From MotherProofJun 22 2009 by Kristin Varela
Have your kids outgrown following your family road trip’s progress with a map and cute stickers? If so, they’ve probably also outgrown any idea that they’re derived from your lame DNA? Ahh, the teen years. From planning to documenting the trip, here are a few 21st century ways to keep teens involved in your family road trip.
Navigation systems: Before your trip begins, let your teen loose with a Garmin or other navigation system. They can even pick out a few stops along the way (the double-headed rattlesnake and five-legged cow exhibits might have some funky side-show appeal). They also might teach you a few things that you weren’t even aware your nav system could do such as leaving electronic breadcrumbs along your route.
MySpace or Facebook: Many teens can access their social networking profile updates via cell phone. They can keep their friends in the loop about interesting places they’ve seen. Also, teens can use their profiles as a gripe platform — “OMG my mom is drving me so crzy!” — so you don’t have to hear it.
Twitter: Teens with cell phones can also update their Twitter accounts remotely. They can use 140-character “tweets” to keep friends, classmates and other Twitter followers in the know on their trip. Check out this travel tweet from RandGirl, “The Statue of Liberty is 151-ft and has a 35-ft waistline, and you thought you needed to go on a diet?” Teen Tiffany Eckhart tweets, “Trying to drink coffee while we drive down I10…Impossible! This road never seems to change.” While some teen tweets might seem pointless to you, it’s a quick way for teens to keep an electronic travel journal that they’ll be able to revisit later to remember quirky things about the trip.
Digital video cameras and YouTube: Savvy teens raised in the electronic age can be charged with documenting the car trip with the family video camera (some digital point-and-shoot cameras now allow you to record short videos, too). Once you get home, video and photo snippets can be edited together to come up with a creative road trip video, in-car music video or road trip parody. Use this as an opportunity for your teen to show off her creativity. They can then upload their video for friends to view on YouTube, and you can plan a viewing party for the family.
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