Don't Waste Your Drive
Yesterday morning (shortly after posting my John Owen post, as it happens) we bundled the family into the car and began to drive south. Far south. We are on our way to Atlanta to spend some time with my family. Yesterday we made it from Toronto all the way to almost the border between Kentucky and Tennessee. I’m writing today from a hotel that I believe is in a town called Corbin or something like that. I must have had a little too much Coke yesterday (I’m not a coffee drinker so Coke gives me my caffeine for the highway) because I didn’t sleep very well and then woke up early. I thought I’d get some writing done while the family catches up on lost sleep.
As I lay in bed last night I was thinking about how long this drive is (16 hours each way, or so) and how easy it would be to waste that entire 16 hours. I determined before we left that I was going to try to take advantage of the time and to that end packed some good audio books—Max McLean’s recording of The Pilgrim’s Progress and an audio version of Desiring God. Aileen the supermom packed a great bag of goodies for the kids—coloring books and stories, stickers and stamps, and nearly everything else a kid could want to use up some of the long hours. The kids haven’t quite yet caught onto the joy of traveling games—counting out of state plates, etc. But they had a good time with their treat bags and with a couple of DVDs as well. I didn’t listen to as much as the audio books as I might have liked, but did make some progress through The Pilgrim’s Progress since I thought the children would be more likely to enjoy that than Desiring God.
I’m determined that we’ll make the most of these two drives and thought I would ask you what you do to keep from wasting your drives. Every family, I think, sooner or later does a ridiculously long drive. If you’ve done that, why not share what you do to redeem some of that time. I’d be eager to learn.
Comments (42) »
1. Jennifer Partin
December 21, 2007
7:55 AM
Hi Tim, We are a family with lots of young aged children. One really edifying way we spend the time is by challenging ourselves to memorizing an entire book of the Bible. We started with one of the epistles. My 11 and 7 year old have completed the challenge and my 5 year old can recite a chapter. What makes the time spent different from our normal scripture memorization is the more focused and intense time we spend on memorizing during long trips. (we normally work on a passage a week at home) There is a special “prize” given to the ones who are able to complete the task. We just do a simple say and repeat——it’s amazing what they are able to memorize. Another thing we do on long trips is to work on our nature journals. The drive provides much scenery to observe and take notice of. The children usually see many things we do not see in our local area. The artwork is drawn with watercolor pencils and once we reach our destination we make a trip to either the library or local bookstore to read more on what they have seen. It is also a record, of sorts, that recall special memories of time spent together. Hope this provides a couple of ideas to incorporate in the future Challies road trips!
2. maryanne helms
December 21, 2007
8:09 AM
Tim-
One edifying thing we have found to do is watch entire DVD marathons of the Bratz doll movies. They are really good, and teach your little ones- the girls especially- how to put on make-up, say”like”, and show them what their girlish figures are really for….Ahem. Kidding. We actually check out 30 books-our library’s limit- before we leave town. And read, read, read. Also books on CD. We also draw much of the way. And this is Pat’s and my time to catch up. Nothing like close quarters to really talk about family and marriage matters.
Can’t wait to see and hug you all tomorrow!
Love, Maryanne
3. don gale
December 21, 2007
8:09 AM
My parents live about 2 hours away. I used to go home a lot more frequently before I was married. So, being alone, I would download two or three Piper sermons and listen to them during the drive. I’m hoping to continue that this weekend when we visit. So far, I haven’t had a long enough drive to commit to an audio book, but that’s a great idea.
4. Marilyn B.
December 21, 2007
8:24 AM
We took our children on many drives to my husband’s parents who live 2,000 miles (3,400 km) from us.
We did much the same; books, coloring books and crayons, movies, games. I did not have the option of delving into spiritual things as my husband was not at those times a believer. We did a lot of talking and teaching though!
My kids learned to navigate with maps, and we would stop at a few strategic points of interest along the way. The kids got to investigate dinosaurs, meteors, battlefields. They also saw some geological and man-made wonders with accompanying historical background.
Doesn’t matter how much great stuff you do or take, at some point everyone gets tired of being in the car and grumpiness sets in!
5. Loren
December 21, 2007
8:46 AM
I feel your pain. For about 12 years we did a drive from Englewood, Colorado to Nashville, Arkansas (about 16 hours one way). It was brutal. I remember going 85 through Kansas and it was like we were standing still. We traveled with three kids (2 girls and a boy) and my wife, also a super-mom, would plan for weeks ahead of time. Audio-books like, James and the Giant Peach were great and we would talk about the story afterwards to see what they thought about it. My wife one time created a template for each state — state flag, state bird, state song, state flower, state capitol, etc., and we would learn about each state as we drove through it. We also sang together hymns, children’s songs, worship choruses, etc. Also games like trying to find a sign starting with every letter of the alphabet was very competitive with the winner getting a special treat. In looking back, although the days were long and tiring, those trips were some of the richest experiences of our family life, The time together to laugh, talk about life and faith, to work through squabbles, to be away from electronics and TV was, as they say, priceless. I would not have traded those 16 hour trips for anything. We grew closer as a family from the shared experience of spending time together than almost anything else we did. In my view, the time you are simply spending together could not possibly be a waste of time. Hang in there….
6. Paul Craig
December 21, 2007
8:54 AM
The drive from our mission station in the North of Kenya to the capital city of Nairobi takes anywhere from 20 to 30 hours depending on a number of factors. We do this with our 4 children several times a year to resupply, take care of immigration and a host of other necessities. One of the things we determined before God blessed us with kids was to make sure we passed on the truth as recorded in the great hymns of the faith. So we would sing a verse or two before each meal as well as special times of singing praises throughout the week. Especially precious was the times on the road when we would ‘sing’ through the alphabet. Each person in turn would think of a hymn that began with the letter that fell to them. It could be that the title started with the letter or the first line. In this way, God allowed us to instill in our children meditations on Him hidden away in their hearts that to this day provide a wealth of encouragement and challenge.
7. aaron r.
December 21, 2007
8:54 AM
My wife and I have about a 6 hour drive to visit my parents. I hope to spend a good portion of it trying to memorize the Baptist Catechism set to music by Dr. Jim Orrick. We’re trying to learn it before our son is old enough to start memorizing it. We’ll probably also listen to an episode or two of the White Horse Inn and music from the folks with Indelible Grace and Red Mountain Church.
Thanks for the the idea of using audiobooks.
8. Staci at Writing and Living
December 21, 2007
9:01 AM
For long drives with the children, we tend to turn on DVDs and hope for the best.
My husband has to drive and hour each way to work every day. He has spent the time listening to CDs of our pastor’s sermons on Romans and Hebrews. Now that he’s finished those, he listens a lot to John MacArthur.
When he took that job two years ago, he was experiencing a “dark night of the soul.” He jokes that he’s glad God decided he only needed a “one sermon drive” instead of a “two sermon drive” to get back on track.
9. citystreams
December 21, 2007
9:12 AM
My best memories of long car trips include one on one time with each of my parents. We had a family policy that we rotated every few hours. One parent would be driving and one child would be in the front seat. The other parent and child would stretch out on the bench seats of the van. I loved my turn in the front seat. Daddy and I would always talk about new ideas for inventions. We came up with some off the wall ideas. Mamma and I always played the “What if?” game. She would think up a scenario and ask me what I would do if that happened. Most of the time they were survival scenarios. What would you do if there were no adults left on the planet and you had to take care of yourself? I loved it!
10. Josh
December 21, 2007
9:59 AM
I used to memorize scripture on the way to work in the morning to try to hold back the road rage. It worked and I learned a lot of verses and probably kept my blood pressure down too.
11. B. Minich
December 21, 2007
10:00 AM
Ahh, the long drive. I was on the recieving end of those for many years. We’d plan for a while. I would read in the car, but that wasn’t an option for my sister, who would get car sick if she attempted this. So we tended to listen to Adventures in Odyssey. That is a GREAT way to pass your time, and the stories are very edyfying. Some of them are intense (they warn you about those ones on the recordings, though), but there are a lot of great dramas, including retellings of Biblical stories.
Audio books are great. I’d pick Christian classics, and I’d also pick great literary classics that are appropriate for you children to hear. We spent one year listening to a lot of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, and it was a blast.
12. Jeff
December 21, 2007
11:01 AM
We’ve listened to Adventures in Odyssey too, but in recent years we have found that the kids enjoy Jungle Jams, Paws & Tales, and Johnathan Park radio dramas even more.
13. Connie @ Practicing Theology
December 21, 2007
11:05 AM
We LOVE our long drives together—all started way back when it was just hubby and I driving home for the holidays. We actually look forward to having a ‘captive audience’!
But, I must confess that we missed the days of frequent pottie breaks and endless questions that come with having younger children—we adopted our daughters at the ages of 9 and 12 1/2, which of course brought other unique traveling challenges!
Over the five years that we’ve been a family, we’ve enjoyed taking along library books of the various states and sights along the way, Bible on tape (we work together to memorize selected passages), sermons from our home church, the ‘famous’ car tag game (passed down from my parents and our family trips!!), card games, travel games (count the cows until you pass a cemetery and they all ‘die’ and you start over until you get to a specific destination), point out and enjoy God’s marvelous creation (even in a dry and barren desert!), etc.!
Yip, we love our long trips together—even when it tests our sanctification! :-)
14. Joel
December 21, 2007
11:32 AM
My wife and I don’t have kids (yet), but we like to listen to R.C. Sproul’s Renewing Your Mind broadcasts and sermons from John Piper and Alistair Begg. We listen to one at a time, and then discuss.
Growing up, though, my family (parents, three kids) would do the New Jersey to Sault Ste Marie, Michigan trips in one shot - 22 hours straight. We would sleep, read, play the alphabet game, do puzzles, fight, play travel Bingo and other assorted games long before even the DVD player was invented.
Trips are doable without technology, don’t let the big-box stores tell you otherwise!
15. ellen b
December 21, 2007
11:44 AM
Books on tape have saved me from the mundane, boring 19 hour trips from Washington to Southern California. One year (quite by accident) we discovered that cough and cold medication that we had to give to all 3 of our children (because of sinus issues) was a great travelling companion too. (Don’t judge me too harshly) I wanted to give them medication every time we travelled that long highway because we didn’t hear a peep out of them for a solid 8 hours!!
16. Dan Sudfeld
December 21, 2007
11:47 AM
Glad to hear you’ve had the same experience, Tim. We just made the 14-hour trek from Calgary to Winnipeg. There’s obviously nothing that works perfectly. At some point down the road (pun intended), the kids are going to lose it. Like Aileen, my wife had each of our boys pack their own backpack complete with stickers, coloring books and the like. Our wildcard was the a borrowed DVD player. We didn’t tell the kids we had one, but thought we’d take it along for use once we exhausted all our other weapons (license plate games, activities, count-all-the-black-cows, etc.). We actually didn’t have to pull it out until the Manitoba border.
As for us, we loaded up our IPod with various and sundry sermons and podcasts (MacArthur, Piper, Mohler, Dever, Friel, Humfrey). We also took the opportunity to listen to Max McLean read the Bible.
All in all, a good trip. Now, for the 14-hour trip back…
17. Lindsay Turner
December 21, 2007
11:52 AM
Long drives equal quality time for my husband and I to get to talk! We still pack the books/notebooks/coloring books/activity books and pens/pencils/crayons, but our kids read and draw/color a lot at home, so when we go on long trips (usually no more than a couple of hours), we let them play the Gameboy/Leapster or games we’ve downloaded onto our phones. It’s kind of their “road treat.” Best of all, my husband and I get to discuss what Challies has been blogging about! Merry Christmas…
*I was really loving the slash/slant/solidus/virgule during the writing of this comment.
18. Matt W.
December 21, 2007
11:56 AM
It seems that most tips here are for families with young children, but for older children and/or college aged children it might be really helpful to use the time to discuss more with the children. I’m a junior in college and my only brother is now a freshman too and our long drives to visit grandparents and other relatives have also become great times to discuss in person (rather than the phone or email) what’s been going on in each others lives and what do we see God doing in each other.
However, we still use audio books and radio dramas often too, like when my brother and I were younger. We just enjoy them too much.
For older children and families you could also pick some of your favorite sermons or conference audio (places like Desiring God make this so easy) and then discuss them afterwards and the things that stood out and thoughts for application. This has really helped for our trips with my Christian Fellowship at school where we drive the 20 hours to Florida (one way) for mission work annually. I’m sure this would work really well in the family setting too and it’s something that we’ve begun trying as a family too this past summer.
19. Larry Thompson
December 21, 2007
12:29 PM
I think. You can sort out a lot on a long drive. Merry Christmas and thanks for your thought provoking blog.
20. Chris Larson
December 21, 2007
2:02 PM
We’ve worn out our Narnia Radio Theater CDs. Add to that Jim Weiss’ reading of the Henty books.
21. michael dewalt
December 21, 2007
2:49 PM
whenever and wherever i travel i love to spend that time listening to sermons!
22. julie
December 21, 2007
3:18 PM
My kids watch dvds and eat all kinds of junk food they don’t normally get, and I listen to preaching (usually Rob Rufus right now), worship music, and sometimes turn everything off while the kids are sleeping and think or pray. If my husband is with me we love to listen to preaching together and have great discussions about what we’ve heard. I kind of enjoy long trips! Well, depending on the kids lol…
23. Steven
December 21, 2007
3:28 PM
Alright. I’ll be honest. We listen to D.A. Carson…and it puts the wife and the kids to sleep everytime…making those long trips to Texas from Kentucky quiet and faster than expected.
We also enjoy audio books, but my wife seems to enjoy Ask Anything Wednesdays from Albert Mohler, so I always burn a bunch of those and White Horse Inn’s.
24. Larry Geiger
December 21, 2007
3:52 PM
Hi Tim Every other Christmas we drive from Central Florida to Kansas City. Two twelve hour days. Our sons are grown now but we remember those drives fondly. We are not much for media so we mostly talked and watched the landscape go by. We also have upset tummy issues when we read while in the car. I think that parents of teenagers should attempt to remove earplugs, dvd players and the like and see what long silences will do for conversation. Those were some of the best times for talking over stuff, reminiscing, and planning the future. We never made any plans for their entertainment, we just went. The boys knew it was coming up every other year and they grew up with it. Boy what great times.
Hope you have a great trip and some good Southern weather.
25. Peter S
December 21, 2007
4:01 PM
Radio dramas and some music are a staple for our family. The dramas tend to keep my interest much more than music does and helps me to stay alert. We have focused primarily on Adventures in Odyssey, but have a smattering of others as well. My daughter loved hearing the dramatized versions of the Narnia stories.
We annually drive either 8 hours or 24+ hours for our respective families so having something to pass the time really helps.
26. Beth
December 21, 2007
4:34 PM
How about the “Adventures in Odyssey” radio theater CDs from Focus on the Family? They’re terrific for kids and adults alike! Merry Christmas!
27. rebecca
December 21, 2007
5:09 PM
I think CD’s and such are great when you tired of entertaining the kids yourself, but long trips are also a good opportunity to just do things together. We always did a lot of singing together in the car and telling our own stories and stuff like that, and those are the things the kids remember now that they are grown. My two oldest still talk about (and sing) a particular nonsense song they made up while travelling. Even the inevitable bickering is remembered fondly, as are a few mishaps or two. You are making memories and tying the bonds of the fam tighter even when it seems like you are not.
28. Dana Wilson
December 21, 2007
6:41 PM
Four rolls of quarters and an industrial-size roll of foil.
What? Everybody doesn’t know about this?
The quarters are behavior motivators. They each start out with their $10 roll, and I have a couple of rolls, myself. Acting out in any way will cost a kid a quarter. They have to pay the one they offended. Showing deference to a sibling may be rewarded with a quarter from Mom or from the grateful sibling, or from both if the good deed was particularly kind. At the end of the trip, the kids may keep whatever they’ve managed to save and/or accumulate. It is always done in a spirit of fun, it keeps the squabbles to a minimum (our four kids — two with disabilities— are ages 16, 11, 8 & 3).
The foil is for sculpting. The kids create animals, trees, buildings, vehicles, headwear, etc. The olders help the youngers and they’ve been known to make up elaborate, ongoing adventures for their creations as we make our way across the country. We listen to classic literature downloaded from audible.com, the kids craft foil, trade quarters and consume copious amounts of junk food while I crochet and my husband flips between screen views on the GPS receiver. Very Norman Rockwell.
Safe travels to you all.
29. Kenneth Clayton
December 21, 2007
8:21 PM
I usually listen to podcast of different programs, some favorites are The Narrow mind with Gene Cook a pastor from california, the White horse inn, and the albert mohler program. Good to see you stopped in Corbin Kentucky, I live in Kentucky and my brother in-law is from Corbin which also happens to be home to the first KFC http://www.kfc.com/about/history.asp Merry Christmas
30. Heather
December 21, 2007
10:20 PM
Our favourite family activity in the car is read-alouds. That’s me reading till my voice gives out. At that point the children can read their own books till my voice rejuvenates. Jim Weiss stories are great listening or the unabridged readings of other classics like The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe.
31. Webutante
December 22, 2007
12:36 AM
This is a great question and one of the few I can answer. I’ve driven back and forth to Wyoming (among many other places.) for the past 23 years. It’s about a 30 hour drive, one-way.
Today, I listen to Tim Keller CDs from Redeemer Presbyterian Church (where I’ll be this Sunday in NYC.) Also listen to other CDs like John Piper, Lon Solomon.
Think it’s really important, Tim, to stop at rest stops and walk, jog and get exercise every few hours…at least for me. Keeps me wider awake during a long drive. I also take a cooler with healthy food and watch what I eat. Find eating a lot of sugar and starchy foods makes me sleepy behind the wheel and thus not as alert.
Have a safe drive with your family and enjoy your stay in Atlanta. I also have lots of family there and love to visit.
Merry Christmas!
32. Alice
December 22, 2007
4:47 AM
Our family really enjoys our long drive times. Good thing, as we certainly had many long drives while we were on deputation. We always stocked up on Adventures in Odyssey episodes and love the radio dramas put out by Focus on the Family (they have the entire Narnia series, a great version of The Secret Garden and a version of Les Miserables that I love.) We recently discovered Down Gilead Lane, (similar to AIO) that is put out by Children’s Bible Hour (http://cbh.gospelcom.net/dgl/home.php) and we bought up several of their previous seasons on CD to listen to in the car on our next trip …. or even just back and forth to school each day. The themes often start some great conversations and teachable moments.
33. Mark Altrogge
December 22, 2007
9:23 AM
Hey Tim,
I like to spend our trips yelling things at the kids like, “Do you want me to come back there and smack you?” Or, “If you don’t quit arguing, we’ll never go to McDonald’s again!” No, just kidding.
All the previous comments are really inspiring. Lots of good ideas!
Mark
34. Eunice
December 22, 2007
9:59 AM
Wow, really inspiring ways to spend the time in the car. Can we trade families??? :) No driving tips to share but I will offer this advice…pray before you start the trip back home. Last year, my family drove to Texas to visit my sister’s family. It was about a 16 hour drive. It was great fun driving there because we’d never been in Alabama, Miss. or Louisiana before but on the way back home, my husband and I came the closest to getting a divorce that I hope we will ever get!
All’s well now… we are in agreement, though. No more long car rides!
35. trisha
December 22, 2007
11:33 AM
My second cousin lives in Corbin, Ky. It sounds like a nice place.Maybe I need to make a road trip, I’ve never done a long one.All of my family live with 2 hrs of each other. I’m in So Cal, my relatives came from Toronto before I was born!!
36. Kim
December 22, 2007
12:14 PM
Since there was a big accent on music in my family, we sang together. There are so many songs that I learned the words and music and some harmony lines to while on long trips. “Swing Low Sweet Chariot” and “This Land Is Your Land” spring readily to mind as I think about those trips. We learned the old fashioned way - following my parent’s lead (no lyric sheets, etc.).
37. Stephen Feather
December 22, 2007
12:27 PM
Welcome to Atlanta. Bring your hand sanitizer and drink your OJ. Some little green bug is making its rounds down here. Returning home sick, isn’t fun.
38. DeeDee
December 22, 2007
12:47 PM
Mark Altrogge—-You made me laugh out loud with that one!
Our long drives are time for music appreciation. We all love to listen to music, so we spend much of the time changing CDs. We are learning Japanese, so we spend a good portion of the time listening to Japanese music. It really helps with learning pronunciation! Nobody gets car sick in our family, so we read a lot too.
Have a very blessed Christmas with your family Tim!
39. Carol Blair
December 22, 2007
1:53 PM
This isn’t something I have done on a family trip, but with adaptations, it could be done as such.
Years ago I was on the staff of a Christian organization, and we as a staff occasionally made an 8-hour trip to our conference center for retreats, special getaways, etc. The organization owned a small bus, so most of us were able to ride together on the bus.
We were a hymn-singing staff, so as we prepared for one particular trip to our conference center, I got the idea to make the trip very profitable, hymnologically speaking. I planned to take a quantity of hymnals on the bus so we could sing, but I also planned a surprise hymnal scavenger hunt, to be done in teams, with prizes for the top scores.
There were about 25 questions; here are a few of them: 1. What hymn is based on Psalm 104? 2. What two well-known hymns use the tune “Diademata”? 3. What two Christmas carols did Charles Wesley write? 4. Who is the author of the hymn that is based on Psalm 90? 5. In what hymn do you find the following phrase: “No condemnation now I dread”? 6. What Christmas carol contains two phrases from the book of Malachi?
We had a wonderful time with the scavenger hunt, and with singing (4-part harmony) and talking about many favorite hymns, and even though that trip took place about 15 years ago, I remember it with great fondness today.
40. Reid
December 22, 2007
3:37 PM
Tim, the Audible.com version of Pilgrim’s Progress is fantastic. Read by a British guy who sort of does multiple voices for different characters. I have McLean’s ESV and he has a great voice - I just can’t image his version of Pilgrim’s being better than the one we have. It is just fantastic - my two oldest - 4 and 6 love it.
41. Reid
December 22, 2007
3:42 PM
I believe the one we have is the the Robert Whitfield unabridged version…
42. Walter
December 26, 2007
3:32 PM
Not much to add to the ideas above, but just fyi, Corbin, Ky is where Kentucky Fried Chicken was founded. :)