Texas Road Trip 2016: Preparation

Our road trips are a big undertaking for us, especially now with two small children, so we do as much as we can in advance to make the trips as painless as possible.  I'm the type of person that is always worried we are going to forget something important so I would much rather put the time in to make sure everything is super organized so I thought I would share how I do that!

4 Months Before:

• Selected the dates of our trip.
• Determined our route.
• Booked hotels.

2 Months Before:

• Start making detailed lists.  I love the iPhone app called 2Do for most of my list making because I can organize all my lists into categories and it is on my phone rather than a piece of paper I'm sure to loose.  I make a separate list for each bag as well as one for the car, the rocket box on top and a to-do list.  I usually sit down and start all my lists at once then I slowly add things as I think of them.

• Book the house sitter.  We usually use the same house sitter when we go out of town and I prefer to have her scheduled as soon as possible so we aren't stuck scrambling around trying to find someone else last minute.  This time I texted her as soon as we decided on the dates but I wouldn't leave it any later than 2 months out.
• Tip on house/dog sitters that I've discovered.  Make them a "mess kit" for the dogs.  Our dogs are both house trained but they have gotten used to me being home most of time and just going out when they feel like it so there is almost always an accident while they are getting use to her routine.  Just get a box or caddy and put the products she would need to clean up the mess in it.  I usually include Lysol wipes, a big bottle of vinegar, paper towels, enzyme spray and some little trash bags for the mess.  That way the mess is cleaned with the correct products and she doesn't have to go digging for anything to clean them up.  Another thing to consider in line with pet messes is do you have a Roomba?  If so, make sure to schedule it around her routine when you are gone.  I made the mistake last time of not doing that and it ran before she was to get back to the house after being gone for a while...you can guess what happened. :)

1 Month Before:

• Start buying things.  Do you need things for your trip, for your house while you are gone or for your pets?  Maybe new bones or toys to help keep them busy, any new clothes, bags or things like that for you?  Anything for your kids like travel strollers, travel games, Pack n Plays, etc?

• Complete lists.  Go over your lists again and make sure that everything you need is on them and anything you don't is off.  Feel confident by this point that your lists are complete.

• Decide on bags and consider laying them out.  Make a decision on what bags you are going to be using for what and make sure they will fit how you need them to.  We had planned on putting all of our bags for our hotel stops in the car, then everything else in the rocket box up top but we did a "trial run" so to speak and discovered that our double stroller is WAY too big for the box so we have had to re work a few things.  I like to lay out all of our bags in our guest room/office upstairs so that as I start gathering things up, I can just toss them in their corresponding bag.  That way I'm not running all over the house last minute looking for random things.
• A tip if you have small children.  Put your bags in a room with a lock on the door.  Jordyn has discovered that going into the room and "packing" AKA moving things to the wrong bag as well as adding her own stuff is fun!! For her at least...

2 Weeks Before:

• Update & Print House Sitter Instructions.  I keep these saved on my computer so all I have to do is make any small changes and print before we leave.

• Start Actively Gathering Stuff.  I try to have everything that we don't use on a day to day basis gathered up by 1 week out.

• If Driving, Service the Car.  Change the oil, air up the tires, take it in for a general service if anything is due to be done.

1 Week Before:

Nasty!!

• If Driving, Clean the Car.  I like to try to start off the trip fresh so we clean the car from top to bottom.  We wash the whole car, vacuum, wipe down the inside for dust or kid yuck (2 week old applesauce perhaps?) and clean out any compartments or pockets.  I also take this opportunity to clean the car seats.  I take them all the way apart, wash all the fabric parts in the washer and wipe down the rest of it.  That way at least we start out the trip with as little sticky and crunchy as possible.

• Attach the Rocket Box.  Ours is a bit of a pain to put on so we like to do it well before we need it.

• Clean the House.  I like to leave the house as clean as I can so it isn't so bad when we get home.  The dogs will make the place hairy and dusty anyway so if it's clean to start off with, then it usually isn't too horrible.  I have discovered that the Roomba is fantastic at helping with this though.  Before when we would come back, the first thing I would have to do is vacuum because there was hair EVERYWHERE and it drove me batty.  The Roomba putts around every morning and takes care of I would say 90% of the dog hair which is awesome!  The house sitter just empties it every day and I don't have to think about it when we get home.  Another option might be to schedule a cleaning service to come while you are gone if that's an option.  A lady I know does this every time she goes out of town and she swears by it.

• Any Last Minute Shopping.

• Check your Food.  Check your pantry and fridge for anything that will spoil while you are gone and try to work them into your meal plan for this week so you won't have to throw them away.

Night Before:

• If Driving, Load the Car.  We leave very, very early in the morning (like 4am early) and the last thing we want to be doing is running around, cramming stuff in the car at 3am, in the dark.  No thank you!

• Make a Morning To Do List.  I make a paper list of everything that needs to be grabbed or done the next morning and leave it on the counter.  Our brains don't function well at 3am so this way we don't have to think about anything, just do whats on the list.

• Put the Kids to Bed Early.

• Have a Glass of Wine... 2 days in the car with 2 kids, 2 and under... Gonna need it.

Morning Of:

• Consult the List.  We check everything off the to do list I made the night before.  

• Lock Up.  Make sure all the doors and windows are locked.  And set your alarm if you have one.

• Load Up.  We get the kids up at the last second, change diapers only and straight into car seats.  And pray they go back to sleep.

• Caffeine.  Last but certainly not least, make a quick stop for your caffeine.

And that is everything we do to prepare for our road trips!  See anything missing?  Leave a comment below!!

Next time I will share how we fit all our junk into our van, and still have room for ourselves!!

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