Traveling with Pre-Teen Girls

It is my joy to travel. I love to get in my little car and go. It is getting 35 miles to the gallon of gas, so it isn't too bad on gas. We try to go places often. You know the trips, Grandma's house, friends in various parts of the country, visits to Renaissance Festivals, stuff like that. I especially like taking my two daughters with me, just the three of us; we call it our girl's trips. No boys around to ruin our fun and we do all girlie things, like shopping and scrapbooking. We have a great time. But traveling with girls has a whole different set of rules. Especially when you are a "single" parent traveling rules are really important. There are a lot of things to be thinking of, the least of which is how to keep two pre-teen girls entertained for hours in the car.

Safety is a big issue with us. There are certain rules that we set up before we even leave the house. The girls go no where alone with out me. If I have to leave them in a hotel room alone, when I am unloading the car, we have code words so they know it is me when I ask them to remove the dead bolt on the door. They also have to be in my direct line of site when we are traveling. When we stop at someplace to look around or go shopping it is ok to look around, but if mom looks up she better be able to see you. This applies when not traveling also. My girls are starting to become young ladies and are more independent, but I stress to them that we need to be careful while traveling, or at any time keep personal safety in mind. The girls and I have also gone over what to do if someone would try to approach them. We don't want to scare our pre-teen girls, but all children need to be aware of the possibilities in the world that we live in.

Another big issue is boredom. We love to travel and go to visit family and friends, but this often leads to many hours in the car. Apparently a pre-teen girl can only play the gameboy for so long or listen to the tunes on their IPod so many times. So we find different things to do while traveling. My girls both have backpacks, but they are different than night and day what they put in them. One has art supplies and books, while the other daughter has makeup and girly things. It keeps them occupied some of the time, but there are still chorus' of "I'm bored" coming from the passenger and back seats. If it is just the girls and I we stop at places that we like. Places that would be passed by if there were males around. Places like malls and scrapbook stores, and picturesque little towns are great places for pre-teen girls, actually any age girl, to stop. We take pictures at welcome centers and collect maps of different states to take home and catalog our journey. We make it an adventure. If we see something we would like to take a picture of, we take the exit and find a good spot and take a picture. It is a lot of fun and breaks the monotony of long boring rides.

This is also a great time to talk to your pre-teen girls or children of any age. You have a captured audience so to say. They do also. It may be a great time to approach subjects that you have been wanting to talk to your children about, or just talk to them about nothing at all. They enjoy talking to their parents, honest. Doing it on the road without the distractions of home life may be a great opportunity to have your children, especially those hard pre-teen and teen years, to open up to you and form a bond.

Where to stay is always fun. Being a single mom while traveling where to stay is a big one. We like to stay at hotels with pools. The quality of the pool is key here to us when we pick a hotel. We, my pre-teen girls and I, rate hotels on things, and their pool is one very key part. We usually travel in the colder months so an indoor pool is a plus. We also prefer hotels that offer free breakfast. We find this cuts down on our travel costs. A continental breakfastat the hotel is much less expensive than breakfast for three at a fast food chain. Another point here is that they often offer much more nutritional fare also. I think I would rather my pre-teen girls have yogurt, waffles, fruit and or cereal than what is served up greasy and fried at some of the other stops.

The girls and I also have Rewards Cards from Choice Hotels and Best Western Chains. This is a great added benefit for us. We know from past experiences that these hotels fit with our security and safety issues, often have indoor pools and continental breakfast. They often run promotional that helps our points add up and we get free stays at hotels on future trips. They also ask our opinions on our stays and send out surveys for us to give feed back from our stay and seem genuinely concerned about any problems if they arise.

How could I write an article about traveling with pre-teen girls without mentioning food? A kid's life often revolves around food. I was blessed with kids that are not picky eaters, but on the road that can change. A child that may eat anything at home is all the sudden looking for a comfort food. I think this is important. If a child wants that familiar taste of a McDonalds French fry and that fits in your budget, by all means go for it. Keep in mind that this is their time. It is a great time though to try out new foods and new restaurants. There are many chains that are only in certain areas of the country that you may want to try, but there is also great Mom and Pop places. Your pre-teen girl can find something on the menu in either of these kinds of places that she will enjoy eating. In truth any kid can find something that they will enjoy. I have found that if I order something new and interesting and they order a stand by of Macaroni and Cheese that often times they will be eating more off of my plate than their own. Encourage them to try new food, but give them the opportunity to have old favorites also.

Traveling with kids can be a challenge. Traveling with young girls, fast approaching the teen years can be very challenging. Make it an adventure. Have fun. Remember that they are growing up so fast that now is your time to make memories that will stay with them forever. My girls and I make scrapbook pages every night so that we have something to look back on. This is giving memories to hold on to, for both parent and child. Make them last, but most of all enjoy your kids.