Family Road Trips: Planning, Tips & Resources

All our best planning tips, ideas, destinations and ways to keep your family happy and entertained on your next road trip. Put together from our years of road trippin’ experience.

At Packed for Life both Derek & I (Donna) have spent time road tripping solo, and taking family road trips with our kids from newborn to teens around Canada and the USA. These include:

• Cross country adventures & Road Trips from Victoria, BC throughout the United States including Seattle & Washington, Oregon, California, Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, New York, Boston, Massachusettes, New England, New Mexico, Texas, Niagara Falls, and Maine.

• Family Road trips on Vancouver Island, Canada from Victoria, BC in the South to the northern tip, plus Parksville, BC and Ucluelet & Tofino, Sooke, Port Renfrew on the west coast, to name a few. The Gulf Islands of Saltspring, as well as Denman and Hornby Island are local gems as well.

• Family Road trips in Canada through BC, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, PEI and the Northwest Territories.

We’ve put together all our road trip ideas, tips and planning resources gathered over the past 30+ years road tripping, to make your next family road trip smooth and fun. From road trip meals and road trip snacks & resources to packing tips, destinations and ways to keep your sanity and the kids entertained.

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FAMILY ROAD TRIP PLANNING

Printable Road Trip Planner For Stress-Free Vacations!

Plan for the best road trip adventure with the Complete Road Trip Planner Bundle. This essential bundle of printable resources contain everything you need to easily plan your dream road trip.

Get easily organized, so you can focus on what’s important, having FUN with your family!

FAMILY ROAD TRIP RESOURCES

ROAD TRIP RESOURCES

• CAR RENTALS (WORLD WIDE): Discover Cars helps you compare car rental deals from many different companies around the world. So you can find the cheapest rate or choose the best car for your next trip.

• ROAD TRIP APP: Grab the Road Trippers app for planning out & mapping all your routes in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. They even estimate the cost of gas for your trip, and you can collaborate with your friends & family on the route. Which is a super helpful. We use this for all our road trip planning.

• HOW TO SAVE MONEY: Frugal Family Road Trips: 15+ Easy Money Saving Tips

ROAD TRIP MEALS AND SNACKS

Prevent hangry travel companions and save money on food costs with a family road trip meal plan. Not to mention less stops to buy food and snacks along the way, equals healthier food and more time at places you really want to be.

We like to save up our road trip food money to splurge on our dinners and fun and unique places along the way.

ROAD TRIP ACTIVITIES

You definitely want to make sure the kids (and difficult adults) are entertained for those long stretches of roads. We are working on some printable road trip activity packs for kids, so check back soon. Road trip activities to keep the family entertained:

25 Easy Road Trip Activities For Toddlers & Preschoolers

170 Best Road Trip Quotes: Quirky, Funny And Deep

235 Epic Questions For Road Trips To Spark Conversations

Kids Road Trip Activities

ROAD TRIP DESTINATIONS

✔️ Boston To Acadia National Park Road Trip: New England Itinerary

✔️ 7 Day Road Trip Itinerary: Zion, Bryce & Grand Canyon

✔️ Big Sur Road Trip: Epic Places to Visit and Hike

✔️ Best Day Trips from Victoria, BC Canada (A Local’s Guide)

>>> More destinations here