Road Trips With Kids! - ss_site

Okay, okay… there are some major pros and cons to road tripping with kids, especially if they are young. BUT if you choose the RIGHT road trip – one that has many fun stops along the way – it can be such a fun way to really experience a new place!

We love RV trips with our kids and most recently, we road tripped around South Dakota (which actually could be an amazing RV trip as well!) which was wonderful! Here are the reasons we recommend road tripping through South Dakota:

1. The activities are relatively close together!

We loved that we were able to have an experience or get out of the car to an amazing view and stretch our legs through every leg of our adventure. We really didn’t have to stay in the car longer than two-three hours at a time, so my kids didn’t get too cranky and they got to experience a ton of culture!

2. South Dakota is full of adventure and not too crowded!

One thing that was a huge discovery for us: South Dakota is an undiscovered gem! RV road trippers can have the great outdoors that we all love and require when taking these trips, but also get a lot of history and experiences. It is more than just Mount Rushmore National Memorial; Custer State Park allowed us to have a mini Safari off-road experience, which I assumed was something you could only get in huge national parks! Storybook Island was the kids’ favorite part of the whole trip – which was fun for us as parents because the park included some of our favorite characters from the books we read each night!

3. We got to experience so many different “feels” within just a few hour radius

South Dakota had it all – from the charming city experience with boutique shops and restaurants to country living in a log cabin, grass prairieland and the fossil beds of Badlands National Park. That’s one of the reasons we love road trips: to experience life a little differently than we do each day. That was what was so great about South Dakota – no day was the same.

We never ran out of things to do and because of the beauty outside our windows, we also never got bored driving!

Some tips for road tripping with kids:

Include your kids in the plans! We would start our days by laying out the plans together, so the kids mentally knew what to expect (especially when it came to time in the car)… they knew they had fun things to look forward to each time.
Read about the places you are going beforehand. The car is such a good time for reading and learning about the places we are visiting. My kids loved being included in this and it made them even more excited to arrive!
Break it up! It’s about the journey too, not just the destination. We would try to keep it “loose” when it came to plans in case we happened upon something cool and wanted to stop, or if my kids just needed a break. Not NEEDING to get anywhere at exact times helped us not be so stressed about these unplanned for things!
Mix it up! We don’t mind some electronic usage, but we love mixing it up. Maybe 30 minutes car games, reading, or drawing, then 30 minutes shows, etc.

Our whole trip to South Dakota was such a pleasant, relaxing surprise. I couldn’t believe how smoothly our time there went. The best part was how much we (adults) loved it as well as our kids! It really was a wonderful place for us to connect as a family and appreciate wildlife and the outdoors. I would definitely recommend it! Also, here is our itinerary in case you want to use it for reference!

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