drive or fly
 

We will be visiting family in Ohio this summer. We live in Southern Florida and are considering driving up to visit them instead of flying. We have two young children. Any recommendations?

cbr - I'm guessing maybe you couldn't find your first post and thought it got lost? For future reference, you can click your name at the very top of this screen to see all your posts. Then, if one isn't getting replies (your previous post has none at this point) you can reply to it to bring it back to the top of the list, rather than posting a new thread.

You might get replies to both threads, so definitely check back to both of them now that they're out here. :)

Depends on a couple of things: how many days will you be allowing for the trip, what are ages of the children, have you considered gas prices, and will you be attempting to do a mad dash or taking your time?

I'm all for road trips. Love 'em! But if I feel rushed, it takes away a lot.

It seems with kids there is a certain "line in the sand" at which road trips are okay vs not so okay. Very young, such as babies, are okay as long as you realize you have to take along all the stuff they will need on the road. And older kids can either be entertained or entertain themselves, providing there are plenty of stops for them to get out and exert some energy. It would seem to me the toddler/pre-school age would be the most difficult. Short attention span and wanting to be in constant motion.

If you don't have the time to enjoy the trip, or you really don't think your kids could handle being in a car for 2 -3 days, then flying would be a better option. If neither of these are a concern, and the price of gas isn't an issue, I'd say drive.

It could seem like a good idea for the trip down, but when you're ready to come home and you still have that loooong trip ahead of you I think a quick drive to the airport would do a whole lot for your sanity.

Your right about the return trip. We are not sure about that! My children are ages 8 & 10, we wanted to show them parts of the U.S we wouldn't normally see. We have 7-8 days for the trip, but with gas prices we are not sure. Airfare is not cheap and travelling from South Florida means we have to change planes, which my older one would not do well with. Thank you for your thoughts.

Where in south Florida are you coming from, and are you sure you'd have to change planes? I suppose you could always fly to somewhere closer to your destination that is a non-stop flight and rent a car to drive from there. A little bit of both worlds then.

That is well outside of my driving range which is 6 hours tops. That gets me home to Ohio & to one of my favorite vacation spots (Amelia Island). I'd be flying.