To think this is too far to travel for a day trip?

[Blackcat1989]

Due to Covid DH’s family who live 4-5 hours away want to meet up but we’re trying to arrange to meet in the middle somewhere. They’ve found a national trust place that’s 2 hours 20 mins away. DH thinks that’s reasonable for a day and obviously we’d be returning the same distance later on. So over 4 hours of driving altogether.
I’m not sure what the alternative is at present except to not see them, but it feels like a lot of driving for one day. Thoughts?

It's fine. Most of my immediate family are 2/2.5 hours away (one way) and so that's perfectly normal for me to go and visit them for a day. Also DC does a hobby which means we have to do a regular 4 hour round trip for training.

All depends on how old any children are! If there are any. Or if anyone has additional needs, bladder problems etc

I’d consider it with my children, aged 11 and 6, but wouldn’t with toddlers unless it was v important to me.

I used to commute for 2 hours each way to work, so no, not unreasonable.

I’d do it. Easy.
You can stop and take a break. Play games, have snacks. It will be fine.

It is a reasonable distance to travel, we do that kind of journey time to see either my family or DP's and we do it with two small babies and a dog. We try to travel at nap time so the babies sleep in the car.

I’d do that , fairly normal day trip for us , last week we went on a day trip to the swannery in Abbotsbury , Dorset and we live in Kent .

The drama on here is ridiculous sometimes.

It’s safe to say that you will survive one day of driving 5 hours, OP.

I don't like driving OP (and DH doesn't drive) but I'd suck it up and see them. People drive far longer than 5 hours in a day and you can have a nice long rest in the middle at the national trust property. Unless you're a very new, nervous driver I'd definitely go for it.

Let him go on his own if you're not bothered about seeing them.

I wouldn’t do it every weekend, but I don’t think it is too far to travel to see people that I care about, and otherwise wouldn’t get to see. If you don’t want to go let your husband go (and take the children) by himself.

op possibly feels piled on, or is too busy to come back, but it is irritating when people are giving advice and op disappears, we know there is no requirement to respond but why ask if you are going to ignore /not come back to answer questions ?

Sounds totally reasonable to me

Reasonable for a day trip I think, but possibly do so before the evenings get dark too early, so some of the journey back is in daylight.

You could plan it well to help, do you have tablets for a film for the kids in the car? Breakfast stop on the way up, then dinner after the day out and change into pjs at the restaurant? Or could you afford to stay in a hotel or air bnb? If so maybe you could go a bit nearer to them and have a night or two away? Xx

Thanks for all the replies. I didn’t expect so many!
We do have a 2 year old, which is part of the reason i’m a little hesitant.

But presumably the 2 year old would have to cope with 4-5 hours in the car, if you were visiting in "normal" times?

With a 2 year old, I'd suggest visiting later in the day, so that the journey home at least partly coincides with normal bedtime so that they sleep :)
Or travel up during morning nap time (if they still have a morning nap).

It is only 2 and a half hours. As for having a 2 year old , what difference does that make. My 3 under 5s were in the car all the way from Scotland to Dover, through the tunnel then a 4 hour drive through Belgium and Holland to their new home in Germany and that was in the days before portable dvd players or tablets. They were fine !

If it is a rare thing, I think its fine to do this with the 2 year old, for a nice day out and see family. Have a lovely lunch, wrap up warm and have a great walk, and hopefully the 2 year old will sleep.

@MJMG2015 Yeah I realise that, but I still don't get why? Two hours there, time there & 2 hours back is easy enough, without needing to share the driving

Why wouldn't you if you have two able-bodied adults in the car? Both DH and I are individually perfectly capable of carrying four bags of shopping but if we're out together we'll take two each rather than one person carrying everything and the other one nothing.

@Blackcat1989

Thanks for all the replies. I didn’t expect so many! We do have a 2 year old, which is part of the reason i’m a little hesitant.

Unless your child gets terribly carsick this really isn't a reason not to do the journey. Two-year-olds are pretty portable.

Seems quite far for a day trip to me unless you really want to see them

I'm sure her DH does really want to see his family.

What exactly are you worried about with driving 2 and a half hours with a 2 year old? We've been driving from West of Scotland to France with our boys since they were babies, daily journeys a lot longer, 2 and a half hours would be a doddle!

I did a 2 hours away day trip with a good friend to meet mutual friend...

8 Year old, just 3 year old, one about to turn 2 and a week overdue with #4.

Packed my maternity notes and tens machine!

Before covid we regularly did a day trip to MIL who is 2.5 hrs away. Left in the morning, have lunch with MIL, leave just before tea time and stop at services on the way home for food. I'd understand your hesitation if DC were a baby, but 2yo is fine imo.

I did that journey every third week to visit my MIL in her care home, pre-covid. I'd be there for an hour, max. Sometimes she'd fall asleep after half an hour!
Though I didn't have a two year old, I didn't have anyone to share driving with, either.