At the beginning of the summer we embarked on a road trip to Canada with both kids. It may have been a little too ambitious to take a three-year-old and a 10-month-old and jam them into the car for hours a day, but I seem to have a knack for biting off more than I can comfortably chew.

At some points, when both kids were wailing, I really wondered what I had gotten myself into, but overall it was a great experience. I am so glad my husband and I were able to share our love for adventure with our children and explore new places together. We made our way North, Chasing the Coastline from Providence all the way up into Prince Edward Island and back again.

Below are some helpful tips for staying sane while traveling with kids:

1. Head Rest: I know this looks pretty silly but it was one of the best things we bought for the trip and super cheap on Amazon.

2. Travel During Nap Time: We broke the trip up and did most of our traveling during naps. 

3. Load Up On Sticker Books And New Toys: We tried to avoid screen time, these came in really handy. We got tons of reusable stickers. 

4. Airbnb For The Win: This enabled us to pack less clothes because we could do laundry, and we saved on some meltdowns by cooking dinner in + fast and easy breakfasts before our morning adventures. 

5. Car Snacks: We all know that kids being hungry equals super crabby kids. Avoid this by bringing some snacks they will enjoy eating while you drive. I try to mix it up with something healthy and then some fun snacks cause hey, you’re on vacation.

6. Tire Them Out Before Getting In The Car: We tried to do a physical morning activity so they were nice and tired when we got in the car to drive. 

7. Bins To Organize Stuff For Easy Access. Easy access is key when changing from hiking to swimming to dinner on the fly.

8. Practice Patience And Lots Of Deep Breathing For When Those Tiny Humans Are Testing Their Boundaries: All that yoga came in handy when Pepper was melting down.

Bonus Tip: When I really wanted them to sleep in the car, I would read them Anne of Green Gables.

 For a map of our road trip and favorite things to do, follow me and my family @ChasingTheCoastline on Instagram.