How to survive a family trip

Taking your kids on a camping holiday is a great way to open their eyes to new places and share their delight in new experiences. But it can also mean putting up with fights in the car, constant whinging about different meals and cramped living quarters, as well as the dreaded ‘Are we there yet?’.

To help you get the most from your next family getaway Sheree Everitt, who regularly travels with her ex-AFL footballer husband Spida and their two children for their TV show Great Australian Doorstep, has provided a few tips.

Never too young

“Children are never too young to take on an adventure,” Sheree reckons. “My son Boston was 17 months old when we left for our very first eight month journey around Australia.

“Sure, we had no idea what we were doing. I had never been in a motorhome or caravan before either and we took enough gear for a small country.

According to Sheree: “Most kids are really resilient. And they adapt in just a few days. Mothers on the other hand, take a little longer.”

She said most locations are suitable for children especially if there's space to run around and explore.

“As long as you do your research and have all your safety measures covered, then you can go anywhere you want,” Sheree reckons.

“Whether it’s the snow, the water, the outback, the mountains, there will always be something for kids to do – just use your imagination. And if nerves are wearing a bit thin, look for a great caravan park with lots of kids entertainment.”

It can also be easier to get them to do schoolwork when on the road for extended periods.

“In my experience, when the kids were doing schoolwork on the road, they got through it so much faster than they would have at school. I found that the school work is not a big challenge,” she says.

Schedule some me time

Ensuring everyone gets some ‘me’ time and don't drive each other crazy is another priority for helping to maintain family harmony.

“We have a loose schedule. We have ‘quiet time’ and ‘mummy time’… there’s also ‘daddy time’ but that is normally away from the family at the pub...

“We have set times of day for ‘quiet time’. It depends on what we have done or what we have coming up in the next few days. But we always do ‘quiet time’ at least four or five times a week when on a long journeys.”

Related reading: Top-5 tech-free camping tips

Sharing the workload and dividing up tasks is also important.

“We make a big list at the start and they each choose three jobs. Then at the end of each week we swap jobs, but the other person has to agree to swap.

“It’s a good lesson in negotiating and the best part is that the worst jobs are constantly enjoyed because they know if they whinge then no one will want to take the job at the end of the week.”

Top 5 child camping tips

1.    Keep a routine with their school work; no more than 90 mins a day and have it at the exact same time each day.

2.    Wake them at the same time, feed them at the same time, everything needs a time. Kids love routine, and they need their sleep so ensure they go to bed on time.

3.    On big travel days, pack their lunch and morning tea just like when they're at school. Make sure they mostly eat healthy food and not just petrol station snacks.

4.    Make sure they have chores to do. It also teaches them some great real-life lessons.

5.     Brush up on some games to distract them on long trips. Preferably some learning ones, but Eye Spy is always a good fall-back.