Our Move & Tips for Moving Across the Country

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This post is sponsored by NACS. All opinions are 100% my own! The post contains affiliate links. 

I recently shared about how we are entering a new chapter in our lives, and that new chapter involved us moving back to Wisconsin. It was a long trip and since we had to drive a moving truck all the way we decided to take things slow and give ourselves 4 days to move across the country.

I don't know about you but our kids don't do well in close proximity to each other. It's kind of like putting cats and dogs together in a small cage haha!! I'm kidding.... a little bit, but really, our kids fight constantly when we are in the car for extended periods of time. Nobody can agree on a movie, music or what we talk about. Somebody is alllllways looking at somebody else, and if you're a mom you know how terrible it is when your kids look at each other *insert biggest eye roll ever*. So let's talk about some of my tips on how to make the best of a moving across the country.

Tips for Moving Across the Country

Stop Often

This is the most important one - for your sanity! Trust me!! I know this sounds slightly counter productive to the whole making distance and putting miles behind. However, sometimes you just have to throw time out the window and make the best of a situation. When you're moving across the country you don't really have a fun destination you are looking forward to. You pretty much just count down the seconds until you pull up into the hotel parking lot and let your kids run straight over the edge of the pool and splash around while you sit silently on the side praying this wears them out for the night! Moving is not even close to a vacation road trip, so plan for plenty of stops. If you see something pretty, pull over and take a peek!

If you're hungry, stop by a convenience store and grab a little snack! Did you know that the top 3 reasons people stop are: to use the restroom, get gas and buy food or drinks. We pretty much have to do at least one of those things every 30 minutes, haha, so why not stop at a place where you can take care of all 3 at once! Your kids will most certainly enjoy getting out of the car to make a restroom break a little more fun!My kids love getting to run inside and pick out their favorite candy! Take a look at this article to understand a little more about what goes on inside of a car during road trips!

Choose Hotels with Pools

Even if you don't have kids, after a day of sitting in one position starring off into the endless black pavement, anyone will enjoy dipping their toes into a pool! Hotels are your end destination each day, it's pretty much all you have to look forward to, other than NOT feeling guilty about that Oatmeal Cream Pie you grabbed at the convenience store. ; ) But really, make sure you are enjoying your nights when moving across the country, you 100% deserve it!

Plan Fun Activities Along the Way

In a desperate attempt to stop the arguing and the inevitable "are we there yet" I tried to load the car up full of distractions. We don't have a fancy car, so we bought these dual screen car dvd players. And since I'm not a huge fan of electronics I also let the kids bring a back pack full of little toys to play with, coloring books, crayons and basically anything they could do in a car. These lap desks for kids are the perfect way for kids to be able to color, build legos or roll cars around. The lap desks also work great for eating on the road! But never underestimate just jumping out of the car for fun little pictures!

Just remember that no matter how much fun you are having it's SUPER important to stay hydrated while traveling. I know a lot of people think they will not drink as much because they don't want to stop and use the restroom, this is terrible for you! Whenever you stop at a convenience store make sure and grab some water to stay hydrated!

Overall this move back to Wisconsin is super exciting! Appleton is full of old houses that are just screaming to be restored and I can't wait to get started on our house!! You can read a little bit more about that here.

Where do you stop when you're moving across the country and how do you survive your children in the process??