With all of today’s technology we can easily make it through a seven-hour family road trip without complete meltdowns from hot and tired kids in the back. In our air conditioned cars we now are hooked up to ipods, DVD players, cell phones and video games, making our ride go much more smoothly and seemingly faster (that is until our batteries start running low or…disaster...completely run out) But the trade-off is: we’re not communicating!

Remember when we were kids and our family road trips consisted of songs, road sign games, playing G-H-O-S-T, 20 questions, spotting license plates, telling stories and tidbits of family lore, not breathing as we passed cemeteries, sibling squabbles, sticky seats and yes…even a little boredom. And without that GPS system our parents debated directions and missed exits, while thumbing through the road atlas. But today, instead of piling in the car together and enjoying one another’s company, we become instantly absorbed in everything but each other. Lisa Segelman’s recent Newsweek article “The Family Road Trip: Strangers in a Minivan” completely resonated with the trends I am seeing in my own life as well as within the Mom space as she describes the ways that technology has thoroughly changed her family’s road trips and thus family relations on vacation.

Because we are so connected to the world at the push of a button, we can take our work, emails, text messaging, phone calls, music and books on tape into the car on our laptops and cell phones and ipods, and virtually forget that we are even on vacation with our family. In my family, my daughter’s friends join the ride via cell phone chat and texting, while we have to periodically check on our son lost within the alternative reality of his video games and ipod music.  

And so it seems our memories of family road trips are simply driving off into the sunset.

For kids who are reluctant to trade their electronic playground for family time, create trip rules that allow time in the car for both family bonding and individual entertainment (and you can always turn those accrued game points into your kids’ spending money on the trip!)  And challenge your kids in the games and story telling we so loved as the family hit the road.

Start with the alphabet game where everyone has to share what they are bringing on vacation, with the rule that ”A” cannot be I am bringing my Apple ipod or iphone!, “B” is batteries for my electronic games, “C” is cell phone,  “D” is DVDs, “E” is ear buds for the MP3 player, “F” is friends cell phone numbers, “G’ is Gameboy, and so on down the technology cocoon of family retreat!

Image: Getty Images

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