Michael's Journey: Road trip Vacations with Michael

In the past 5 months we have taken 2 major road trip vacations. One was to New Hampshire. Two days of driving and a week up there then two days back. We stayed in my parents house and the kids shared a room. The second vacation was our recent trip to Virginia Beach and DC. One day of driving, 5 nights there and one night back. Every night in a hotel. We have learned a lot of Dos and Don'ts for traveling with Michael.

Since returning from this last trip Matt and I have been discussing the pro's and con's of each trip as it relates to Michael in hopes of making our summer trip to Texas smoother. We know that the more trips we take the easier they will become.

Things We Have Learned

~Staying in the same place for the entire time is good! On the NH trip, aside from the night in a hotel to get there and back, we stayed in the same house the whole time. That helped Michael know what to expect in terms of feeding, bath, bedtime, play, etc. When we went to Virginia we stayed in different hotels. At the second hotel he was confused. He went a little nuts in the room, slamming doors, banging the mirrors, fighting to get out. At the beach hotel, that we had stayed at 5 nights he was fine. He accepted the room, learned where his bed was, where he could play, where he ate, etc.

~Being able to prepare our own meals at our own pace is best. I won't say he was a GOOD eater in NH but a BETTER eater than VA. We had the ability to make our own food, try different things and eat at our own pace (and position! Michael felt more comfortable sitting on my lap to eat) in NH. We tried to utilize the microwave in our hotel room in VA but it wasn't enough. We would buy an item from Walgreens to prepare for dinner and he wouldn't want it. That left us with no food, having to come up with something else for him to eat. Or having him go without dinner for the night. When we went out to dinner somewhere he rejected everything (aside from mashed potatoes). Two nights and a row he had mashed potatoes and a bag of chips/crackers for dinner.

~We were decently prepared for the car ride to NH. We had snacks and a DVD player. We were even better prepared for VA. We had MICHAEL'S DVDs and a cooler to hold drinks so we didn't have to buy them at gas stations. We had snacks but have learned that he really doesn't eat in the car. We also learned that he copes much better if Matt or I sit in the back and Liz sits up front. That works fine for whoever is driving because Liz is great company up front. It does not work so well for the parent in the back. Matt is LONG and gets uncomfortable back there and I get car sick in the back seat. But we suck it up and do what is best for Michael, and easiest for the long trip. We also know it is best to get as many hours in as we can in one day. The first day is the easiest. The second starts out with A LOT of protests, no matter what we do. Knowing all this now, we think the trip to Texas will go smoother.

~Doing too much is not good. Every day we did something in NH, went somewhere. For Michael, that is hard. He becomes stroller bound a lot of the time. Or we went to places where he could run around but not understand what we were doing there or didn't want to follow us. It forced Matt and I to split up and have one parent with one kid each. At Virginia Beach we were more relaxed. We went where we wanted, casually strolled around, letting Michael decide where to go and left when he was done. We went to places designed for him. Occasionally, we have to split up so that Michael could sleep and Liz could get some time to do her stuff, but mostly we enjoyed the vacation together. As soon as we got to DC he was a wreck. He couldn't walk the streets with us or he didn't know what to do in the big open grass areas. It was a lot of crying. Now we know, while we CAN go to places where Michael is in a stroller most of the day (museums, amusement parks, etc) every now and then, we need to plan MORE days for Michael, that Liz can have fun at too.

~When in the hotel, at bedtime, we learned to be prepared to go to bed early or have some small handheld entertainment when putting M to bed. Even then, he might not let us use the item (ipod, phone, kindle). He might want the room completely darkened, both parents laying in bed with him, his sister silent...and even then it make take an hour or two. By the time we got him to bed, after laying in the dark for that long, we were ready to go to sleep too! No late nights on vacations! That was fine though. We just started our day earlier.

~Have a POOL nearby! Yup, that's a big one! We all love water! We spent hours in the hotel pool. He could float around forever. I don't think it is possible for him to be grumpy in water.

We are a vacation loving family. We learn more about how to make these trips better for our family each time we go. Hopefully soon we will have it down to a system and know all the tricks to make these trips as enjoyable and stress free as possible!