Christmas road trip

[ChequerboardCharlie]

Our Christmas Eve will be spent picking up children from various cities in the country as they finish work for Christmas. 2 of them can only be home for a couple of days because of work, so I want to make sure the drive is super cheesy Christmas themed. We have PJs for everyone to put on, Santa hats and music. Any other suggestions? My kids are all very cool 20 somethings but will totally embrace the ridiculous.
it’s a 4 hr drive to child 1, then 2 hrs to child 2, 2 more hours to child 3 and then 45 mins home so we can build in festive stops along the way ☺️

Snacks!

Can you google a street with lots of lights that you could drive down?

You sound like a lovely family! Have the best Christmas!

8 hours 45 mins driving? A 15 minute delay and you are over what lorry drivers are allowed to drive in a day.

There are 2 excited parents collecting our brood! We will share the driving and take our time with lots of stops 🎉

Christmassy snacks, games of some kind, a stop for a meal, Christmas eve boxes or a little 'car gift' to open, crackers (minus the bang as you're driving)... You sound like a really fun family!

Christmas playlist on Spotify fir Christmas karaoke

Maybe a Christmas story to listen to on Audible to mix it up

You could see if you'll be driving past a church that has a carol or christingle service.

Festive car games like count the Christmas tree or bingo with a list of things to spot e.g. snowflake light/ in my grandma's stocking (rather than handbag)

This made me cry 🥲 What incredible parents you both sound like! Hope you have the BEST time 😍

Christmas paper plates and napkins for mince pies and other Christmassy snacks.

Sometimes the car games they loved as children can take on a new life as adults.
Are you familiar with 'I went to market and bought ...' (if not I can explain) but you could have a rule that all the items must be festive.

Or where you take it in turns to build a story, each person adding a sentence. You can start it off to the set the theme eg 'It was the night before Christmas, and the Chequerboard family were heading home for the big day'.

When I first read your post I thought I could think of nothing worse, am now really jealous!!

Can none of them drive!?!?

Thank you so much- some great ideas here!

I found a carol service that we can probably get to if we do a Richard Curtis style speed through the city. My kids were all very sometime ‘yes and no game’players and that will definitely feature.

I could have told them to get the train ( they are all non car owning city dwellers), but we would have to pick up the far away ( no easy train service)one so we want to make a day of it, and I don’t want the others arriving to an empty house. They are all excited and so am I as it’s going to be great to have them home. it’s not often we are all together very often now. I’m hoping there will be less rows and car sickness than when they were 8 😂.

Flask of warm mulled wine. Blankets. Party hats. Pass the parcel.

I love the sound of this day!

Wow, I love this!! Well done. Nothing to add to the amazing suggestions, but wondering if I can be added en-route!
Maybe, find a Christmas themed location for photos at every pick up so you can record the memories and embarrass them all in PJs 🤣

This sounds like a Christmas movie 🥰

Your DC are very fortunate to have such loving, fun parents!!!

Hope you have a wonderful festive road trip. I’d add battery-operated fairy lights around the inside roof and Xmas window decals on the passenger windows.

It sounds great and will so memorable. When my kids were younger we were given the CD of Anne Fine's 'The More The Merrier' read by Julian Rhind-Tutt. It's a genuinely funny family Christmas story, highly recommend. We used to listen to it on long drives running up to Christmas to get in the mood. Have fun!

Driving Home for Christmas MUST be playing as each person gets into the car.

You could change the yellow car game to christmas lights/Decs game.

This is crazy @ChequerboardCharlie ! Can they not get trains? And how come they're all coming on the same day?

No way are all 3 trips going to be exactly what you are predicting. They could be a third more time - or even double. Christmas Eve is a very busy day on the roads! Do you really want to spend Christmas Eve like this? And 2 of them are only 'home' for 2 days anyway? Are you taking them back too? (On the 27th I presume... One of the busiest days in Retail.) The roads will be RAMMED!

I'm in my PJs, supping mulled wine, and watching Christmas films on Christmas Eve, not spending dawn to evening time driving/picking people up. This doesn't sound like fun at all (to me.)

.

God! OP is full of festive cheer and people are queuing up to piss on her chips! Don't listen OP!

Sounds like so much lovely loving fun.

You could do a Christmas music quiz, play the first two seconds and whoever guesses the tune gets a sweet.

if they are city dwellers you could stop by the big Christmas tree in each city and get a photo.

you could do stockings to open on the way home.

go via Starbucks or Costa for one of the festive drinks.

it sounds fabulous anyway and your cracking parents for doing it. When I was at uni nothing was better than being picked up by my parents to go home for the holidays.

Can you go to child 1 the night before and stay in a hotel? That will make for a more relaxed and safer start.

I love the idea and the whole Christmas spirit, but I think @TheSandgroper is right, travel the first 4 hours up the day before and then do the festive drive on Christmas Eve. Less stress, I'd be worried about traffic or something going wrong before I even got to them!

No suggestions but this is so lovely to read.

How does anyone have time on Christmas Eve to spend 9 hours in a car?! 😆 I’d get them from the train station & have a nice meal together and Carol service. Perhaps car journeys aren’t awful where you are though, here it’s roadworks everywhere & traffic so I detest even small journeys.

It’s a great idea to drive up the day before and start the journey from there actually - we can’t pick up child 1 till she finishes work (at 1pm) but it will still mean we are much fresher- thank you!

as for being busy with prep, we can lie in on Christmas Day and I will have wrapped presents. The fancy dinner is really not so important. My kids all work really hard and are in that tricky Gen Z high rent low wage place so I’m just happy to have them home so I can pamper them. I know the roads will be busy etc but memories are made from these sorts of plans, and as they get older there is less chance they will all be home at Christmas, so I want to make it special.

You sound lovely. I'd do the same if it was the only way to have all my DC home for Xmas 🤶

I think it all sounds fantastic but are you really expecting them to wear Christmas pyjamas in the car? What if they need to stop at services to go to the loo? Great idea to start by sleeping at the first destination the night before. Have a brilliant Christmas together.