We’re now about two weeks into our four week road trip and I can honestly say that it’s going amazingly. We’ve had so many different experiences just in a matter of 10 days. We’re also in our sixth city. Our current stops include Charlotte, Durham, Fairfax, Baltimore, Washington DC, and now Philadelphia. We sort of backtracked on the last two, but fortunately they’re not that far apart.

The longest we’ve spent in one place was five days (Durham) and the shortest stay was DC (just a day trip to the National Museum of African American History and Culture). We also ended up seeing the Washington monument and the White House while we were there. It’s been a busy trip thus far, but also, we’ve managed to pace ourselves. For our first night in Philly, we ate out at a restaurant a few blocks from the Airbnb, and then after watching a few episodes of Blackish (our new family ritual), called it an early night. It helped because we spent the full day today sightseeing across the Independence Mall, Franklin Institute, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Throughout our journey, we’ve relied on a few tried and true tricks to keep our family machine running smoothly. Here’s what I’m learning thus far about managing our time and our emotional wellbeing…

Limit time on the road

This has been a big one for us. The longest distance we’ve driven in any one day has been about 4 hours, the day we drove from Durham to Fairfax, Virginia. It has maintained our sanity and allowed us to get some space from one another.

Mixing up where we stay and how long we stay there

Connected to our travel cadence, is our decision to make nearly every stop a destination. For two of our six destinations thus far, we’ve stayed with friends. This has provided a tremendous opportunity for the girls to hang out with their play cousins, and for Samantha and I to catch up with good friends over late night chats. In fact, on one stop we found ourselves chatting until 4am the next morning. We’ve made memories all over the southeast just because of the warm hospitality of loved ones. And, nice bonus, it saves us money, On our other stops, we’ve stayed in Airbnbs where for us comfort and space have been our key criteria.

Making time for both play and rest

We’ve visited our share of museums along the way, and as a concession to the girls, also had our share of bounce parks, shopping, and other kid’s activities. Just today, after spending the morning visiting the liberty bell at Independence Hall (which the littles complained about considerably), we then spent almost four hours at the Franklin Institute where they didn’t want to leave. Back when we were in Virginia, my buddy and I were able to escape to his home movie theater and screen two movies (Air and Creed 3), meanwhile the kids entertained themselves with the various amusement park elements at his house. There was something for everyone. Ample time for play, and when it came time, rest.

Another must have for us has been individual downtime for everyone. When your traveling together for this long, personal space comes at a premium. So for my wife and I, that has meant each of us trading off with the girls in the early morning while she goes for a walk or meditates, or while I sit outside to read or write. Each of the girls has an iPad for those bewitching early afternoon hours when we’re in between activities and everyone needs a quick break from each other. They also come in handy for the second half of a driving day, after our road trip son playlist has worn off and I just want some peace and quiet.

As we head into the next phase of our trip I’m so thankful for the experiences we’ve had thus far along the way and I’m looking forward to what is to come.

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