I think it depends on how long is a "long" drive. My parents always LOVED driving trips, so we often drove when possible just because they liked it (plus we could get out to stretch, etc.) We even drove across the country (and not a very direct route - 30 states in 30 days!) for FUN. Of course, I was considerably older than 3

I think it comes down to preferance (for us) and how much time you have to travel. I think if the drive could be made in a day, we usually would drive. Any longer and we'd be much more likely to fly.

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We were thinking about doing a driving trip with our kids this summer. There was a convention we wanted to take our kids to, but we just could not afford to fly six of us. However, we went to see my mil and the two hour drive was filled with fighting. Dh and I were talking about it cause we both did long trips with our parents. One issue that we realized was that when we drove, we were not in seat belts or car seats. We could move around, play board games in the back of the station wagon, stretch etc. Our kids can't do that as they are in seatbelts or carseats.

Yeah, I think a lot of it is about the cost. The second most important thing is the length of the travel. And third, the age of the kids.

My parents live about 14 hours away. It's really too long to be in the car for one really long day. But almost too short to warrant an overnight hotel stay and more $$ spent.

My kids were actually better for the drive when they were toddlers. We could put on a DVD and they would sleep a lot too. Now that they are school-aged, the get bored SO much quicker.

I try to put together small bags for each one of them for each day of the trip. I put in small toys and novelty candy that is different and special. It helps some with the trip.

i would fly but thats just me