Am I crazy? Road trip related

klv · April 2012

I really want to go visit my family in may before I start working again. Thing is, we really can't afford a plane ticket and a rental car once I get there. I am thinking of driving. It's a 24hr drive (without a baby) and I would be doing it alone. The most we have driven with her is 6-7 hrs to MILs house and she can get crabby after 3-4 hrs.

Is it completely insane that I am considering this?

cmread · April 2012

I have a complete "get up and go" attitude, and we take LO everywhere. We routinely drive 2-3 hours (one way) every weekend to visit friends/family. We don't shy away from trips to the beach or amusement parks, and it always works out great.

That being said, even *I* think that trip sounds too ambitious for me!! Especially after you describe your LO's past car trips.

Maybe you could take a little vacation sometime after you start work when you might have money saved for the plane ticket? Or they could come visit you?

DramaMama06 · April 2012

i know you said you can't afford a plane ticket, but could you do a stop over somewhere for the night? and one 1/2 way through you can pop in on

kimbo1216 · April 2012

Would you have to have a rental car? No one in your family could pick you up? If you keep an eye on last minute deals (like SW or something) and could be flexible, maybe you could go on a whim to save money.

klv · April 2012

kimbo1216:
Would you have to have a rental car? No one in your family could pick you up? If you keep an eye on last minute deals (like SW or something) and could be flexible, maybe you could go on a whim to save money.

I would need a car. My family is spread all over the State of ME. And SW only flies into Boston.

11kacey · April 2012

If you drove 12 hours a day, you would still need to stop every few hours for food for you/baby and change the baby. Plus, now that the baby is most likely mobile, they need to get out and stretch their legs. Driving 12 hours with stops for gas/feeding/changing/getting energy out would at least be 14 to 15 hours. That is A LOT of time in the car for you and your baby.

I don't know if i think you are crazy, but I think it would make you crazy by the end.

I would find a ticket (doesn't have to be SW) to where your parents are and stay through two weekends (Thursday through the following Tuesday or something like that) and have people come to you. Not only are you thinking of driving 24 hours (each way at least) but then putting the baby in the car MORE to see people.

DreamChaser246 · April 2012

That is a really long trip, at that point you would need to have multiple stops/breaks/etc with hotels and such... Enough time for LO to get out and have a break from the car. And once you get there... you gotta get back...

redfish08 · April 2012

Are you talking 24-hr one way or round trip?

If one-way, you'll spend at least $500-600 in gas and surely you could fly and rent a car for less than that?

Either way, no way in the world would I attempt that by myself.

JuneBug0611 · April 2012

redfish08:
Are you talking 24-hr one way or round trip?
If one-way, you'll spend at least $500-600 in gas and surely you could fly and rent a car for less than that?
Either way, no way in the world would I attempt that by myself.

This exactly. Plus it will be even more if you are going to need a hotel for the night(s) where you stop along the way. I can usually find plane tickets anywhere in the continental U.S. for $250-350 (and often much less than that) if I shop all the discount sites or wait for the last-minute fare sales that the airlines post a week or two in advance, and can usually rent an economy/compact car for $20/day on the discount sites. So you should be able to do a flight and car rental for $500. Driving that far alone with a baby sounds like a nightmare to me.

tulipblossom · April 2012

Stalk fly.com like there is no tomorrow. Especially overnight around midnight or first thing in the AM and you should be able to find some amazing deals. I found my tickets JFK to Denver and back for less than $$350. One way was $205 and the other was only $130 and that was nonstop. they were also last min. tickets so really I think you can find a ticket for.less than the cost of gas now a days.

klv · April 2012

Thanks. It prob would drive me insane by day 2. DH and I have done the drive several times but never with Hannah. I prob won't make the drive.....thanks for talking sense into me.

Although I can't imagine flying with her right now either since she won't sit in my lap for more than 2 mins at a time.

LexGator · April 2012

We are a 12-hr drive away from our family and have done it multiple times with DD and are doing it again next month. We split it up into two six-hour days, and that makes it doable. That said, I could not do double that. After two days in the car, we are all over it.

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