Dad's! Let's Go

Category: Family Adventures

Family trips, hikes, everyday adventures, and the lessons learned when plans change.

  • 3 Simple Road Trip Games That Saved Our Sanity

    3 Simple Road Trip Games That Saved Our Sanity

    Three illustrated road trip games: hotel stuffed-animal rescues, rest-area races, and a pretend police chase.

    We recently spent ten days traveling with our two boys, ages three and five, exploring beaches, waterfalls, mountains, and everything in between. I spent hours planning our adventures, researching places to visit, hikes to take, and activities the boys would enjoy.

    But you know what I didn’t spend much time planning? What we were going to do when we weren’t out exploring.

    As any parent knows, just because the day’s adventures are over doesn’t mean your kids are ready to stop moving. Sometimes they seem to have more energy than when the day started.

    During our trip, we came up with three simple games that helped us get through some of those moments. No fancy equipment, no expensive toys, and very little preparation. Just a dad trying to keep two energetic boys entertained without completely losing his mind.

    When the Hotel Pool Isn’t an Option

    We were stuck in our hotel room, and the boys had way too much energy. Normally, this is when we’d head down to the pool. It’s one of our favorite ways to let them burn off that last bit of energy before settling down for the evening.

    Unfortunately, the pool wasn’t available. This time, we were stuck with just the room.

    And the boys were making the most of it.

    They were running around, getting into everything, and it seemed like all we were doing was telling them to stop. Don’t touch that. Stop running. Leave that alone. I was getting frustrated, they weren’t having much fun, and we weren’t getting anywhere.

    I know what you’re thinking. Why not just turn on the TV?

    Well, have you stayed in a hotel recently? It seems like the only things left on hotel television are sports and the news. Not exactly what I was looking for to entertain a three-year-old and a five-year-old.

    So I needed another idea.

    My boys love anything involving emergency responders. Firefighters, police officers, rescues. If there’s an emergency somewhere, they’re ready to respond.

    That’s when I decided to put them to work.

    Game 1: Hotel Emergency Responders

    I became the 911 dispatcher, and the boys became the rescue team. Instead of telling them to stop running around, I started giving them emergency calls to respond to.

    Some of their stuffed animals were injured and needed rescuing. Others were missing, so I’d hide them around the room and send the boys out to find them. They had to answer the calls, locate the stuffies, and bring them back to safety.

    Suddenly, all that energy had somewhere to go.

    What I loved about this game was that I didn’t have to do much physically. I could sit and dispatch emergencies while the boys handled the rescues. I just had to come up with the next problem for them to solve.

    It was a much better alternative to spending the evening telling them what not to do. Instead, I gave them something they were actually excited to do.

    And I got to sit down for a little while. That’s a win in my book.

    When a Potty Break Isn’t Enough

    The next two games came out of another familiar road-trip problem: too much time sitting in the car.

    We were driving long distances between destinations, and eventually everyone needed a break. We’d stop at a rest area, use the bathroom, and try to give the boys a chance to run around before getting back on the road.

    The problem was that once we got outside, they didn’t really know what to do. They had all this energy, but they needed a little direction. They’d stand around talking, being silly, and not actually doing much to get that energy out.

    Meanwhile, I knew we still had more driving ahead of us.

    I needed something that would get them moving without turning our rest stop into another hour-long adventure.

    That’s where the next two games came from.

    Game 2: Rest Area Races

    This one couldn’t be much simpler. We picked a tree as our starting point, and the boys would wait there while I called out another place for them to run to.

    They had to race to that spot, touch it, and run back to the tree. The first one back won, and then I’d give them another destination.

    That was it. No equipment, no setup, and no complicated rules.

    Instead of standing around trying to figure out what to do, they suddenly had a mission. They were running back and forth, competing with each other, and getting some of that pent-up energy out.

    The nice part was that I could stay near the starting tree and call out the destinations. They did most of the running.

    Of course, you need to find a safe area away from the parking lot and moving vehicles. But when we had some open space, this was an easy way to turn a regular potty break into something useful.

    Game 3: Catch a Criminal

    Sometimes giving the boys a destination to run toward wasn’t enough. They needed something a little more exciting.

    So I became a criminal.

    Don’t worry, not an actual criminal. Just a dad willing to make a fool of himself at a rest stop.

    The boys became police officers, and their job was to catch me. I’d take off running, they’d chase after me, and after about twenty seconds I’d let them catch me.

    Then we’d start again.

    There really isn’t much more to explain. It’s basically tag with a police story attached to it, which happens to be perfect for two boys who love pretending to be emergency responders.

    This game definitely required more effort from me than sitting at a tree calling out destinations. But it gave the boys a reason to run, laugh, and get some of their silliness out before we had to climb back into the van.

    And if you’re going to look ridiculous running away from two tiny police officers, you might as well make it entertaining.

    Sometimes They Just Need a Little Direction

    Looking back, what stands out to me is that none of these games required much planning.

    I had spent hours organizing our family road trip. I knew which parks we were visiting, which trails I wanted to hike, and which attractions I hoped the boys would enjoy.

    But some of our simplest activities came from moments when things weren’t going according to plan.

    The hotel pool wasn’t available, and we were getting frustrated with the boys. At the rest areas, they needed to move but didn’t know what to do with themselves.

    In both situations, I could have continued getting frustrated. Instead, I tried giving them something to focus their energy on.

    That doesn’t mean every game is going to work every time. I have plenty of ideas that sound great in my head and fall apart the moment I introduce them to the boys.

    But these three were worth remembering.

    And I figured if they helped us during our trip, maybe they could help another dad who finds himself stuck in a hotel room with two kids bouncing off the walls.

    The Dad’s! Let’s Go Road Trip Rescue Toolkit

    I decided to turn these games into a simple printable toolkit that parents can keep in the car, pack for vacation, or save on their phones. You can also find more practical ideas in the Dad’s! Let’s Go Toolkit.

    The Road Trip Rescue Toolkit is ready! Download the free three-page printable game-card collection, featuring Hotel Emergency Responders, Rest Area Races, and Catch a Criminal. Each illustrated card includes supplies, how to play, a Dad Move, and safety tips.

    Save the cards to your phone or print them before your next trip. No elaborate setup, no extra purchases—just three games you can start when your kids need something to do.

    Because when you’re tired, the kids are bouncing off the walls, and the hotel television has nothing but the news, sometimes the hardest part isn’t playing with your kids.

    It’s coming up with something to play.

    And if these three games save another dad from an evening of constantly saying, “Stop doing that,” I’d call that a success.

    Not a perfect dad. Just a dad who’s trying.

    Dads, let’s go.

  • The Great Outside Challenge: From Backyard Battles to Beaches and Mountains

    The Great Outside Challenge: From Backyard Battles to Beaches and Mountains

    We challenged ourselves to get outside every weekday in October. Here’s what happened when we actually tried it.

    At the beginning of October, I started The Great Outside Challenge with one simple goal: get my boys outside every weekday.

    Fifteen minutes counted. We didn’t need a big adventure or an elaborate activity. I just wanted outside to become a normal part of our days again.

    I thought the hard part would be finding things to do.

    Turns out, that wasn’t quite the problem.

    Getting Out the Door Was the First Challenge

    On Day 1, there was resistance. Getting the boys outside involved some negotiation before we finally got moving.

    But we did get out. We went for a walk.

    It wasn’t a spectacular adventure, and that’s part of why it mattered. The challenge was never supposed to require something spectacular. It was supposed to get us out the door.

    We also tried some different activities, including T-ball. The novelty gave the boys something new to do outside.

    Then there was cornhole.

    That one didn’t work out.

    I had an idea for an outdoor activity, but the boys weren’t interested in playing along. It was a useful reminder that just because Dad has a plan doesn’t mean anyone else wants to follow it.

    Sometimes the Best Activity Is No Activity

    One day, I wasn’t feeling well, but the boys found their own entertainment outside.

    They got busy with construction play.

    I didn’t need to organize a game or keep introducing new activities. They had their own ideas and were happy to explore them.

    That was something I wanted from this challenge in the first place.

    We already have places to play outside. I don’t necessarily need to make the backyard more entertaining. Sometimes I need to give the boys the opportunity to use it.

    A Farm Day Without a Complicated Plan

    We also made it out for a traditional fall farm day. It reminded me of the time I almost didn’t take my son fishing—sometimes getting out the door is the hardest part.

    The farm had a corn pit, corn maze, hay bales, and hayrides. The boys loved all of it, including the frozen apple cider drinks.

    At the end of our visit, they each got to pick out a pumpkin.

    What stood out to me was how smoothly the day went. We weren’t constantly redirecting the boys or trying to keep them entertained. We mostly let them play.

    And they did.

    It was one of those outings where the activity itself did the work.

    Best of all, we spent the day outside.

    Then the Challenge Went From Beaches to Mountains

    In the middle of October, we took our family road trip.

    Suddenly, our little outdoor challenge became something much bigger.

    We explored beaches, visited a nature center, played in the waves, hiked, explored waterfalls, and spent time in the mountains.

    The boys got to experience environments completely different from our backyard.

    Illustration of a shallow stream crossing a sandy woodland trail beneath autumn foliage.
    A creekside trail illustrated from our trip photo.

    But the trip also reminded me that getting outside with young kids doesn’t mean they’re going to experience an adventure the same way I do.

    At the beach and nature center, taking short breaks helped us keep going. Sometimes we needed ten minutes to recharge before continuing.

    And on the hiking portions of our trip, I had to confront something about myself.

    I had planned more hiking than we actually completed. At first, that frustrated me. I wanted to cover more ground and see more of the places we’d traveled so far to visit.

    Eventually, I started adjusting my expectations.

    The boys were hiking. They were exploring. They were experiencing beaches, mountains, and waterfalls.

    They weren’t failing to complete my itinerary.

    They were having their own adventure.

    That’s a bigger story, and one I want to explore separately, because I’m still learning how to balance the hiking I love with hiking as a family.

    What Worked, What Didn’t, and What I’m Learning

    We’re not at the end of October yet, so I’m not calling The Great Outside Challenge a complete success or failure.

    I also haven’t established a reliable count of how many weekdays we met the goal.

    But the journal already gives me a few things to think about.

    What worked: A simple walk, the novelty of T-ball, letting the boys explore on their own, a relaxed farm day, and the opportunities our vacation gave us to experience new places outside.

    What didn’t: Every activity I planned wasn’t automatically a hit. Cornhole was a good example.

    What surprised me: Some of our better experiences happened when I stopped trying to control the activity. The boys didn’t always need me to come up with the next thing.

    And maybe the biggest change has been in my expectations.

    I started this challenge wanting the boys to enjoy the outdoors more.

    Now I’m realizing that I also need to work on how I experience the outdoors with them.

    We’re Not Finished Yet

    We still have more of October ahead of us.

    The real test will be returning to our ordinary routines after vacation, when we don’t have beaches, waterfalls, or mountains waiting outside.

    We’ll have our backyard, local parks, and whatever weather Ohio decides to give us.

    I’m interested to see whether getting outside has become any easier and whether the boys start choosing it more often.

    For now, I don’t have a perfect score to report.

    I have a successful walk, a failed game of cornhole, a farm day, some independent backyard play, and a family adventure that took us from beaches to mountains.

    That’s a pretty good start.

    The Great Outside Challenge — October 2026

    Let’s go outside.

    Dads, let’s go.

  • The Great Outside Challenge: Let’s Go Outside

    The Great Outside Challenge: Let’s Go Outside

    After a month without TV, we’re trying something different. Instead of taking something away, we’re getting outside.

    For the last month, we focused on not watching TV. No TV September started as a way to get our kids away from screens and see what would happen when TV wasn’t always an option.

    But somewhere along the way, it brought up another feeling for me: I should be doing more with my boys.

    I usually go hiking by myself about twice a week. It’s one of the few times when everything seems to quiet down. I can think, recharge and just walk. There’s something about simply being outside that does that for me.

    And lately I’ve realized that I’m not sharing enough of that with my boys.

    Somehow, Inside Became the Easier Choice

    We’ve built plenty of reasons for them to be outside. There’s a rock box, a playground, a climbing dome and even an airplane teeter-totter.

    And yet, more and more, they’d rather stay inside and play with their toys.

    There’s nothing wrong with that. I love watching them play with their toys and use their imaginations. But I don’t want inside to become the automatic choice.

    I want them to discover some of the things I love about being outside. I want hiking, exploring, getting dirty and playing in the backyard to feel exciting again.

    After spending September taking something away, we’re going to spend October adding something back.

    We’re going outside.

    Welcome to The Great Outside Challenge

    For the next month, I’m going to find a way to get my boys outside every weekday. That’s really the whole challenge.

    I don’t care if we’re outside for an hour or 15 minutes. We might hike, play a game, dig in the rock box, go to the playground or invent something completely ridiculous in the backyard.

    Some days I might have a great plan. Other days I might just open the door.

    I’m not starting October with 30 perfectly planned outdoor activities. That’s not how life with two little boys works.

    The goal isn’t to complete a checklist. The goal is to make outside fun again.

    The Rules Are Pretty Simple

    I’m deliberately keeping The Great Outside Challenge easy enough that we can actually do it.

    Get outside every weekday.

    That’s the rule.

    Fifteen minutes counts. Playing in the backyard counts. Going to the playground counts. A hike counts. Digging in the dirt counts. Standing outside while the boys invent some game that makes absolutely no sense to me counts.

    I’m sure I’ll come up with activities along the way, but I don’t want this to become another project where Dad spends an hour preparing something the kids abandon five minutes later.

    Sometimes I’m going to provide the entertainment. Sometimes I’m going to let them figure it out. Either way, we’re going outside.

    We Picked an Interesting Month to Try This

    October isn’t exactly the easiest month to make this happen. We’ll have nice fall days, but we’ll also have cold mornings, shorter days and probably plenty of rain.

    There will be days when the boys don’t want to go outside. There will probably be days when I don’t want to go outside.

    Luckily, we’re also taking a family road trip this month. We’ll go from beaches to mountains, with plenty of opportunities to hike, explore and experience completely different places along the way.

    I’m guessing those will be the easy days. I’m more interested in what happens when we come home—when it’s cold, when it’s raining, when everyone is tired and when the toys inside look a lot more appealing than putting on shoes and heading into the backyard.

    That’s when I’m going to need some improvisation and probably an enormous amount of creativity.

    I Want to Take My Boys Hiking Again

    There’s another reason I want to do this: I miss hiking with my boys.

    I still hike. In fact, my solo hikes have become an important part of my week. They’re quiet and peaceful, and they give me a chance to organize my thoughts and recharge.

    But somewhere along the way, I stopped bringing the boys very often.

    I don’t want to give up those solo hikes. I think that time is good for me. But it doesn’t have to be one or the other.

    After finally taking one of my boys fishing, I want to start sharing the trail with them again, too. I want them to climb over roots, find weird rocks, stop because they saw something interesting and experience some of the reasons I fell in love with being outside in the first place.

    Maybe October helps us get back there.

    I Don’t Expect This to Be Perfect

    If No TV September taught me anything, it’s that family challenges don’t happen the way you imagine they will.

    The boys will probably fight this sometimes. They’ll probably fight each other sometimes. I’ll come up with games that I think are brilliant and they’ll want absolutely nothing to do with them.

    We’ll probably have days when we barely make it outside, and I’m okay with that. I’m not trying to create 31 picture-perfect outdoor adventures. I’m trying to change the default just a little.

    Maybe we’ll discover a new backyard game. Maybe they’ll start asking to go outside. Maybe I’ll start taking them hiking more often. Maybe they’ll find another way to entertain themselves that doesn’t involve a screen, just like the library became one of our favorite screen-free options.

    Or maybe we’ll discover something I haven’t thought of yet. That’s part of why I want to do this.

    Follow The Great Outside Challenge

    Every week, I’ll share the ups and downs of The Great Outside Challenge. I’ll share the games that worked, the ones that completely failed, our bigger adventures and the ordinary days when getting 15 minutes of fresh air was enough.

    And at the end of October, we’ll look back and see whether anything actually changed. For a look at how it’s going so far, read our October Great Outside Challenge update.

    I’m not trying to turn my boys into little outdoorsmen in a month. I just want to help them enjoy being outside again—and maybe remind myself to bring them along a little more often.

    THE GREAT OUTSIDE CHALLENGE
    October 2026
    Let’s go outside.

    Dads, let’s go.

  • Why the Library Became One of My Favorite Free Things to Do With My Kids

    Why the Library Became One of My Favorite Free Things to Do With My Kids

    Before I had kids, the library was basically just a building in town. I remember getting a library card when I moved here, but I rarely used it. I knew the library existed. I knew there were books inside. That was about the extent of my relationship with it.

    Then I became a dad.

    Now the library has become one of my favorite free things to do with my kids. And strangely enough, it took turning off the TV for me to realize just how useful it could be.

    I Had No Idea How Much the Library Had for Kids

    Once I started actually taking my boys to the library, I realized how different the experience was for them. There’s an entire children’s section. There are activities, printouts, tablets, books and other things for them to explore. Our library even has Tonies we can borrow, which my boys love.

    Eventually, we’ll probably start bringing home movies too.

    A place I had almost completely ignored before having kids suddenly became somewhere we could go and spend part of our day without needing to buy anything. That’s a pretty great resource when you have two young kids.

    The Library Became an Outing

    One of the things I’ve learned about parenting little kids is that sometimes you just need somewhere to go. You don’t necessarily need some huge adventure. You don’t need to spend $100. You don’t even need a particularly impressive plan.

    Sometimes everybody just needs to get out of the house.

    The library started filling that role for us. We can go there, let the boys explore the children’s section and then pick out some things to bring home. I’ve started letting each of them choose three books.

    To them, choosing those books feels like an event. They get to walk around, find something interesting and decide what they want to bring home. Then a few weeks later, we can return everything and do it again.

    For little kids, borrowing things from the library almost feels like going shopping. Except Dad doesn’t have to buy six new books every time.

    That’s a system I can get behind.

    No TV September Changed How We Used It

    The library became especially important during our family’s No TV September challenge. We had removed one of the easiest sources of entertainment in our house. That meant we needed other things for the boys to do, but it also meant my wife and I had to get better at helping them find those things.

    The library gave us novelty without constantly bringing more stuff into our house. We could bring home a different stack of books. We could find new Tonies. Suddenly there were new things sitting around the house waiting to be discovered.

    And we read a lot.

    Sometimes that was great. Sometimes reading book after book wasn’t exactly how I wanted to spend that particular moment. But I also started seeing something I hadn’t expected.

    I’d occasionally find one of my boys sitting in a room looking through a book by himself. Nobody had told him to do it. He wasn’t asking me to entertain him. He was just looking at a book.

    During a month when one of our biggest goals was helping our boys become better at independent play, that felt like a pretty significant win. Two weeks into the challenge, we were already starting to see how differently the boys played when TV wasn’t the automatic option.

    It Gave Us Something TV Couldn’t

    I don’t think books need to compete with TV. We’re not becoming an anti-TV family. In fact, after No TV September, one of the things I was most excited to bring back was our family Movie Friday.

    But I’ve realized that TV and the library give our family very different things. TV is easy. Sometimes that’s exactly why we use it.

    The library requires us to go somewhere. The boys have to explore. They have to choose something. Then we bring those choices home and interact with them.

    Sometimes that means sitting together and reading. Sometimes it means one of the boys looking through a book by himself. Sometimes a new book becomes the thing we talk about for the next few days.

    It creates opportunities instead of simply filling time.

    The Library Isn’t Always Some Magical Parenting Experience

    I don’t want to oversell this. Taking young kids anywhere can still be work.

    There are days when getting everybody out of the house feels like an accomplishment by itself. There are days when the boys aren’t interested in the book I thought they’d love. There are days when sitting down to read another book sounds less appealing to me than simply turning on the TV.

    The library didn’t suddenly make parenting easy. It just gave us another tool. That fit with something else we were learning that month: sometimes the boys needed us to help them get started before they could keep playing on their own, an idea behind the LET’S GO Method for kid boredom.

    And right now, that’s exactly what I need.

    I Almost Missed This Entire Resource

    That’s probably the funniest part to me.

    The library was here the whole time.

    Before becoming a dad, I barely gave it any thought. Now I’m walking into the same kind of building with two boys who see shelves full of things they get to choose and bring home.

    My relationship with the library changed because my life changed. I’m not going there because I’ve suddenly become someone who spends his afternoons quietly reading in a corner. I’m going because I’m a dad looking for inexpensive ways to get out of the house, give my kids new experiences and occasionally survive a long day with two little boys.

    The library happens to be really good at all three.

    If you’re another dad who hasn’t been inside your local library in years, it might be worth walking through the doors again. Don’t just look for the books. Find the children’s section. See what they lend. Look at the activities. Let your kids wander around and choose something.

    You might find a completely different library than the one you remember.

    I did.

    And somehow, a building I barely used before having kids has become one of my favorite free places to take them. Looking back at what actually happened during our full No TV September, the library ended up being one of the changes I most want to keep.

    Dads, let’s go.

  • I Almost Didn’t Take My Son Fishing

    Illustration of a dad standing beside his young son as they fish together at a quiet pond.

    I almost didn’t take my son fishing.

    Not because he told me he didn’t want to go. Not because I knew he couldn’t do it. I almost didn’t take him because I was already imagining how difficult it might be to manage him once we got there.

    My son is five and has ADHD. When he gets excited, he can get really excited. He can be impulsive, and sometimes an activity that sounds fun in my head turns into me correcting him over and over until both of us are frustrated.

    I’ve learned to anticipate those situations. Sometimes I can picture exactly how an outing is going to go before we’ve even left the house. And sometimes, because of that, I decide it’s easier not to go.

    Fishing was one of those things I’d worried about. There are hooks. There’s water. There’s waiting. He’d have to listen to me and slow himself down when he got excited. But this time, we went.

    Then He Surprised Me

    I kept waiting for the problems I had imagined. Instead, he focused. He listened. He waited. He definitely got excited, and there were times I had to correct him or remind him what he was supposed to be doing. But that was it. We just kept fishing.

    At some point, I realized I wasn’t spending the entire time trying to manage a disaster. I was just fishing with my kid.

    And he loved it. When we were finished, he wanted to know when we could go again. If he had his way, we’d probably be fishing every day.

    I should have just been happy that we’d found something new to do together. Instead, on the way home, I couldn’t stop thinking about something else: How many other things have I decided not to do before I’ve even given him the chance?

    Maybe He Wasn’t Always the Reason

    That’s uncomfortable for me to admit. There have been plenty of times when I’ve decided against an activity because I thought my son couldn’t handle it. Sometimes I’m sure that was the right decision. I know my son, and there have absolutely been situations that would have been too much for him.

    But I’m starting to realize that wasn’t always the whole reason. Sometimes when I thought, He can’t handle this, what I really meant was:

    I don’t know if I can handle him not handling it.

    Because if we don’t go, there’s no meltdown to deal with. I don’t have to correct him 30 times. I don’t have to worry about his impulsivity getting him into trouble. I don’t have to feel myself getting overwhelmed while I’m trying to keep everything under control.

    Avoiding the situation protects me from all of that. But it also means he doesn’t get to try.

    Fishing made me realize that sometimes I’ve been deciding how something will end before my son even gets a chance to begin.

    Am I Parenting the Kid I Remember?

    There probably was a time when taking my son fishing wouldn’t have gone this well. Maybe at three he couldn’t have waited. Maybe at four his excitement would have taken over. But he’s five now, and I’m seeing him handle things I wasn’t sure he could handle before.

    The problem is that I remember the other times too. I remember the meltdowns. I remember chasing him. I remember repeating myself again and again. I remember being completely exhausted afterward.

    Those experiences don’t disappear just because he gets a little older. So when a new opportunity comes along, sometimes I’m still making the decision based on the kid I remember instead of the kid standing in front of me.

    That’s what bothers me most about this. My son keeps changing. Am I changing my expectations of him along with it?

    Give Him the Chance

    I’m not going to start saying yes to everything. There are still things he’s not ready for. There are days when I’m exhausted and know I don’t have enough left to take on a difficult outing. And sometimes we’ll try something new and discover that, no, we’re definitely not ready for this one yet.

    That’s okay. I just don’t want fear of what might happen to automatically make the decision for us.

    Maybe we try something for an hour. Maybe we go somewhere knowing we can leave early. Maybe it goes terribly and we try again six months from now. Or maybe I spend the entire drive preparing myself for chaos, get there, and discover that my son is ready for something I didn’t think he was ready for.

    That’s what happened when we went fishing. On days when getting out isn’t possible, we’ve even made an indoor fishing game out of things we already had at home.

    I expected to spend the trip managing him. Instead, I got to watch him fish.

    I don’t want my fear of what might happen to keep either of us from discovering what he’s capable of now.

    So the next time I catch myself thinking, He can’t handle that, I want to stop before automatically saying no and ask myself one more question:

    Can’t he handle it—or am I afraid I can’t?

    Dads, let’s go.

  • The Family Trip Planning Guide: Start With Your Strengths

    The Family Trip Planning Guide: Start With Your Strengths

    When my wife and I plan a family trip, we don’t sit down and divide every job perfectly in half. We lean into what each of us is good at.

    My wife is the accommodations queen. She can find the place that actually works for our family—the location, the space, the details I probably wouldn’t think about until we were already standing there with two tired kids.

    Me? I want to know what we’re going to do.

    Give me the hikes, waterfalls, scenic overlooks and places worth exploring. I start building the adventure list.

    And let’s be honest: if accommodations were entirely up to some of us dads, there’s a decent chance we’d look at the car and think, We could probably sleep in that.

    Start With What Each Parent Does Well

    One of the easiest ways we’ve found to make trip planning less overwhelming is to stop pretending we both need to be equally involved in every decision.

    She handles a lot of the accommodation side. I focus on adventures and activities. We still make the trip decisions together, but we’re not duplicating every bit of work.

    Your strengths might be completely different. Maybe Dad is the hotel researcher and Mom builds the itinerary. Maybe one person watches the budget while the other figures out food. It doesn’t really matter who owns which part.

    The useful question is: What does each of us naturally do well?

    Start there.

    I Had to Stop Planning Trips for the Dad Version of Me

    I love hiking. So when I look at a destination, my brain can very quickly turn a family vacation into a list of trails.

    That works great if I’m planning a trip for myself.

    It doesn’t work nearly as well when I’m traveling with young boys.

    I’ve learned that my boys can’t simply wake up, hike all day, eat dinner and happily repeat the whole thing tomorrow. Even when they enjoy the adventure, they still need time that feels like theirs.

    Sometimes that’s a playground. Sometimes it’s an easy morning. Sometimes it’s swimming, snacks, wandering around somewhere without an agenda or going back to where we’re staying and doing absolutely nothing impressive. On our last trip, we even came up with three simple road-trip games for the moments between adventures.

    Those aren’t interruptions to the vacation.

    They’re part of the vacation.

    Plan Three Kinds of Time

    When I’m looking at a family trip now, I try to think beyond a list of attractions. A good day usually needs some balance between three different kinds of time.

    Adventure Time

    This is the reason we’re excited about the trip: the hike, waterfall, beach, museum, scenic drive or whatever adventure brought us there.

    Kid Time

    This is something that doesn’t have to make the travel brochure. A playground can be one of the best stops of the entire day. The boys get to run, climb and play without us constantly directing what comes next.

    Slow Time

    This is the part I used to underestimate. Young kids—and their parents—need room to recover. A slower breakfast, an afternoon break or an early night can save the next adventure.

    I don’t try to divide every day into perfect thirds. The point is simply to make sure I’m not scheduling adventure after adventure and wondering why everyone is falling apart.

    Build a To-Do List, Not a Must-Do List

    I still love building the trip list. I want to know the best hikes, the overlooks, the waterfalls and the places we might regret missing.

    The difference is that I’m trying to treat that list as options, not obligations.

    If we have ten things we’d love to do and only make it to six, that doesn’t mean we failed at the trip. It means we had choices when the weather changed, somebody was tired or the playground unexpectedly became the highlight of the afternoon.

    A family itinerary needs breathing room.

    Have a Plan B Before You Need One

    Family adventures don’t always cooperate with the itinerary. Weather changes. Kids melt down. A trail takes longer than expected. Something you were excited about turns out to be a terrible fit that day.

    I’ve learned this lesson the hard way. On one family hike, a toddler meltdown left us in the woods with a plan that simply wasn’t working anymore. The day wasn’t saved by forcing the original adventure to succeed. It was eventually salvaged by changing direction, giving everyone time and finding a playground.

    That’s why flexibility deserves a place in the plan before the trip even starts.

    If you’d like the full story behind that lesson, read When Everything Goes Wrong: What to Do When the Adventure Goes Sideways.

    What I Want Our Family Trips to Become

    I still want big adventures. I want my boys to see mountains, waterfalls, trails and places that make all of us stop and look around.

    But I’m learning that the best family trip isn’t the one where Dad successfully checks every item off his list.

    It’s the one where we planned together, used each other’s strengths and left enough room for the family we actually brought with us—not the perfectly rested imaginary family from the itinerary.

    Let your partner be great at what they’re great at. Bring what you’re good at. Build the adventure list. Add kid time. Protect some slow time. And when the plan stops working, change the plan.

    The goal isn’t a perfect itinerary.

    It’s a trip your family is glad they took.

    Dads, let’s go.

  • When Everything Goes Wrong: What to Do When the Adventure Goes Sideways

    When Everything Goes Wrong: What to Do When the Adventure Goes Sideways

    Sometimes the adventure doesn’t go according to plan. Sometimes Dad doesn’t either.

    I love taking my boys on adventures. I love finding a trail we’ve never hiked, seeing a waterfall for the first time, exploring a new town, and having those moments where you look around and think, This is why we came.

    But traveling with kids has taught me something I didn’t fully understand when I started: sometimes the adventure goes completely sideways. And when it does, that beautiful view you’ve been waiting to see suddenly doesn’t matter anymore.

    Because your toddler is melting into the forest.

    When the Plan Disappears

    We were hiking far from home. We had traveled a long way to be there, and like most family trips, we had a plan. Then my toddler decided he was done.

    Not “I’m getting tired.” Not “Can we take a break?” Done.

    He wouldn’t move forward. He was overwhelmed and completely out of gas. And there we were, somewhere in the woods, thousands of miles from home. The scenery was beautiful, but none of that mattered anymore. My entire world had shrunk down to one little boy who had hit his limit.

    And honestly, so had I.

    I was tired, frustrated, and angry. My ADHD brain was overloaded by the exhaustion, the unexpected change of plans, and the pressure of figuring out what to do next. I wanted a solution. I wanted my son to get up and keep moving. I wanted the plan back.

    Instead, I had a toddler who wasn’t capable of giving me any of those things.

    So I Did What I Could Think Of

    Eventually, I carried him. And he fought me.

    He kicked, squirmed, screamed, and I carried him anyway, all the way back to the car. At the time, it felt like the only option. We had to get back, we were exhausted, and I needed the situation to end.

    Looking back, I know it wasn’t the right decision for us. I made it while I was completely overwhelmed. It solved one problem—we got back to the car—but my son was a mess, I was overloaded, and the day’s itinerary was essentially gone.

    The itinerary was already gone. I just hadn’t accepted it yet.

    The Itinerary Isn’t the Adventure

    The hike was over. The schedule was broken. And that’s okay, because the itinerary isn’t the reason we take these trips. Our family is.

    That’s easy to forget when you’ve spent months planning a family vacation. You paid for the hotel. You drove hundreds or thousands of miles. You researched the trail and built the schedule. You don’t want to give any of it up.

    But kids don’t care how carefully you planned the day. A toddler doesn’t understand that you drove hundreds of miles to see a waterfall. He knows that he’s exhausted. And when a little kid has nothing left to give, sometimes the best thing we can do is stop asking him to give more.

    When Dad Is the One Who Needs a Reset

    My wife wasn’t angry with me. In fact, she was the one who kept a level head when I couldn’t. While I was overloaded, she stepped back and saw what our family needed. She didn’t need to fix the hike or save the itinerary. She took care of her family.

    Eventually, she suggested something simple: a playground.

    It wasn’t part of our plans or some amazing destination we’d driven all that way to see. It was just a playground. And it was exactly what we needed.

    Our son got a chance to play and reset. There was no trail to finish and no destination to reach. He could just be a kid. And I got a chance to come down from my own overload.

    We didn’t need to solve the whole day. We just needed to reset.

    What I Would Do Differently Now

    If I could go back to that trail, I’d recognize the warning signs sooner—the whining, slowing down, refusal to cooperate, and emotional escalation. Those weren’t obstacles standing between us and the destination. They were information. My son was telling us, “I can’t do this anymore.”

    Stop Trying to Save the Itinerary

    When your child is completely overwhelmed, the schedule becomes secondary. Ask: “What does my family need right now?” Maybe it’s food, water, a bathroom, shade, quiet, rest, or getting back to the car. Sometimes the answer is simply, “We’re done.”

    Get Yourself Under Control

    An overloaded dad trying to calm an overloaded toddler isn’t a great combination. Slow down and give yourself a moment before trying to solve everything. Regulate yourself before you try to regulate your child. I’ve since learned more about recognizing that overload earlier in Sometimes I Need to Turn the Volume Down.

    Remember What Your Kid Is Telling You

    Your child may not be giving you a hard time; they may be having a hard time. When a toddler is screaming on a trail, it’s easy to think, Why won’t you just cooperate? But they may be exhausted, hungry, overstimulated, scared, or simply at their limit. That doesn’t mean there are no boundaries. It means recognizing what you’re actually dealing with.

    Look for the Simplest Solution

    Think basic: food, water, bathroom, shade, quiet, rest, connection. Don’t solve the next six hours. Ask what would make the next fifteen minutes easier.

    Give Yourself Permission to Change the Plan

    Adventure-loving dads don’t like quitting. We want to finish the trail and reach the overlook. But there is a difference between quitting and changing the plan. You didn’t waste the trip because you turned around. You made a decision based on the people who actually matter.

    The trail doesn’t need you to finish it. Your kids need you to come home with them.

    Find a Small Win

    Once Plan A is gone, don’t immediately replace it with another giant activity. Find something simple: a playground, ice cream, a creek, the hotel pool, or a movie in the room. Sometimes the random thing you found because Plan A exploded becomes the memory everyone needed.

    The Day Wasn’t Ruined

    The hike was over and our original plans were gone. But the day wasn’t ruined. We went to the playground. We gave our son time. We gave each other some grace. Eventually, everybody started feeling like themselves again.

    That’s what I remember most—not the meltdown, the hike we didn’t finish, or the itinerary we abandoned. I remember that we found a way through it.

    I also learned that I don’t have to handle every situation perfectly to be a good dad. I have to be willing to learn from it, and I have to remember that I’m not doing this alone. Sometimes Mom sees the answer when Dad is too overloaded to see it. Sometimes Dad carries the family. Sometimes Mom carries the family. Sometimes one parent simply needs the other to say, “Let’s stop. Let’s reset.”

    The Dad Takeaway

    The plan is disposable. Your family isn’t.

    Turn around. Take a break. Find a playground. Eat something. Let your spouse help. Take care of your kids. Take care of yourself. Then decide what’s next.

    Maybe you get back out there. Maybe you go back to the hotel. Maybe you find ice cream. Maybe you call it a day. It doesn’t matter, because the goal was never to complete the itinerary. The goal was to experience life together.

    The Adventure Is Still Worth It

    I’m not going to stop taking my boys on adventures because sometimes things go wrong. My kids aren’t going to remember every trail we finished or every attraction we made it to. They probably won’t remember the itinerary at all.

    But hopefully they’ll remember that Dad took them places. That we explored. That we laughed. That sometimes things went completely wrong—and we figured it out together.

    You don’t have to finish the plan to have a good day. Sometimes you turn around. Sometimes you take a break. Sometimes you find a playground. Sometimes you apologize. Sometimes you just sit down and breathe.

    The mountains will still be there. The waterfall isn’t going anywhere. Tomorrow is another adventure.

    Take care of your people first. The adventure can wait.

    Dads, let’s go.