Ah, road trips. The ultimate American family travel experience! Hitting the open road is an exhilarating experience that can be fun for the whole family. Read on to discover why taking a road trip together will bring you closer than ever!
Shared Power
Successful road trips require planning. Which can sometimes feel like a chore when it’s added on to an already overloaded parent’s plate. A great way to alleviate some pressure from yourself and empower your children is to ask them to help you plan your trip.
Actively including each member of the family in the process of planning your road trip is a great way to get everyone on board with a vacation that they might not be as interested to participate in otherwise. Your kids will be more engaged in the entire trip if they get to contribute to planning your route. For example each person can have the option to pick one or a few destinations they’d like to see along the way.
Deeper Understanding
The places that individuals in your family choose as their top picks to see along the way can be surprising! Even if they’re not your personal favorites they can be interesting if you view them as opportunities to better understand your loved ones.
During your road trip you’ll obviously be spending a significant amount of time together in the car. Being in close proximity for extended periods of time will likely present some challenges... we’d be kidding ourselves if we expected everything to be sunshine and daisies the whole time. But this shared space and time allows us to cultivate a deeper understanding of what makes each person tick (or sometimes what makes each person explode).
Reshaping Relationships
Take advantage of the fact that during a road trip you’ll be in a completely new setting. Even if you spend most of your time with your family on a day to day basis, being in fresh surroundings can revitalize your connections with one another and give you the precious gift of space to transform your relationships if you’d like to.
Allowing everyone to participate in trip planning and staying open to the flow yourself can be keys to unlock areas of relating that may have gotten stagnant at home. Remind yourself and your kids that going with the flow is the ultimate state of presence - and a way to maintain a positive state of mind while traveling.
Bringing It On Home
Whether you decide to see all the major tourist attractions or take the road less traveled road trips are guaranteed ways to strengthen the family bond. What is your favorite memory from a family road trip? Share in the comments!
About the Author:
Amara Evans is a vibrational healer, collective consciousness-raiser, and devotee of the Goddess. She loves to connect with her global community through writing about important topics like the environment, spirituality, and fair trade.