Years ago, my family took a Christmas vacation to see our relatives in New York. We all packed into the family cruiser, a 1970 Ford LTD Country Squire Wagon, 

and began the fateful journey from Florida to see our northerly kin. It was scene directly reminiscent of the Chevy Chase movie Christmas Vacation. We didn’t make it to the Florida line before we were already under my mother and father’s skin like a bad rash. However, my mother planned ahead for the occasion and pulled out Road-Bingo cards and gave them to my sister and me. We played road bingo for hours without annoying my mother or father. Each time we would get rowdy or bored, my mother would pull out a new travel game to occupy our time. We all made it to New York with the family relationship still intact.

Auto manufactures recognized the market for the family traveler and have adopted many features into their vehicles to make them more attractive to families. Take, for example, the Dodge Grand Caravan. The base model is your typical mini van with captains chairs and bench seats in the rear seating up to 7 people and the family pets. You can also get it equipped with DVD players, drop down LCD screens and individual radios. Some models actually convert a portion of the rear seating to a card playing table with swivel seats. The kids can watch a movie, play video games or enjoy a game of “Go Fish” on a card table and never bother the parents the whole trip. I’m not trying to sell the Grand Caravan. Other manufactures also have similar vans with similar features.

You don’t have to buy a van with all the built in devices to keep your children entertained during travel. Most electronic stores carry portable DVD players for less than $100 that have 2 - 3 hour batteries and a 12 volt adapter that can plug into any vehicular power outlet. Handheld video games, electronic tablets, iPods and other devices are also very popular and fairly inexpensive. Additionally, they come with headphones so mom and dad don’t have to listen to the game play. 

There is help for you if you’re a purist and insist on the pain and agony that accompany family travel. Websites like Disney’s Family Fun give multiple travel games family’s can enjoy while on the road. Whether it’s electronics or good-old-fashion travel games, keep the kids entertained on those long drives and your vacation will be much happier.