We’ve been doing some travel lately and mostly in the car. ‘Tis the season for holiday travel! In the past month, we’ve gone to Galena for Halloween and Saugatuck, Michigan. Although not far from Chicago, just enough to have learned a few things while traveling with two kids. A few things to bring for the adults and the kids. Here are a few of our favorite road trip necessities!

This post in sponsored by Lamontagne Chocolate, but all opinions expressed are my own.

Tip 1

Road Trip Snacks!

This is the most obvious one, but SNACKS. I don’t know if any other mom feels this way, but I refer to myself as the Snack Queen. I am the keeper of my kids snacks!

Not only do I mean just snacks for the kids too. Us adults have to have some goodies too right?! When Lamontagne Chocolate reached out about a partnership, I did some research and had to try them out first. And now I’m in love! They are a family owned and operated business since 1978 out of Canada. These chocolate snacks are made in small batches for the past 40 years, Kosher, gluten-free and peanut free.

One great plus is they have so many different kinds. My top three favorite are pistachio, white chocolate pumpkin spice, and caffe latte almonds. They are BEYOND addicting. Which makes them the perfect snack. My son’s favorite was the sea salt dark chocolate.

Lamontagne Chocolate now they have to-go packs available on Amazon so you can throw them in your purse or diaper bag. They are available for purchase via Amazon between the months of October and April. They come in a case of 12 for around $24. So grab those snacks and get ready for all your holiday travel.

Use code 10CHRISTINE on Amazon for 10% off your chocolates!

Tip 2

Portion out snacks ahead of time

I learned this the hard way. On one of our first road trips, I just bought the regular size bags of snacks, thinking they’d just eat a handful at a time. During the trip, this idea was a total mess. I learned quickly that I needed to portion out everyone’s snacks ahead of time. Whether in ziplock bags or small containers (which is another reason why this chocolate is helpful in the car!) they’d get 1 or 2 every hour or so. You could also bring small cups and scoop out snacks that way too! This way, they could see how much they had and get to choose what they wanted to eat first.

I also try not to bring any messy snacks like peanut butter and jelly. Easy ones like pretzels, gold fish, graham crackers, etc.

Tip 3

Entertainment

There a lots of ways to entertain toddlers but here are my go to’s:

• Take a big trip to the dollar store! I fill a bag with lots of toys, stickers and gadgets. They can get a few at a time, just not all at once. If I do that, then the joy is all gone. Ha!
• Print out extra maps to color and “pretend” to show where we are at
• Since our car doesn’t have WiFi, we download the PBS games app. It’s educational and our son loves it. We use this holder to keep it in place and these headphones that we’ve had for awhile now.
• And some of the games like “what do you see” always help the time go by!

Tip 4

Location, location, location

Now for the location of all the snacks, games and everything else you might need. Having them accessible and nearby is crucial. Instead of having to scramble to look for them or even pulling over, keep them in a close. I keep it all in the diaper bag in front with me, so I can easily hand it back to them. I end up with very little room, but worth not having to scramble for anything they want.

Tip 5

Extras

Here are some of the extra things I pack:

• Extra clothes, diapers, snacks and bottles
• Soap– Just in case of any baby accidents all over their onesies. These travel ones are easy to keep in the diaper bag.
• Bags- to throw in any dirty laundry. I actually like these bags to mask any smell!

So that’s it! I’d love to hear some of your favorite road trip essentials, especially the snacks you love! You can follow me now at TheChicagoGoodLife on Instagram.

Until next time,

Christine