March 2023

Road Trippin’ with 4 littles and our dog, Teddy

Dad digging the car out…

Our first road trip as a family of 6 was a spontaneous one. Spontaneous… a word I haven’t used to describe family life well… ever. We needed a change of scenery, badly. Compounded by the fact that for the past 5 weeks (not an exaggeration) at least one person in our house has been under the weather… I won’t lie… I’ve enjoyed other stretches of my life more 😉. Sometimes I just have a sense of when we need a change up to our usual routine. Knowing my wife, Shelby, I came up with a couple of options to present to her.

I presented option #1 to her - go book a room somewhere for a night. Recharge, I’ve got it handled at home. On account of San Diego’s recent rainy and chilly weather, option #1 was (understandably) declined. Option #2 was to sneak up to the mountains in between storms to play in the snow and get away for a couple nights. I wish I could say that the stars just aligned for this quick trip to happen, but when you have 4 kids under 4, you must MAKE IT happen. Which means mostly Shelby making it happen. I can barely pack for myself, let alone our 4 littles. We both thought Idyllwild would be a good spot since it’s less than 2 hours from home, at 6,000 feet in elevation, and would have enough change of scenery for the Gail fam.

My only real concern was getting stuck somewhere in bad weather with our Toyota Sienna packed to the gills with the whole crew + our family dog Teddy on board. Thankfully, we were able to sneak in and out between storms and had a great time playing in the snow. Of course, two of our sons spiked fevers while we were there., but overall it was a great getaway. It was our daughter’s (18 months) first time in the snow. Her biggest complaint - cold hands - since she refused to wear mittens and couldn’t figure out that the coldness of the snow made her hands hurt so badly. The best part?? I only had to dig the van out once on the way into the driveway of the cabin.

Regardless of the challenges, it was just what the doctor ordered. CHANGE.

Teddy won the award for most fun in the snow…

I started thinking about what it is about traveling that makes me happy. Is it an event to look forward to? Is it possibility of new experiences? Is it the lack of rules/schedules? All of it?? Turns out there’s a science to it. Science specifically related to that change in scenery we’re all hankering for.

According to Aaron Heller, clinical psychologist, “While our study examined benefits associated with novel experiences linked to physical locations, our work suggests that exposing yourself to sights, sounds and experiences that you haven’t had recently might similarly be rewarding,” he says.

Any change, from redecorating your room to downloading a podcast out of your typical rotation, counts.

As a part of a study participants received a text when they moved locations that asked them to note their mood and emotional state.

The people who visited more locations throughout the day reported more positive feelings, such as, “happy,” “excited,” “strong,” “relaxed” and “attentive.”

So if it’s proven that we’re likely to be more positive when we’re changing scenery often… it’s not a leap to say that being in the same place too often can lead to more negative feelings.

When you have littles one, leaving the house is like fighting against the current. Little people thrive on consistency, schedules, and toddlers (especially) do best when they know what’s coming next.

Shelby and I are type A people who believe wholeheartedly in schedules and consistency for a host of reasons, but mostly because it’s best for EVERYONE.

We also have a strong affinity for experiencing new things, people, and being out interacting with the world. So what wins out?

Well for the most part we try to stay on schedule and occasionally pick our spots for a change up (i.e. stay up late, miss a nap, etc). We change it up in the name of life and life doesn’t stick to our schedule no matter how much we’d like it to. All that being said, with the addition of our twins we’ve had to be at the house more than we’d like. Mostly because we have 3 different schedules for naps, snacks, feedings, diaper changes… the list goes on. It’s really made us more homebodies than either of us would like or care to be.

So when the opportunity came up to go off schedule, make some memories, and change it up… we took it. And we’re so glad we did, even if it’s just to prove to ourselves that we CAN do it with 4 littles. Our schedules might be a little more rigid these days, but we know one day in the not so distant future we’ll yearn for these days with our 4 favorite little people. And oh yeah… one of the underrated parts of going on a trip? …coming home. It makes you appreciate everything you’ve got and then some.