9 Tips for Planning a Last-Minute Spring Break Trip 🚙

plus some cool pictures from our family's journeys 😁

Mar 11, 2023

Spring Break—and general stir-craziness from the winter—is here, but traveling can seem overwhelming to plan, plus pricey, over-crowded, frustrating to pack/unpack, etc. Can I challenge that and give you some tips for a peaceful, intentional time? I’m convinced that adventuring together is like superglue, and even a day trip can pack a punch for family bonding and broadening perspectives. Travel humbles you…even if it’s only an hour away from where you live.1

Plus, it’s almost spring! It’s so enchanting to go somewhere with different flowering trees, budding plants, and swaths of green on pastures and ridges.

Sending hugs if you don’t have the resources, health, or availability to explore somewhere this spring. Some seasons are like that ❤️ Life—and its interruptions—are an adventure, too, don’t forget!

But if you are able to get out for a bit this spring, here are some tips.

1. Establish your goals and expectations for this little trip.

If you’re like me, “Relaxing” isn’t a realistic goal because so many small people need you no matter where you are 😉

But “Refreshing”? That could happen. Some others: Resetting. Casting vision. Becoming childlike again for a few hours or days. Enriching our kids’ education (and mine.) Encouraging loved ones. Bonding. Be humbled by epic sights. Be humbled by seeing how other people live.

If your main goal for the trip is something that, it’s okay if you get stuck in traffic or rain. Because you can bond as a family and your mind and spirit can be refreshed even if everything doesn’t go according to plan.

2. Go somewhere uncrowded.

I grew up an hour from Orlando, FL, so I’m familiar with the ups and downs of tourism. Magical Disney moments happen, for sure, but in busy season? Overstimulated children and bitterly empty-pocketed parents are way more common! People are wonderful, but crowds are stressful. Our own kids found much more enjoyment overall by running around at the Disney resort playgrounds and grassy areas (which are free to visit) than at the parks themselves.

Kids don’t need as much “entertainment” as we think they do, you know? Last year I shared a post about how our family had an incredible week of a road trip without spending a single dollar on “attractions!”

If you find a fun place to run around, a beautiful walk in nature, and some yummy food, you’ve hit the trifecta. What else do you need from a destination?

The Pier at St. Pete, Florida (there’s also an amazing playground)

3. Live like a local.

Google Maps is your best friend when learning an area. Search things like “playground,” “natural playscape,” “overlook,” and “hidden gem.” They even search through the words in reviews for each location, so if you type a specific menu item like “pastrami” or a detail like “easy family hike,” you’ll see places pop up where someone has mentioned those very things in the reviews.

Don’t go to places strictly based on popularity. Shopping malls might have thousands of reviews on Google Maps, yet the breathtaking waterfall two miles away might have less than fifty. It takes a bit of time—and the willingness to say “That was a bust. Oh well.” But when you find an awesome place—like the ghost town of Ironton, Colorado, which only has sixteen reviews—it’s so rewarding.

One of the many abandoned buildings we explored in the ghost town of Ironton, CO!

Ask locals what they like best. Ask your gas station clerk or coffee shop barista, “what are your favorite non-touristy spots?” We’ve discovered some awesome things this way (and locals seem to enjoy answering that question.)
For a certifiably magical evening, be intentional about where to catch the sunset. Google “best sunset views in ____.” Give yourself plenty of time to enjoy the whole golden hour before it, too.
view from the Walnut Street Bridge in Chattanooga, TN
Find a good thrift shop for souvenirs! Chances are you’ll score a more worthwhile memento than a gift shop keychain. (Thrifting is also a smart move if you’re somewhere seasonally different than your home and need warmer/cooler clothes!)
Pinterest is actually a great place to research trips. Small Mommy-blogs written by locals are likely to have good insight and years of experience. Search “Free things to do with kids in _____” and you might be surprised. For example, in Greenville, SC, one of the highlights is looking for all the little mice statues along Main Street!

4. If you have a pass to a local museum, see if it has any reciprocal benefits.

For example, let’s say you live in the Tampa area and you have a family pass to the Great Explorations Children’s Museum. That pass gives you ACM benefits (50% off at over 160 museums) and ASTC benefits (free admission to over 350 participating museums) as well as my favorite reciprocal network: NARM. Here are all the Florida museums you can visit if you have a pass in the NARM network. (All the above reciprocal programs are nation-wide; I just used Florida as an example.)

You’ll want to call ahead and make sure they’re still accepting reciprocal memberships, of course. If you go, make sure you leave a review to help out that museum! Your foot traffic, participation, and good reviews validate the funding that the museum gets from donors and the government. Plus, invite your kids to save up some souvenir money for museum gift shops, as they usually have well-curated items that you won’t hate to have at home, and they’re often tax-free!

The High Museum of Art in Atlanta, GA is in the NARM reciprocal membership

5. Leave room in your itinerary to wander.

Some of the best places we’ve found have been because we just pulled over when something looked interesting. It’s good to have ideas of where to go, but sometimes your best moments are in the quiet places where every member of your family activates that “exploration” part of themselves that might’ve been hidden away. It keeps you young.

a random area we found near St. Augustine

6. Make a criticism truce.

A friend told me that every attempt at a family vacation in his childhood was ruined by his parents’ arguing. That was his biggest memory from each trip. It’s just not worth it. New situations can bring up new stress (and underlying disagreements) but now is not the time to deal with them.

Now is a time for setting an example of gratitude, positivity, and peacemaking. Make a truce with your spouse beforehand that no criticisms need to be made—even if someone made a mistake while planning or a wrong turn while driving—and ask yourselves what will really matter 20 years from now when your kids are grown. How would they describe the memories of this trip to someone else? What’s going to stick with them?

7. Bring some normalcy with you.

Pick a couple routines that your family is used to and bring them with you on your trip. Stories before bed, a sound machine, morning devotions…everyday things in a new location are more prized than usual, and they help children (and adults) who struggle with change to sense a little more stability.

This portable game is called Hive Pocket and it’s like chess!

8. Adjust the rules for screens and snacks.

Audiobooks are great, but…screens are a nice reprieve in a long drive. I like to do twenty minutes on, twenty minutes off, then some bigger spurts of each. (Our favorite games are Sago Mini World for 2+, Toca Life World for 4+, and Sneaky Sasquatch2 for 6+.)

The same goes for snacks. We’re not big on processed foods, but having Easy Mac, Clif Bars, microwaveable rice and quinoa, and instant oatmeal packs on hand saves a ton of money instead of eating out.

Do kids’ behaviors change when they eat poorly and become screen zombies? Yes. But can those modern conveniences be super helpful? Also yes 😅

But I recommend keeping screens away when you are enjoying time together. Board games in a new environment just hit different!

9. Go with another family!

Vacation rentals like AirBnb are infamous for stacking on extra rates and exorbitant cleaning fees, but if you’re staying at least two nights and you’re able to split the total cost with someone else…

Last week we traveled with a loved one and split a 2-bedroom, 2 bathroom Airbnb in Covington, KY, which was walkable to tons of parks and restaurants as well as Downtown Cincinnati! (Yes, we walked to Ohio from our Airbnb 😉) It had a fire pit, full kitchen, etc. and it was lovely. Total cost for two nights? $387.02. Split between two families, that would come out to $97 a night. Good luck finding a decent hotel for that!

Aside from money savings, people make life rich, and few things can bond friendships like adventuring together!

Hopefully this helps as you think about travel for spring, summer, and beyond. You don’t have to feel bad about spending some money on a road trip, because you’re supporting a local economy and investing in your family. But the average family spends over $4000 on a Disney vacation…you can certainly have a great trip without spending even spending $400 (or $40 for a day trip.) Define your goals before the trip and let them guide you.

Let me know where you go this spring! 🚙

Warmly,

Hope from Family Scripts

Some readers live in very rural places, so I acknowledge that you might have trouble finding “different-ness” within a very short drive.

Shoutout to Amanda Clark for recommending this game on The Splendid Mess! Such an unexpectedly gentle and delightful game ☺️