We have done many road trips together as a family during summer breaks. Each one has been wonderful giving us all a chance to learn about our diverse country. We have explored Cajun country in Louisiana, learned about the history of Appalachians, discovered local regional sodas, and have taken a step back in time in Williamsburg, VA. We even went up to our neighbor Canada to give our French a try. It didn’t go so well, but we fell in love with poutine, made daily stops for coffee and donuts at Tim Hortons, took a scary ghost tour of Old Quebec City, and witnessed the beauty of whales swimming in the Saint Lawrence River.
Our road trips always come with very detailed planning, all the way down to the day of departure. See, the departure day is actually the most stressful of the entire trip. It has been a source of contention between my husband and I for every road trip we have done. We both have very different ideas on how our departure day should go.
Departure Day
Our road trips are anywhere from an eight to ten hour drive or approximately 500 miles to the final destination. We always make sure the ipads are full of tv shows/movies, the snacks and drinks are ready to go and the suitcases areย packed. Kids have their car ride accoutrement, blankets, pillows, stuffed animals, toys ready to go. We are ready for the adventure.
His Departure Day: 4:00AM
Yep you read that right, 4:00AM. The time of departure. Every road trip leaves at 4:00am. That means wake up time is 3:00am, 3:20am for the kids. Insanity right? My husband has this down to a science. He first came up with it when we were driving from Dallas, Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana many years ago. He was determined to beat any and all traffic and get us there by lunch time. He even toyed with wheels up at 3:30am, but I put my foot down on that one. So 3:00AM rolls around on the day of departure, I think Iย had fallen asleep around midnight, and the alarm went off. My husband jumps out of bed and into the shower, I tried to ignore the 3:00AM wake-up, by rolling over and drifting back to sleep, but I have a nagging sense that in five minutes he is going to be out of the shower and nudging me to get up. I drag my half-asleep carcass out of the bed and slowly dress (I would shower, maybe, the next day). I brush my teeth, pack my toiletries, throw them in my bag along with my pj’s andย go make the coffee.
Departure Day Itinerary
- 3:20AM wake the kids
- Pack the chargers and kids backpacks
- 3:30AM wake the kids again
- Final house cleaning
- Yell at kids to get up and dressed
- Start loading up the car
- Stress about leaving at 4am
- Pack the kids suitcases into the car
- Pour the coffee into travel mugs
- Get the kids into the car
- lock-up set the alarm
- Wheels up
- Wonder if we turned the alarm on
- Argue about whether the alarm is on or if we need to turn back
- Kids fall back to sleep
- Mom falls back to sleep
- DAD ON A MISSION TO BEAT ALL TRAFFIC
Driving Four Hours Straight Before Someone Stirs
Typically my husband drives for four hours before it is time to re-fuel and before someone stirs from sleep, myself included. At this point my husbandย tells all of us how we are half way there and see how easy that was. We slept half way through the trip. No big deal, right?
Typically this is a goodtime to stop for breakfast, which of course the kids think is time for a three course,ย three hourย meal. This makes my husband crazy as he is on a mission to get to the destination by lunch time. Not everyone in the family got his memo. Since it’s the mid-way point, it is my turn to drive. My coffee from 4:00AM is luke-warm, major disappointment. Kids grab their electronicsย and they start asking when we will be there within a half an hour of my driving. Sometimes, I think my husband has the better deal as we are all asleep and he drives in peace.
See more about road tripping with kids:
Need a great list of supplies? Read this post How to Survive the Open Road With Kids. This will give you a thorough list of things to pack and do for the kids before hitting the road with the family.
Her Departure Day: 7:00AM
I like my sleep. I actually don’t do well without sleep. Driving for me at 4:00am, just wouldn’t work well. Moreover, if it were me driving, for sure the kids would be awake asking for everything under the sun, fighting with each other and all around causing my otherwise peaceful 4 hours to be anything but. It’s just how it always works out. So my departure day would look something like this:
Departure Day Itinerary
- Wake up at 6:00AM
- Shower
- Make coffee
- Wake the kids at 6:20AM
- Pack the chargers and kid gear
- Pack the car
- 6:30am yell at the kids to get up
- Pour coffee into travel mugs
- Rush the kids into the car, while they are trying to pack last minute gear
- Turn on alarm and lock up
- Wheels up at 7:00AM
- Wonder if we turned on alarm
- Hit loads of traffic, argue over the traffic
- Argue about whether the alarm is on or if we need to turn back
- lunch stop at 12:00PM that would last an hour at least
- Back in the car for another 4 hours
- Arrive around 5:00-5:30PM
- DAY IS GONE AND WE HAVE NOT HAD A CHANCE TO DO OR SEE ANYTHING
His Plan Worked
Destination is reached by lunch time. Once again, my husband takes the time to dwell on his meaning behind the 4:00AM departure madness. We even survived the road trip with the kids. Surviving road trips with kids can be done and at times, thoroughly enjoyable.
We arrived by lunch time. Had we not left at 4:00am, we would have arrived early evening and would’ve wasted the entire day in the car. Now we can enjoy lunch and have time to explore, to do something productive. As much as I hate the insanity of the 4:00AM departure, it does work. That said, I am sound asleep by 8:00PM the day of arrival.
I’m thinking the meaning behind the madness has been justified.๐
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Livi
We go on road trips as well and we always leave early, too! Itโs so weird our last road trip it seemed like we Packed mostly everything but omg it was like a whole new shipment of packed bags that needed to be put in the car that morning. How does that even happen lol!
Five Family Adventurers
We ended up with the dog our last trip๐คฃ
Julie
We try to go early when we go on a long car ride, but it can be hard with 3 girls 6 and under. It would definitely make it a lot easier if we left earlier. Otherwise an 8 hour drive can turn into a 10 hour drive including all the rest stops and food stops. I like the idea of my girls sleep for most of the drive.
Five Family Adventurers
Ugh the rest stops!!
Crysta Parkinson
Haha, this sounds like road trips when I was a kid. My dad had a whole science thing going on so that we slept in the car as much as humanly possible. My person style is completely opposite — I like to make the road trip itself a part of the journey, with lots of stops and exploring the terrain between my starting point and the end goal. It’s always interesting to read different perspectives!
Five Family Adventurers
I like the stops though, that is a great way to explore!
Jill
Haha…โDAD ON A MISSION TO BEAT ALL TRAFFICโ!
My husband is like this too! He will book ten am appointments in cities 5 hours away. We havenโt experienced it yet with a kid…however I love the rationale!
Five Family Adventurers
You should see him when we have to get to the airport Dad suggests arriving at airport 14 hours early he is that man
Jenna Duwe
Your husband sounds just like mine! We drive from NJ to NC every year and Iโm lucky my husband lets us stop to feed and change the baby! Haha
Five Family Adventurers
I think itโs innate by gender.
Ruby
Nope. Can’t do it. Lol! I actually don’t even consider 7am to be a “normal hour”. We tend to leave the house closer to 8 or sometimes even 9. My husband is working away right now and is placed in a community 1000km away from us. My daughter and I do the journey quite often, it’s become second nature to us. Sometimes I even leave at lunchtime and arrive at 10PM. The one thing that I cannot do though, is drive tired, so leaving later and arriving later works fine for me! So much admiration to your family for being able to drag yourselves out of bed at 3:30am! I have only done that once and it was a questionable day lol.
Five Family Adventurers
Yes I make my husband do the early morning drive. Iโm not having it.
Tony
As much as I don’t want to agree with anything that starts at 3 or 4am, it does make sense. For the kids its kind of okay because they can just sleep the whole way in the car. While sleep is so good, it’s also really handy to have a practical person (the husband in your case) on the team!
Five Family Adventurers
YEs, luckily his work trained him to be able to get up early. I would fail!
Sarah - Borders & Bucket Lists
Oh my gosh. 4 AM?! I mean, after reading, I understand your logic, but like WOW. That takes commitment lol.
Alex Trembath
We love a good roadtrip! Sounds like you really have it down to a tee. Not sure we would go for the 4am starts though! Totally admire your enthusiasm and excellent organisation ๐
Kylee
What an amazing schedule! Good work on being so adamant on the times, this means you get to see soo much more!!! Great post!
Kaia Trouber
I expected more tips for leaving but it was a great read none the less. If I would have to get uo at 4 AM I would just skipp sleeping I guess ๐
Lance
So funny. My wife and I grew up with your husband’s schedule. We are a little more lax, but we still leave as early as we can in the morning. The big difference with our family, however, is that the kids wake up right away, anxious to go. No sleeping in the car here. So we have to make sure the tablets are fully charged and ready to go.
WithCaitlyn
We always used to go with the car from Holland to Spain. We would leave at 1 am and my sister, my little brother and I would not have to go to sleep. This way we were passed out the first 6/7 hours of the trip.
We needed this early departure because you have different toll roads in France and my father would always pick the wrong line! Sometimes we would stand in the line for an hour while the line next to us would have taken only 10 minutes.
Five Family Adventurers
Ha, we are always arguing about the toll line.
Sippin Gypsy
What a fun way to compare two departure times! We have a system too depending on how far our drive is: if we are less than a six hour drive we leave by 8 am. If it is an 8 hour drive we leave around 8pm… my husband is a night owl and prefers to drive through the night… then we arrange an early check in and he sleeps in while the kids and I go find breakfast and find a local market for snacks and other local food! Then by lunch everybody is rested and happy and we do our first tour or excursion!!
Five Family Adventurers
I guess there is a science to this one.
Elizabeth
Love it! My husband always wants to leave at 3:30 or 4:00am too! It makes sense in terms of the kids sleeping for much of the drive- but we’re always exhausted when we arrive!
Nina Out and About
I’m definitely on your side: 4 am is crazy! I’ve never done a road trip, so I can’t really attest to which is actually better, but I’d prefer to sleep regardless!