVD player in the car. Well iPhone/iPad only used in absolute absolute emergency. But what I really want for kids is to *imagine*! Look out the window, and there is so much to observe, and learn! What do I do? – I try to just have any conversation, sing wheels on the bus, or downright act and talk silly.
Kids do get impatient and then its time for a break, rest area or wherever.
In our otherwise busy lives, we get so little time to spend with kids, and they grow so fast, we got to make the best usage of every hour we get!
Even translating our parenting expectations to our products, we always wanted to make a product that’ll bring family together. On a daily basis, the app may seem like a barter system, but it has a long term positive impact on kids psyche.
Hi iReward Chart, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech. Thank you for your great comment, I’m happy for people to disagree with me. Different points of view are valued here at The Wonder of Tech!
But you only partially disagree with me. For trips around town we don’t use tech. We definitely talk then, it’s a great time to converse without being interrupted. I completely agree with you that time in the car can be very special time to interact with your kids.
One of my favorite times in the car is when I’m the driver of the carpool. I resist all temptation to chime in on the conversation going on in the back seat among my kids and the other kids in the car. I am the proverbial “fly on the wall” and the kids forget I’m listening. I learn so much this way!
I stand by my reliance upon tech for car trips of over an hour and a half. I’m not telling anyone else to entertain their kids in this way, but that’s what works best for our family during extended travels.
Oh boy, long car trips. I remember those, back in the day we had a Gameboy and a Sega Gamegear, to be fought over between my 2 bothers and I.
Hi Matt, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! (Readers should note this Matt is different from the other Matt who commented above). Yikes, two tech devices and three boys is a recipe for disaster! It might be better to have no tech than to have had that situation.
Hi Carolyn,
After we installed two DVD players in our car, we don’t hear anything from our kids in hours. They are also playing Nintendo DS. So, it’s all about technology for us. And it works great. I want to do the singing part, but luckily, no one is listening 🙂
We installed one DVD player for each kid, so they get to chose their own movie (or music). I first thought about buying two screens, that shared a DVD player. But that would have been a disaster 🙂
Jens
Hi Jens, Welcome back to The Wonder of Tech! That’s great that technology works so well for you and your family. If your kids have their headphones on when they watch the videos, you can sing as loud as you want! 😀
I was really surprised, even though my kids can watch two different dvd’s in the car, they only did that once. They mostly seem to agree on the same dvd. Maybe it’s the fact that they have the freedom to choose their own shows that nudges them towards agreement.
I loved reflecting on this and reminiscing, Carolyn! =) My family often takes short road trips to Seattle, which is only a few hours away from Vancouver, Canada. I’m ashamed to say that we all live in our own little worlds during these trips! Usually, we all listen to our own music on iPods, but I would love if we sang songs like you suggest in your poll!
In the past, I’ve played word games with my brother to pass the time. Maybe I should get back into that again. I think the last time this happened, it was because the batteries died in one of our iPods, but I don’t want to bank on that happening next time. =P
Thanks so much for having me think about this, Carolyn! I’m so glad we’re in touch! =)
Hi Samantha, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I’m so glad this blog has triggered some happy memories for you. It’s amazing how the thought of family car trips reminds people of their childhood days.
You might try splitting up your trip, half using tech and half without tech, to see which part of the trip you enjoy more!
Thank you for the visit and the comment!
I used to just sleep during a long ride when I was a kid.lol Today though kids can have a lot of portable gadgets that they can bring. PSP is a favorite of my youngest sister.
Hi Nick, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Sleeping in the car is a great way to pass the time, unless, of course your trip is in the evening and then you can’t get to sleep at night. When my kids were young and napped in the car, I would try to time my travels to coincide with their naps for a peaceful ride.
Thanks for your visit and your comment!
As children my husband and I took many, many road trips with our family and have fond memories of them. We often talk about how our moms used to make beds in the back of the station wagon we were able to play, read, look out the window, etc.
Now that we have our own children (ages 10, 13 and 15) we take many road trips with them and we don’t ever use a DVD player. We have been taking road trips with our kids since our oldest was 6 months old and have had very few issues on the trips. One summer we took a 16 day road trip and had a great time.
Our trips are successful because each child has a box of games or things to do individually or with others. They read, talk, sing and look out the window. I also prepare a travel book for them with activities that are fun and also pertain to the trip. We stop every 3 hours to play and stretch for 30 minutes between our destinations. Our longest day driving has been 12 hours and, although it was long, the kids did great.
Driving trips allow our children to see our beautiful country and if they are watching tv the entire time, they miss out on our great country.
Our website is full of activities to make driving trips manageable for families as well as activities they can use to entertain their kids without a movie.
Hi Brenda, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! Wow, I am truly impressed that you are able to have such long and successful road trips with your kids. What sorts of games do you provide to your kids?
I agree, rest stops are important. It’s a way to rejuvenate everyone for the next leg of the journey.
You have a very impressive website, but unfortunately the link on your name isn’t working. Here is a link to Brenda’s website: Smart Mom University.
Thank you for your visit and wonderful comment!
I recently discovered the power of the Itouch and Ipad. I wish we had these sooner. One thing I want to be careful of when it comes to using them on trips is that my kid doesn’t miss the cool stuff outside of the car.
Hi Sandra, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I agree, I make sure that I point out any interesting scenery when we are on long road trips. Unfortunately, for a lot of our long road trips, the scenery involves nothing more than billboards!
Thanks for your visit and your comment!