S/o poll: have you ever been on a long trip with your kids and w/out another adult?

[RahRah]

Originally Posted by twoxcell

My question is why would you take such a trip alone with a child? Someone would literally have to force me:tongue_smilie:, but pretty much all of our family lives in the same state as us and close by. .

 

For me, it's due to our moving here - family remains on the east coast, so I've done the NY round-trip multiple times to see my parents (and DH's before they moved closer), the DC trip to see my sister and her family, CO to visit with DH's cousins (and a conference he attends each year), FL is for DS's birthday - my parents take him to Disney each year, I get to go along for the ride =), and other destinations (ie. Chicago) were just because we can!

[RahRah]

My long flights have been to/from places outside of the continental US. :)

 

We'll do those once DS is a bit older too...I don't want to do those without DH though if at all possible - flying internationally with kids has to be a bit crazy!

[Ellie]

:eek:

How does San Jose to Seattle take 14 hours?!

Trust me. It does, although technically, we were going to Kapowsin...almost to Tacoma, east for awhile, south a long, long way. Yeah, 14 hours.

 

ETA: I just saw your other post. Train?

No. Greyhound BUS. Oy. We flew home!

[Josie]

I really enjoyed the bonding time. I also enjoyed that it showed them that women can travel without a man! Taught them safety precautions and we were off!

[Jilly]

I have done several long trips with just the kids and I. I am a single mom, and although my mom tries to go with us on vacation, that is not always possible. My kids are good travelers though, so it has always been an enjoyable experience for me. :001_smile:

[silliness7]

Can I say yes if the other adult was passed out in the front seat with a raging case of strep throat? Drove from Southwest AR (near TX) to DC for my brother's wedding. Dh got horribly sick while there and would *not* go to an urgent care. He couldn't display weakness to the in-laws, you know. ;)

 

But then I got to drive all the way home with 4 kids and newly pregnant with #5. It took two full days. I do drive slow, especially in the dark. We stopped for the night in Knoxville. Oh, that was miserable, miserable, miserable!!!

[OnTheBrink]

I drove my son and his friend from San Diego to San Francisco and back one year. My son was 7 or 8 at the time.

 

Two summers ago, my daughter and I drove from IL to CA and back. Just us. It was a blast!

[Firefly]

Yes, a few different times to visit my brother and SIL.

[simka2]

Yup! and I am planning another right now!!!! Houston to Northern Arizona.

[Karen in CO]

I have driven a greater than 20 hour car ride by myself with the kids several times, and I have been on several flights of six hours or more alone with my kids.

 

Me too. I've also been camping alone with the kids. For the record, hubby has also taken the kids on 1 long car trip alone. He hasn't yet planned for another. We drove CO to FL and back this summer, and it isn't the first time. I've even done it 6+ months pregnant, and I've done it with a cold. We've flown 6+ hours together too.

Edited August 11, 2011 by Karen in CO

[Impish]

I voted yes, probably should have voted 'other'.

 

6 yo, 6 mth old. Greyhound bus. About 8 hrs. x2.

 

Not enough therapy or drugs on the planet to rid myself of that memory. *shudder*

[simka2]

Me too. I've also been camping alone with the kids. For the record, hubby has also taken the kids on 1 long car trip alone. He hasn't yet planned for another. We drove CO to FL and back this summer, and it isn't the first time. I've even done it 6+ months pregnant, and I've done it with a cold. We've flown 6+ hours together too.

 

 

Ooooh, I didn't think about camping! I camped many times with just me and the 3 littles. ;) It was really fun!!!!

[JennyD]

Can I say yes if the other adult was passed out in the front seat with a raging case of strep throat? Drove from Southwest AR (near TX) to DC for my brother's wedding. Dh got horribly sick while there and would *not* go to an urgent care. He couldn't display weakness to the in-laws, you know. ;)

 

But then I got to drive all the way home with 4 kids and newly pregnant with #5. It took two full days. I do drive slow, especially in the dark. We stopped for the night in Knoxville. Oh, that was miserable, miserable, miserable!!!

 

Wow, that does sound spectacularly awful.

[Night Elf]

No way, unless it was a medical emergency. I dread the day something happens to one of my DH's family in Wisconsin. I refuse to fly and I'm sure DH would want to jump on a plane, so I would drive me and the kids and catch up with him. Even then, I would take my dd19 or another driver so I wouldn't have to do all the driving myself. It's like a 14 hour drive or something.

[cypress]

N. Cali to south AZ in one day with 6yo, 3yo, cat and dog then TX to N. Cali this summer with both kids and two dogs (we did it in two days). I wish flying was more affordable. It is exhausting!

[Jenny in Florida]

Frequently.

[Deb in NZ]

18 hrs flying (24+ hrs travel) alone with (then) 14mo dd---Majuro to VT.

18 hrs flying (24+ hrs travel) alone with (then) 4yo dd & 2yods---Fiji to VT.

days of non-stop travel alone with (then) 8yo dd, 6yo ds, 2yo ds---NZ to Singapore to Amsterdam to NY to Wash. DC to VT. By the time I arrived in VT I handed my dc to my parents & went to bed for 24 hours :tongue_smilie:

+ more trips alone with dc. To get maximum time with my family we always have me travel with the kids ahead of dh, he joins us for a few weeks in the middle, then we stay a few more weeks after dh returns home before beginning our return journey.

[kchara]

I drove from Indianapolis to Wyoming with my 3 at the time. They were 6, 5, and 2. It took us 3 days, because I made sure to not overdo it with them.

[Caitilin]

Yes, I drove back and forth from Sioux Falls to Billings, twice, by myself when my kiddos were about 2, 3.5, 5, 8, and 8. It took 14 hours. It was fine, but not fun. ;) We listened to lots of stories. :001_smile:

[specialmama]

Two summers ago I drove 3,290 km (2,050 miles) across the country with my special needs child who opens car doors while the vehicle is in motion and throws things out of the window, my dd and a dog. It took 5 days and 4 nights in hotels. Being the only adult, I had to ensure I was well rested or we all would have died.

[Guest]

Well, not five hours in the air (three), but with layovers, it was well over that.

[Maus]

Yes, though since the youngest was born, the longest drive I've done with them was four and 1/2 hours.

 

The oldest two have always been great travelers, as long as they aren't seated right next to each other, so I took them up to Oregon once or twice a year to visit my mom. DH gets restless and bored when we visit there, so it's more fun without him. (It's not her company; it's her small hometown. He's a city boy, through and through!)

[HollyM]

Oh yes. One with a 1.5 year old, 2 dogs and 2 cats. :eek: Later with a 9 year old and 3 cats :blink: and various other trips with just me and the boy :001_smile:

[bluemongoose]

yep, but they were not my kids. I was the nanny. voted other.

[Laura Corin]

I used to bring the boys from Hong Kong to the UK to see my parents most years on my own.

 

Laura

[Marie in Oh]

yes all 7 of them. We are getting ready to return in two weeks- without dh. I have also traveled from Northern CA to Southern CA by myself with then 4 kids, and took five when we moved from CA to OH on a plane, though we did pick up my mom in Phoenix, but since they didn't know her very well at the time, it wasn't much help. It must be the military wife in me, but it is just part of the deal. I am sure Mrs. Mungo and Battlemaiden, AF Wife Claire and others know what I am talking about. I am not saying necessarily that it was fun to fly abroad alone, but when it must be done, you sort of rise to the occasion.

[TravelingChris]

No, for the car ride. Yes, for the plane trips. But I never did them with infants. My first was coming back to NM from DC after our six week trip in August/September 2001. The kids were nearly 5, 8, and 11. The older two were/are ADHD. Then these last two years, I have traveled with either both younger ones (respectively 16 or 17 and younger 13 or 14) again alone a few times. I incorrectly marked the poll since I should have said more than once.

[Pretty in Pink]

I flew home from Germany by myself with my then 2yo son. I also drove 18 hours each way with him, alone, when he was nearly 4yo. I've done many 10 hour car trips with the whole gang in tow, minus my dh, once when I was quite pregnant (~7 months).

 

My dh had to leave (work emergency) halfway through an Orlando vacation once (we had three boys at the time and I was 6+ months pregnant with no. 4). It was late May. It was HOT! Oh, and my dh's grandmother was with us (which is not as helpful as it sounds...it just meant that I had one more person to concern myself with). I stayed behind with the kids and finished out the vacation.

[TheReader]

Once, the boys and I returned to the US a week ahead of DH so we could have extra time with my dad while dh had to keep working. That involved a 10 hour international flight, overnight, then a layover of about 2 hours after we got through customs and immigration, then a short maybe 2 hour flight from Houston to St. Louis. Then we spent a week at Dad's before DH arrived.

 

this was about 2 years ago, so the boys would have been 11, 8 and 4.

 

The worst part was getting up to go to the bathroom while the boys were all asleep in our seats on the plane. I know it's a fairly controlled area, and they had no one sitting next to them at all, but it was a bit nerve wracking, leaving them there while I went to the bathroom, wondering if the little one would wake up and be scared, etc.

 

Oh, and convincing the gate agent that we'd prefer the seats we chose rather than moving my 2 older boys to a row that was 4 rows in front of me "so they'd have more space." He was trying to be nice, but he got kind of mad when I requested he not change them. That was for the international flight and I just could not imagine them so far away; even at 11 and 8, they'd have been very nervous to be so far in front of me.

[T'smom]

Not quite. I frequently take the kids to see my parents which takes a 3 hour car ride to the airport, a little over an hour in the air and then 3 hours to their house. I really try to plan them for times that dh can drive us to the airport- but that doesn't always work. However, someone always picks us up at the airport on the other end, so I'm not alone the whole time!

[TXMomof4]

yes all 7 of them. We are getting ready to return in two weeks- without dh. I have also traveled from Northern CA to Southern CA by myself with then 4 kids, and took five when we moved from CA to OH on a plane, though we did pick up my mom in Phoenix, but since they didn't know her very well at the time, it wasn't much help. It must be the military wife in me, but it is just part of the deal. I am sure Mrs. Mungo and Battlemaiden, AF Wife Claire and others know what I am talking about. I am not saying necessarily that it was fun to fly abroad alone, but when it must be done, you sort of rise to the occasion.

 

When dh was deployed I went to Germany with my 4. They were 9,8,5, and 2. We've driven all over the US. The kids and I travel better alone honestly. I love trips with dh, but he is much more high strung about travel than I am.

[TKDmom]

I've driven to Grandma's house (600 miles away) a few times without dh. The hardest trip was about a year and a half ago. Youngest dd was a nursing baby. We had to stop all the time for me to nurse her. The only real difficulty was working out the logistics of potty breaks when I had an 8yo, 6 and 4yo boys (who wouldn't go in the women's bathroom) and a baby who had to be in someone's arms the whole time.

[Mynyel]

Yup! Been to Cali four times with the kids (twice with the first two and twice after the last was born).

 

Been to Indiana once with all three. I know it is only 8 hours but took 9 after stops. Still not ten :tongue_smilie:but close enough! :)

[Matryoshka]

The other poll and reactions there made me curious.

 

For the purpose of this poll, "long trip" is defined as a car ride that lasts more than 10 hours or a plane ride in which you spend greater than five hours in the air.

 

I took my kids, when they the twins had just turned 9 and the younger was 6, on a 5-week trip to Germany by myself.

 

This included plane trips to Germany and back (including changing planes in Iceland in the middle of the night), a 10-hour car ride from northern Germany to Switzerland, and a week taking trains and climbing mountains in Switzerland, although for that one week I was with another adult (my cousin).

 

I've got a bug in my bonnet to take them to Guatemala for 4 weeks next summer, but have no idea if that will actually come to pass. :tongue_smilie:

[mommaduck]

Not with all my kids. When I was pregnant with #7, I left #1-#5 with a friend, took #6 with me and we took the train down to SC to visit family. That was rough! Stroller, bags, a 1yr old, and pregnant. Going to meet people that we had never seen before except two of them (one I hadn't seen since I was 2yrs old and the other I had seen because he had come visited me several times that summer).

[Wheres Toto]

I put other because I have with my oldest. We went to Florida when she was 9 (and almost hit another plane while landing - very stressful).

 

I've done car trips to Virginia (about 7 hours) and Hershey Pennsylvania (about 5 hours) alone with her as well but nothing more than 3 1/2 hours alone with my younger guys.

[Murmer]

Someone asked why...for me it is easier to drive over 4 days to go cross country than it is to fly because my dd has special needs...in the car she is harnessed the ENTIRE time I only let her out long enough for a pee stop and then harnessed again...no playing no stopping just driving = no complaining...with flying there is the 2 hour+ drive to the airport then the waiting in line to check bags...the waiting in line for security (which I also have issues with) then the waiting for the airplane during which time I have to keep an eye on my things and 2 busy children...the actual flight isn't to bad because again she is harnessed the ENTIRE time. but then there is getting everything off the flight and switching flights which is more waiting (waiting is bad for my dd) then another flight then getting off and waiting for our bags then another drive from airport to destination hour+ depending on where were we flew...way too much go and then stop would drive my dd crazy and in turn I would go nuts...I prefer driving so if we want to go see new babies or grandma or pretty much anyone we drive 20+ hours.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

The other poll and reactions there made me curious.

 

For the purpose of this poll, "long trip" is defined as a car ride that lasts more than 10 hours or a plane ride in which you spend greater than five hours in the air.

 

Long single day drives, multi-day multi-state drives, international air travel (at least five trips that meet your criteria, including one 13 hour flight), several bus tours that lasted all day (of course this had stops every couple of hours).

[Ferdie]

We have done TX to CA road trip twice. First time we stopped at a children's museum in NM and hiked Sedona, AZ. Second trip we stopped at Mt. Zion for a day and Bryce Canyon for a day. On the way home we went through Carlbad Cavern, (stayed to see the bats come out at night- so cool).

 

We have a portable car DVD and my children are allowed to bring their hand held electronics. We also listen to books on tape, (our favorite so far was Inkheart).

 

My dh worries when we drive long distance without him, but most our relatives live in CA so we try to go back frequently.

 

I love road trips.

[Sukale]

Yes, I travel from the bottom of SC to the top of WV a few times a year without my husband. We moved to SC before the youngest was born. I have traveled with the girls many times back to WV.

[CourtneyBrooke]

The only thing I've ever done is fly from the east coast to the west coast with a 9 yr old and an infant... easy peasy.

 

I would absolutely love to take a road trip with my kids- even have destinations already picked out. What's stopping me is the cost. 5 plane tickets are out of the question. Gas is nearly $4/gallon, plus hotel and food costs. It adds up quickly :(

[eternalknot]

I do it all of the time. I work for an airline, get flight benefits, and regularly make last-minute plans to travel; oftentimes, no other adult is free to join me because they all have "normal" jobs or other obligations. This is one of the top reasons we homeschool ... so the kids and I can take these impromptu trips when a fancy strikes.

 

My husband and brother did two years overseas together. During those two years I flew all of our kids (there were 6 at the time, plus I got pregnant the second year) over there every third month for a visit. Half of the time I had to do it myself. It wasn't a cakewalk, but it wasn't a disaster either. It's an experience for sure, flying space available specially, but it's no different than being home with them alone all day long IME.

 

In November I'm planning a trip with my two kids, my three nephews, and the older three are bringing friends, to Costa Rica. I'm flying all but one friend there myself, and the other friend and his parent are meeting us there a few days later.

[Alveraz]

I guess it's no big deal to many around here, they can always give their kids Benadryl to make the trip easier. :D

 

Sorry, I just had to do it.

[jjins]

First off being military wife, I have done a lot of thing without my husband. We are VERY grateful for the time we are together. That said, one summer our house (in Missouri) was for sale, we had a 5 yr old and 6 1/2, as well as two indoor Shelties (read barks are strangers).

 

We could not start ANYTHING because as soon as we started doing something I would get the call "can we come see your home, we are in the neighborhood and will be done with this house in 15 minutes?" One day we were making pizza from scratch and had the dough out with sauce on it, toppings all over the counter, the bowls from the dough... oh and the rest of the house. Told them give me 20, did a quick clean... put pizzas in fridge, grabbed kids and dogs and went out.

 

After 3 visits in one week, told my husband, "have to get out of here, take the kids and dogs, leave you the house, bird and cat." I left with a van full of stuff, two children, two dogs, and the only real plan I had was heading west to California, only stopping and dog friendly, young child friendly places and having a good time. We spent about 2 weeks getting to CA, saw lots in Colorado and Utah, where we have friends, learned that Drury Inn is the BEST dog, kid and adult friendly hotel. Seriously, they have popcorn and fountain drinks, they run happy hour with two free drinks and "snacks" (baked potatoes, hotdogs, chili, chips, salsa, salad, carrot and celery sticks), indoor outdoor pool, hottub... NICE!~

 

We were gone for six weeks. Yes, we saw adults along the way. In CA we spent some time with family and then traveled to see friends we normally do not get to see. Came home over 2 days. Moved three days later. BEST way to have the house on the market is not be there. However, this trip scared me. I was very worried about being THE ONLY adult. It went great, the children knew they had my nearly undivided attention, we had only two issues the whole six weeks. I believe they understood the need to cooperate. I also believe it helped that we had already spent a year homeschooling.

 

I often wish we had a reason to just take off again, because it was so easy and carefree, take hubby and run away from the rest of life for several weeks.

[bairnmama]

When dh was deployed I went to Germany with my 4. They were 9,8,5, and 2. We've driven all over the US. The kids and I travel better alone honestly. I love trips with dh, but he is much more high strung about travel than I am.

 

 

We travel MUCH better without others, too! Xdh was always in a rush about getting where he was going - traveling from NC to MS with only stopping for gas & food when the kids were 4 & 1... no stop lasted longer than 20 min.:glare: I like to take my time and even stop to see what we can see sometimes. I pack snacks, games, books, quiet toys, etc. They don't get to watch anything since we don't own a portable DVD, but we listen to tons of books on tape and they have Leapsters and a DS.

[Lolly]

Definitely. I actually prefer to travel without dh. He complicates things. The longest trip we've done has been NE TN to the Pacific and back. We took a month to do it. Wonderful trip! The kids were 8, 10, 10, and 12 at the time.

 

Second longest was NE TN to Naples, FL when they were 3,5, and 7. We were gone 3 weeks on that one. We went down in a day with no reservations anywhere. Were able to get a room for 6 days in Naples and took our time going home up the coast.

 

I have a habit of waking the kids up super early and telling them to pack that we are leaving.:D This habit has had to be adjusted a bit as they have gotten older and have commitments.:tongue_smilie:

[Rosie_0801]

I would absolutely love to take a road trip with my kids- even have destinations already picked out. What's stopping me is the cost. 5 plane tickets are out of the question. Gas is nearly $4/gallon, plus hotel and food costs. It adds up quickly :(

 

You needn't stay in hotels. If your elders can chase your youngest while you pitch a tent, accommodation costs will be much lower.

 

Go on, do it! (If I can't, someone else should!)

 

:)

Rosie

[Carrie12345]

I haven't been on a long trip in ages, period, with/without anyone!

 

I don't drive long distance, so that's out.

I could easily fly and hang out with my 3 oldest. There are other combinations of the 5 that I think I could handle solo, but not all of them.

 

Just heading out to do errands or activities with all of them wipes me out for the rest of the day!

[MamaT]

I have done it a couple of times. The worst was an 11 hour trip with 3 in car seats. We had a 15 passenger van and I put an older and a car seat on three rows. I waited until they were older to do it again.

[Isabella]

Yes, and it was so much fun! We only did it once, but would have loved to have the opportunity to have done it more regularly. We only went to see my sister, (& the girls cousins who are their ages) who lived 12 hrs car ride away at the time. It was much more relaxing than it would have been with Dh as well. My girls were 7, 6 & 4 yrs old.

 

The 3 girls took turns in the front, and for our planned hourly stops, the front kid would choose a nice place to stop, whether playground, bush area, by a river, etc, etc. At each hours stop they could choose a snack, and explore/play for 10 minutes. Then back in the car & swap positions in the car!

 

Just thinking about it makes we want to do it again. Might be a little different now that the girls are 18, 17, and 15! Maybe will have to save it for roadtrips with grandkids!! FUN!:001_smile: