July 11, 2024 • 11 mins
Buckle up for a journey through the wild world of family road trips! From snack strategy to backseat battles, we're diving into the highs and lows of hitting the highway. Will you survive the endless "Are we there yet?" chorus, or thrive on unexpected adventures? Let's navigate the twists and turns of modern road-tripping, sprinkled with a dash of nostalgia for the good ol' days of station wagons and paper maps. It's time to decide: are we road warriors?
In this episode, we cover:
1. Road trips: planning tips, and pros/cons.
2. Family entertainment during long car rides.
3. Generational differences in travel experiences.
Mentioned in this episode:
Road Trip Tips: 9 Ways to Help You Thrive While You Drive
https://blog.nationwide.com/family-life/travel-outdoors/9-tips-long-drives/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to Don't Call Me Midlife.
This summer we're shakingthings up a bit with our special
series called Survive or Thrive.
We know moms are extra busyduring the summer, so we're
bringing you shorter, bite-sizedepisodes focused on one hot
topic at a time.
Join us as we share tips,stories and laughs, helping you
decide if you're just getting byor truly thriving this summer.
(00:23):
Hi Nicole, hi Alex, how are you?
I'm good, I'm excited aboutsummer.
Well, I'm glad one of us is.
I'm just kidding.
I like summer, you like it.
Not love it, that's okay.
I love it, I love it and I'mexcited about our new series.
So we are doing bite-sizedepisodes.
(00:44):
Super excited about thatbecause we know moms and women
don't have a ton of time.
We're going to talk about onetopic at a time.
What is our hot topic for today?
Road trips.
Are we thriving during a roadtrip or are we merely surviving?
Well, we're not going to saywhat we think, right, let's
discuss the topic and then we'll.
(01:05):
We're not doing unsolicitedadvice.
We'll like say what we think atthe end, right, okay, yeah, so
we'll save that part.
Clearly, I'm not used to thisnew format.
Maybe the ladies will know ouranswer at the end, but we will
keep it a surprise.
So road trips, this means likegetting in the car and driving
somewhere.
That's it.
Yeah, do you think a road tripis 24 hours or more, or is it
(01:27):
within the day?
What is your definition of aroad trip?
24 hours of driving, heck?
No, a road trip is you get inyour car and you pack stuff in
your car and then you go to yourdestination.
So it could be an hour long, itcould be 36 hours long, I think
it's anywhere that you're goingto drive.
I know some people, somefamilies, love road tripping
(01:51):
over like flying.
So that's interesting.
That's an interesting idea.
My brother and sister-in-lawwill drive from South Carolina
to Connecticut and I thinkthey're bananas, but they love
it because you don't have to be,as you can pack in a different
way as opposed to flying, right.
So there are advantages.
Yeah, you can take your time.
Yeah, you can take your time.
(02:12):
And maybe, if you have ananimal, road trips are a plus,
right, if you want to bring yourdogs with you, that is a plus
of a road trip.
I don't know how you do that,because I have to pee and poop
or your cat, right?
Or your gerbil, or yourwhatever, whatever animals you
have, your fish I guess you canleave those at home.
So so road tripping in thesummertime is like a thing here,
(02:34):
right Cause a lot of people inNortheast will drive a lot of
places.
Is it a thing in Colorado?
Honestly, I am not sure.
I I know that we're planning acouple road trips because
Colorado is so huge and likeexpansive that there's just a
lot of rural areas that you haveto get through to get to the
next big area, like Vail.
(02:56):
So Vail is probably like maybetwo and a half three hours from
where we are.
So to me that is the perfectamount of road trip.
That's a perfect.
You're not like driving crosscountry, I'm like driving to
Colorado to come see you.
Like that is not happening.
Yeah, yeah, but there are somany amazing places in Colorado
that we haven't been to in thetime that we've been here.
(03:18):
I don't think road tripping iseasy here just because of the
mountains and the passes and theswitchbacks, so like a
five-hour trip is really taxingand exhausting.
So we have to like mentallyprepare myself for that.
But yeah, I mean some peopleJust absolutely love it and
they're great at planning it.
I did get some ideas from theinterwebs Of, like the benefits
(03:42):
of road trips.
There are some benefits.
I will say the snacks arebenefits.
Like, I would like doing thesnacks.
I would get creative with thosetype of snacks.
Yeah, like one of those snackleboxes.
Oh yeah, maybe That'd be fun.
Everybody could have their own.
Yes, ooh, ooh.
A little cooler, and that isprobably the only advantage I
can think of, because all fiveof us in a car for a really long
(04:05):
time sounds fun.
Yeah, it sounds difficult.
I think when the kids wereyounger, I think road trips were
easier that is my take on itBecause of naps, because you
know that, like I feel like youcould have planned it, like you
could leave in the morning andyou know that, like you would
just have to entertain them forjust a little bit and then they
(04:28):
would fall asleep.
That's true, that's true, butnow don't touch me, don't look
at me.
Somebody ate all the snacks.
It's just for our family.
It's a little bit moredifficult.
But I did find some things thatwere great, ideas that I haven't
like really thought of.
These are like benefits of roadtripping or some, if you are
(04:48):
going to take a road trip, likesome tips.
No, most of these are just tips.
So I don't know, like this,plan your rest stops, which, as
a woman, I don't know, like,when I got to go, I got to go,
but plan your rest stops, ohwhich, as a woman, I don't know,
like, when I got to go, I gotto go, but plan your rest stops.
Maybe this is really good for,like, multiple people, or if
you're traveling like in themiddle of nowhere, just to know
(05:10):
what maybe a safe spot is.
I think it's not just if youhave to go to the bathroom,
though.
I would think, plan your reststops because there's actually,
like, interesting things.
I do think one of the benefitsof a road trip is you can see
things that you normallywouldn't be able to see.
So I think maybe planning yourrest stops around interesting
things, right, they're not justtalking about, yeah, or like,
(05:30):
when you're going to stretchyour legs, yes, farther down the
list it says bathroom breaks.
So, right, that's separate.
I think maybe there's like acool store to go to, like the
largest ball of wax or something, yeah, some sort of fun
restaurant.
That's different, right, Like,I think, plan your stops around
interesting things.
You probably also need to knowyour limits on your driving,
(05:52):
like how much you can drive in aday.
I know people who driveovernight.
I think a road trip I mightenjoy it, because you do need to
plan things out a little bitright and to make it enjoyable.
There's a lot of things that Ithink you would like because you
do have to plan.
It says book your accommodation, familiarize yourself with
local driving, download funnybooks and then prepare a first
(06:16):
aid kit, prep your car.
So there's lots.
It looks like there's lots ofplanning involved in it that I
didn't really even think aboutit, which I like that.
Do you remember?
This is an aside I was justthinking of.
I would drive to college rightFrom Connecticut to Nashville.
And do you remember when wedidn't have GPS, we had to get
those trip ticks from AAA.
(06:37):
Did you ever get one of thosewhen it was like the?
You had to the maps, the mapsfrom you would tell them exactly
.
It was actually pretty cool.
I wonder if they still make it.
Yeah, and that could be a goodlearning tool actually to get
that's going to be.
My advice is get a trip tick andsee and cause.
Our kids probably haven't evenseen those.
No, maybe we do.
(06:57):
Like a ooh, this is a good idea.
Maybe we go to AAA and we getthe trip ticks we have our kids
do it because they have to knowhow to communicate and ask for
things and then maybe you dolike an hour, like a day trip or
something, and he is like theycan practice their driving Right
, because Alex and I have kidsthat are starting driver's ed
(07:18):
and we're very nervous about itand but this would be, this
would be a good thing versuslistening to GPS and getting
frustrated and I don't know.
I don't really remembertriptychs, I'm just I'm trying
to think I spent a summer inVermont, so I drove from
Michigan to Vermont and I usedMapQuest, and so I remember
being like looking at it andthen just being aware of, like,
(07:40):
how I had to keep an eye out forcertain things, and it was,
yeah, areas where your GPS maynot work right.
So I do think one thing wouldbe definitely have a backup plan
or know where you're going togo a little bit so that you're
(08:01):
not stuck.
That happens in my own townwith my GPS.
Definitely need a backup planfor that.
So have you planned out yourroad trip in Colorado?
No, not yet, but I've got agood idea of like how to do it.
So I don't know, with my familyI think we could actually drive
two and a half hours withoutstopping.
(08:22):
These are really good thingslike to have for like longer
trips.
But I think some of these ideaslike I think maybe downloading a
funny audio book would bereally good for the family, but
I don't, I don't know if theywould listen.
I think I would.
I think they would listen if Ididn't tell them to listen.
I think they would just reallystart listening.
They always listen.
(08:43):
When I listened you know whatit's so funny, nicole, when I
listen to podcasts in the carand they like have one earbud in
or whatever they do my sonswill then mention something from
the podcast, like because it'snormally about, and they're like
why are you listening to that?
Right, like they're they.
They asked me that too.
I think they are listening.
When I was a kid, we would drive, we would do a road trip I'm
(09:05):
remembering this now from NewJersey to Cape Cod, and but it
was when you could actually layin the back of the car.
My mom had a big station wagonand we would put our.
It was so fun because we'd putthree of our little sleeping
bags in the back and we wouldsleep like sleep the whole time.
I don't think you can do thatnow, that's probably not legal,
but I remember thinking it wasvery fun.
(09:26):
Yes, I remember those stationwagon trips.
Those were fun, especially likeI had cousins and I did it with
Right.
But yeah, well, that's nothappening, but it's nice to go
down memory lane.
But I do have to say that maybewe will plan a road trip.
Jerry has been really wantingto go to Wyoming.
He loves bears and they havethis bear like pet the bear
(09:47):
exhibit and like you can bottleseed them.
And maybe we'll do that becausethere's lots of places to stop
on the way to Yellowstone.
I think that sounds fun.
We've been to Yellowstone.
It's amazing.
We did road trip around there acouple of years ago and we went
to a dude rant.
Okay, so this is.
I feel like I don't know.
I've changed my mind a littlebit.
Do you think road trippingthrive or survive?
(10:10):
Oh, survive, blah.
I've gotten excited thinkingabout this.
What would be in everybody'shealthy snack box?
Where would we stop?
What beautiful things would wesee on the way to wherever we
were going?
The idea of traveling outsideof Colorado is a little bit more
exciting, because it's justsomething different.
I think it would thrive.
(10:31):
Maybe one road trip, not a lot,but one, okay, okay, I can't
wait to hear about that roadtrip.
I think that sounds fun.
I was going to change my mind,but I'm still survive.
I'm not going to AAA anytimesoon to do a road trip.
We drive, we drive about anhour and a half to get to Alex's
family's summer house andthat's.
That's about all I can handle.
I'm not driving to anywherereally far.
(10:51):
I drive to Maine to drop offJohn at camp.
That is not a road trip in mymind.
So I think this summer for meit's like survive, I'm, I'm, I'm
, definitely.
I'm not planning it.
Yeah Well, I'll let you know.
Thrived or survived?
All right, all right, ladies,let us know what you think about
road trips.
And that's a wrap for today'sepisode of don't Call Me Midlife
(11:15):
.
We hope you had as much fun aswe did.
If you're just waiting in thecarpool line, don't forget to
follow the show, and if you'refeeling extra spicy today, leave
us a rating and review Beforewe part ways.
Join our newsletter to stay inthe loop with all things midlife
, magic, bonus content and more.
Head on over to the show notesfor how to sign up.
We can't wait to keep theconversation going.
(11:35):
No-transcript.
Welcome to Don't Call Me Midlife.
This summer we're shakingthings up a bit with our special
series called Survive or Thrive.
We know moms are extra busyduring the summer, so we're
bringing you shorter, bite-sizedepisodes focused on one hot
topic at a time.
Join us as we share tips,stories and laughs, helping you
decide if you're just getting byor truly thriving this summer.
(00:23):
Hi Nicole, hi Alex, how are you?
I'm good, I'm excited aboutsummer.
Well, I'm glad one of us is.
I'm just kidding.
I like summer, you like it.
Not love it, that's okay.
I love it, I love it and I'mexcited about our new series.
So we are doing bite-sizedepisodes.
(00:44):
Super excited about thatbecause we know moms and women
don't have a ton of time.
We're going to talk about onetopic at a time.
What is our hot topic for today?
Road trips.
Are we thriving during a roadtrip or are we merely surviving?
Well, we're not going to saywhat we think, right, let's
discuss the topic and then we'll.
(01:05):
We're not doing unsolicitedadvice.
We'll like say what we think atthe end, right, okay, yeah, so
we'll save that part.
Clearly, I'm not used to thisnew format.
Maybe the ladies will know ouranswer at the end, but we will
keep it a surprise.
So road trips, this means likegetting in the car and driving
somewhere.
That's it.
Yeah, do you think a road tripis 24 hours or more, or is it
(01:27):
within the day?
What is your definition of aroad trip?
24 hours of driving, heck?
No, a road trip is you get inyour car and you pack stuff in
your car and then you go to yourdestination.
So it could be an hour long, itcould be 36 hours long, I think
it's anywhere that you're goingto drive.
I know some people, somefamilies, love road tripping
(01:51):
over like flying.
So that's interesting.
That's an interesting idea.
My brother and sister-in-lawwill drive from South Carolina
to Connecticut and I thinkthey're bananas, but they love
it because you don't have to be,as you can pack in a different
way as opposed to flying, right.
So there are advantages.
Yeah, you can take your time.
Yeah, you can take your time.
(02:12):
And maybe, if you have ananimal, road trips are a plus,
right, if you want to bring yourdogs with you, that is a plus
of a road trip.
I don't know how you do that,because I have to pee and poop
or your cat, right?
Or your gerbil, or yourwhatever, whatever animals you
have, your fish I guess you canleave those at home.
So so road tripping in thesummertime is like a thing here,
(02:34):
right Cause a lot of people inNortheast will drive a lot of
places.
Is it a thing in Colorado?
Honestly, I am not sure.
I I know that we're planning acouple road trips because
Colorado is so huge and likeexpansive that there's just a
lot of rural areas that you haveto get through to get to the
next big area, like Vail.
(02:56):
So Vail is probably like maybetwo and a half three hours from
where we are.
So to me that is the perfectamount of road trip.
That's a perfect.
You're not like driving crosscountry, I'm like driving to
Colorado to come see you.
Like that is not happening.
Yeah, yeah, but there are somany amazing places in Colorado
that we haven't been to in thetime that we've been here.
(03:18):
I don't think road tripping iseasy here just because of the
mountains and the passes and theswitchbacks, so like a
five-hour trip is really taxingand exhausting.
So we have to like mentallyprepare myself for that.
But yeah, I mean some peopleJust absolutely love it and
they're great at planning it.
I did get some ideas from theinterwebs Of, like the benefits
(03:42):
of road trips.
There are some benefits.
I will say the snacks arebenefits.
Like, I would like doing thesnacks.
I would get creative with thosetype of snacks.
Yeah, like one of those snackleboxes.
Oh yeah, maybe That'd be fun.
Everybody could have their own.
Yes, ooh, ooh.
A little cooler, and that isprobably the only advantage I
can think of, because all fiveof us in a car for a really long
(04:05):
time sounds fun.
Yeah, it sounds difficult.
I think when the kids wereyounger, I think road trips were
easier that is my take on itBecause of naps, because you
know that, like I feel like youcould have planned it, like you
could leave in the morning andyou know that, like you would
just have to entertain them forjust a little bit and then they
(04:28):
would fall asleep.
That's true, that's true, butnow don't touch me, don't look
at me.
Somebody ate all the snacks.
It's just for our family.
It's a little bit moredifficult.
But I did find some things thatwere great, ideas that I haven't
like really thought of.
These are like benefits of roadtripping or some, if you are
(04:48):
going to take a road trip, likesome tips.
No, most of these are just tips.
So I don't know, like this,plan your rest stops, which, as
a woman, I don't know, like,when I got to go, I got to go,
but plan your rest stops, ohwhich, as a woman, I don't know,
like, when I got to go, I gotto go, but plan your rest stops.
Maybe this is really good for,like, multiple people, or if
you're traveling like in themiddle of nowhere, just to know
(05:10):
what maybe a safe spot is.
I think it's not just if youhave to go to the bathroom,
though.
I would think, plan your reststops because there's actually,
like, interesting things.
I do think one of the benefitsof a road trip is you can see
things that you normallywouldn't be able to see.
So I think maybe planning yourrest stops around interesting
things, right, they're not justtalking about, yeah, or like,
(05:30):
when you're going to stretchyour legs, yes, farther down the
list it says bathroom breaks.
So, right, that's separate.
I think maybe there's like acool store to go to, like the
largest ball of wax or something, yeah, some sort of fun
restaurant.
That's different, right, Like,I think, plan your stops around
interesting things.
You probably also need to knowyour limits on your driving,
(05:52):
like how much you can drive in aday.
I know people who driveovernight.
I think a road trip I mightenjoy it, because you do need to
plan things out a little bitright and to make it enjoyable.
There's a lot of things that Ithink you would like because you
do have to plan.
It says book your accommodation, familiarize yourself with
local driving, download funnybooks and then prepare a first
(06:16):
aid kit, prep your car.
So there's lots.
It looks like there's lots ofplanning involved in it that I
didn't really even think aboutit, which I like that.
Do you remember?
This is an aside I was justthinking of.
I would drive to college rightFrom Connecticut to Nashville.
And do you remember when wedidn't have GPS, we had to get
those trip ticks from AAA.
(06:37):
Did you ever get one of thosewhen it was like the?
You had to the maps, the mapsfrom you would tell them exactly
.
It was actually pretty cool.
I wonder if they still make it.
Yeah, and that could be a goodlearning tool actually to get
that's going to be.
My advice is get a trip tick andsee and cause.
Our kids probably haven't evenseen those.
No, maybe we do.
(06:57):
Like a ooh, this is a good idea.
Maybe we go to AAA and we getthe trip ticks we have our kids
do it because they have to knowhow to communicate and ask for
things and then maybe you dolike an hour, like a day trip or
something, and he is like theycan practice their driving Right
, because Alex and I have kidsthat are starting driver's ed
(07:18):
and we're very nervous about itand but this would be, this
would be a good thing versuslistening to GPS and getting
frustrated and I don't know.
I don't really remembertriptychs, I'm just I'm trying
to think I spent a summer inVermont, so I drove from
Michigan to Vermont and I usedMapQuest, and so I remember
being like looking at it andthen just being aware of, like,
(07:40):
how I had to keep an eye out forcertain things, and it was,
yeah, areas where your GPS maynot work right.
So I do think one thing wouldbe definitely have a backup plan
or know where you're going togo a little bit so that you're
(08:01):
not stuck.
That happens in my own townwith my GPS.
Definitely need a backup planfor that.
So have you planned out yourroad trip in Colorado?
No, not yet, but I've got agood idea of like how to do it.
So I don't know, with my familyI think we could actually drive
two and a half hours withoutstopping.
(08:22):
These are really good thingslike to have for like longer
trips.
But I think some of these ideaslike I think maybe downloading a
funny audio book would bereally good for the family, but
I don't, I don't know if theywould listen.
I think I would.
I think they would listen if Ididn't tell them to listen.
I think they would just reallystart listening.
They always listen.
(08:43):
When I listened you know whatit's so funny, nicole, when I
listen to podcasts in the carand they like have one earbud in
or whatever they do my sonswill then mention something from
the podcast, like because it'snormally about, and they're like
why are you listening to that?
Right, like they're they.
They asked me that too.
I think they are listening.
When I was a kid, we would drive, we would do a road trip I'm
(09:05):
remembering this now from NewJersey to Cape Cod, and but it
was when you could actually layin the back of the car.
My mom had a big station wagonand we would put our.
It was so fun because we'd putthree of our little sleeping
bags in the back and we wouldsleep like sleep the whole time.
I don't think you can do thatnow, that's probably not legal,
but I remember thinking it wasvery fun.
(09:26):
Yes, I remember those stationwagon trips.
Those were fun, especially likeI had cousins and I did it with
Right.
But yeah, well, that's nothappening, but it's nice to go
down memory lane.
But I do have to say that maybewe will plan a road trip.
Jerry has been really wantingto go to Wyoming.
He loves bears and they havethis bear like pet the bear
(09:47):
exhibit and like you can bottleseed them.
And maybe we'll do that becausethere's lots of places to stop
on the way to Yellowstone.
I think that sounds fun.
We've been to Yellowstone.
It's amazing.
We did road trip around there acouple of years ago and we went
to a dude rant.
Okay, so this is.
I feel like I don't know.
I've changed my mind a littlebit.
Do you think road trippingthrive or survive?
(10:10):
Oh, survive, blah.
I've gotten excited thinkingabout this.
What would be in everybody'shealthy snack box?
Where would we stop?
What beautiful things would wesee on the way to wherever we
were going?
The idea of traveling outsideof Colorado is a little bit more
exciting, because it's justsomething different.
I think it would thrive.
(10:31):
Maybe one road trip, not a lot,but one, okay, okay, I can't
wait to hear about that roadtrip.
I think that sounds fun.
I was going to change my mind,but I'm still survive.
I'm not going to AAA anytimesoon to do a road trip.
We drive, we drive about anhour and a half to get to Alex's
family's summer house andthat's.
That's about all I can handle.
I'm not driving to anywherereally far.
(10:51):
I drive to Maine to drop offJohn at camp.
That is not a road trip in mymind.
So I think this summer for meit's like survive, I'm, I'm, I'm
, definitely.
I'm not planning it.
Yeah Well, I'll let you know.
Thrived or survived?
All right, all right, ladies,let us know what you think about
road trips.
And that's a wrap for today'sepisode of don't Call Me Midlife
(11:15):
.
We hope you had as much fun aswe did.
If you're just waiting in thecarpool line, don't forget to
follow the show, and if you'refeeling extra spicy today, leave
us a rating and review Beforewe part ways.
Join our newsletter to stay inthe loop with all things midlife
, magic, bonus content and more.
Head on over to the show notesfor how to sign up.
We can't wait to keep theconversation going.
(11:35):
No-transcript.
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