Adventure Awaits… and So Do Bathroom Breaks

There’s this pause in every trip before it starts where you’re standing in your living room staring at all of your half-zipped suitcases, wondering why you leave things to the last minute, so you can panic. It’s the calm before the storm — except the storm is mostly just a result of you forgetting something, something necessary, often a charger, extra socks or your kid’s favourite toy. Travel does that to parents. It reveals the little holes in your planning, but also manages to persuade you somehow that adventure is worth the chaos, anyway.

1) Exciting Start to Your Family Adventure

You tried to leave early. Truly. But early somehow turned into “well, at least you’re not late.” You spilled coffee down the front of your shirt while trying to chug it in some desperate attempt to look awake. Someone misplaced their sunglasses. Someone else kept insisting the map app was glitching. It wasn’t. But there you were, still quietly arguing in the car, like you always do whether it’s a long or short journey.

These haphazard starts have become part of your travel lifestyle. Family travel is always manic so you might as well accept it. 

2) The Road, the Snacks, the Sudden Bathroom Needs

You’re trickling along but then, like clockwork, the first bathroom break is required, usually the youngest is desperate to stop. And always sooner than you think. Then someone is hungry, another child is tried and restless or utterly bored etc. etc. Sound familiar? Pack snacks, games and playlists everyone likes but still prepare yourself for all of the above! 

3) Moments That Surprise You

You spot a view that makes you melt, a bakery first thing in the morning as fresh bread is being shuffled from the oven, a river you didn’t know was on the way made for the perfect spot to stop for long deep breaths and feelings of immense gratitufe. Perfect, unexpected moments like these make up for mad toilet dashes! You really do like road trips after all!

4) The Slower Part Of The Journey

There’s always a lull somewhere in the middle of a trip. A low-key period of self examination where no one is running late or rushing, or frantically hunting for snacks. You notice the scenery more. Conversations grow deeper or softer, or both.

You remember leaning your head against the window, watching trees blur and blur into long streaks of green. At this point, you fully relax.

5) The Destination That Felt Magical

You eventually arrived at our primary destination. It didn’t instantly change you or erase all of the stress in the car but it was meaningful. Dinner as a family, a long sleep.

Travel doesn’t change you drastically. It affects you in small, tiny and subtle ways. 

6) Heading Home

The drive back was quieter. Trips home usually are. Dropping Dad off at the airport for a flight as he felt unexpectedly unwell was not on the bingo card, but at least Parking Up was arranged, so he’ll get home safely. Now I’m in the driving seat. There’s that bittersweet sense of wanting your own bed but not wanting the adventure to stop. You also stopped less, although, yes, there were bathroom breaks and everyone was hungry as always. 

The energy was less energetic, perhaps due to all the walking and swimming whilst we were away and everything looked different, even though it was the same road home. You were maybe somehow changed, just enough to notice.

7) Conclusion

Now that you’re home, the trip keeps playing in the back of your mind. Not those big moments. The little ones. You shared laughter in the car. The unexpected bakery and rolls of soft bread in the morning. The sourdough! Even the strangely memorable restroom with the cool cafe next door. Adventure is seldom perfect. It is not supposed to be. It should be experienced and cherished, even the chaotic bits!