My sisters and I take a lot of road trips, especially long ones, which is why I find road trip fitness to be real important. Often times, we have an 18-20 hour day in the car, so how do we do it? How does Mom do it? No one wants to be totally bored, and a bored driver is also a hazard. Check out my simple tips to keep everyone fit on the road!
We headed off to Nashville this week to attend BlogPaws. It isn’t a bad trip, fourteen hours in the car, but those hours can seem like an eternity if we don’t have a plan. We traveled to Vegas last year and have driven to Florida a few times which were more like 27 hour trips, and we survived.
My first tip it to break up the trip. Mom likes to simply get there, but this time we broke the fourteen hours into two days which made it much more comfortable. We stopped at Bailie’s breeder on the way to our overnight stop in St. Louis, and spent a few hours, then continued on the final two hours to the hotel where we could all stretch and chill out. The next morning, we met with another GBGV friend, Karen and her GBGV Chablis, for an hour before heading on the rest of our journey.
Make sure and stop at least once every three hours, get out of the car, use the restroom, get a drink, eat a snack. Why do you think they have those places called rest stops? This is not only important for your dogs, but for the human chauffeur. Human minds start to wander after three hours, diminishing their driving skills, and the risk of blood clots also increases. We all love a good stretch!
If you see something fun along your journey, stop, get out, take a photo. It resets your mind, is fun, and makes for a good photo memory.
Even is the weather is lousy, find a spot to pull over, get out, and at least stretch and get a drink. We found this spot in between down pours.
Sometimes you will see a nice area on your travels. Pull over, take a short walk and enjoy the view! We always travel with three leashes each. We have a short 4 ft leash for crowded areas, our usual 6 ft leash for average places, and we have long leashes for spots like this so we can race around a bit and burn off some energy.
These may seem like obvious tips, but it is surprising how many people don’t really take the time for a little road trip fitness. If you treat yourself well on the road, you will be all set when you arrive at your final destination!
Iβm co hosting the FitDog Friday Blog Hop with SlimDoggy, and To Dog With Love!Β Please join us on Fridays to share your fitness stories with others, find new ways to have fun, and new fitness ideas too! Tell your friends to stop by as well β fit dogs are healthier, happier dogs!
I want to travel with you guys it seems like so much fun.
It is tiring, but we do have a good time.
These are great tips and we love rest stops! I’m so glad that you’re here!
I will try to be a bit nicer today, Bentley π
What pawesome tips and this is exactly what I had Mama do when we were on our latest road trip!!
Hope your having blast at #BlogPaws!!
Smileys!
Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo
We are having so much fun and eating so many good things. A truly great time.
Smart advice y’all.
Thanks.
that are fabulous ideas… many thanks, it’s a super tip to take a break if you see interesting things and to take a photo or to do something what’s good for your eyes and your soul.
It kind of resets your brain, and gives your body a break.
I have not taken a road trip with the mom, but when I do I will remind her of all your great advice! The mom just got a new SUV and I get to ride in it today when I go to the doggie spa. XOXO Sparkle the PBGV
Enjoy! Don’t forget to be a safe rider and buckle up!
I don’t think I could do an 18-hour road trip, but if I ever do, I’ll remember your tips – thanks Emma.
Heavens, we do 18 hours in one day…try 27 or 29, that is long!
Great tips. How nice to stop and visit Bailey’s breeder, I bet she was happy to see her in fur. Have a safe trip back.
It was fun to see so many GBGV’s all in one spot. Bailie seems to be happy she lives with us, though. They all acted like they had never seen Bailie before.
Since we travel all the time, we have a strategy too. We try to not drive more than 5 hours in day, and we take frequent breaks for everyone.
Five hours isn’t much! We might prefer traveling with you!
WE agree about needing to STOP OFTEN when on a Road trip… We stop at LEAST 3 times in the 250 mile trip To and From Sarge’s House… We always have a Drink and a Snack and take time to read and leave some peemail at each one…
That is good. It is good for the humans too.
Had to do a double take, thought you guys copy/pasted yourself in that photo. Nice to meet another gbgv.
We saw about ten GBGV’s on the way to Nashville. Very unusual, but a lot of fun.
Y’all are just the best at keeping fit and having fun!
Gotta keep our girlish figures, and with all the snacks we are eating here in Nashville, we need to workout!
Great tips – we too have to make many stops when we’re on the road. We enjoy them all. no rush – have fun
Mom always needs lots of bathroom stops but we don’t mind.
You make traveling with dogs sounds so easy! I will definitely have to take my pups on a road trip this summer! Great post – Petnetio
Mom says it is easy. We have all been traveling since we are little which makes it pretty easy.
I think they are great tips! People forget that our dogs still need to stretch their legs etc…when going on a long road trip!
α¦ husky hugz α¦ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Dogs need to be in seat belts or crated for safety too, which limits our movement and makes stopping for stretch breaks even more important.
There is nothing better than a good road trip
Lily & Edward
The road trip is alright, but the destination is the best!
What a brilliant post guys! Have a great time at BlogPaws!
sumskersandearlskers13.blogspot.com
Thank you. We are worn out from all the stuff going on here in Nashville!
I don’t know how you can do an 18-hour day! I think about 9-10 is my max. The longest Mr. N has been in the car for a stretch is about four hours. Have fun at Blogpaws!
Mom likes to just get there, so we do longer days. Last year on the Vegas trip we had 18-19 hour days with a few stops. Mom hates to drive, so she likes to get it over with.
These are great tips to remind my mom about,since as you know, we are headed to Asheville next week!
YOUR FRIEND , CHABLIS
You all drive safe and remember those stops.
This is wonderful advice Emma! I haven’t been on a real road trip since I was a teenager, but we used to travel to Arkansas often. I did some of the driving with my dad on those trips when I was old enough. They were quite an adventure as I had to drive with boats and campers on the back of the truck!
Oh no, Mom wouldn’t want to try that! We don’t feel like we do a lot of road trips, but actually we have done four in the past six months varying from three to fourteen hours. We have done it our entire lives, so we are used to it.
Those are all very important tips! I drink a lot of water because I get dehydrated quickly, so just because of that I need to take regular pee breaks π When we travel with the pups, we pull over every 2-3 hours and do exactly what you mentioned: go for a potty break, stretch our legs, have a little drink & a snack, and then hop back on our road!
Love the picture with the pups in front of the colorful camper ;-))
Yeah, Mom is the one that needs constant potty breaks as she drinks water and stuff all the time and can’t wait more than 2-3 hours, but we all don’t mind.
Excellent tips. Even if the dogs don’t want to stop, this human usually needs the rest area…lol.
One thing I hate to see in rest areas though is dogs locked in hot cars while the person uses the facilities. Dogs are not allowed inside so they have to be left in the car. It is usually only a short time, but makes me cringe. Hubby and I usually go places together so one stays outside with the dogs and we can lock them in their crates with the windows/doors open if only one of us is traveling.
My mom holds bathroom speed records. She is in and out faster than most guys and what choice is there since dogs aren’t allowed? We don’t travel much in the heat, though, so it doesn’t usually matter.
We love road trips, too! Maybe because we’re older, we stop at 90 minute intervals (longer if the dogs are in active snore mode). I had not thought about getting a shorter leash in crowded areas … duh! Thanks for that tip!
Sometimes the simple things are the hardest to think of! It works well for us with the multiple leashes so we can adapt to where we are. BlogPaws indoors was a short leash place.