“Are We There Yet?”

3 Tech Tips to Jumpstart Kids for Summer Travel

“Are we there yet?” It’s the most commonly asked question from the back seat on long trips. Usually it comes from kids and adolescents who have unglued themselves from the latest portable movie or videogame imported from home. So how do you get technology focused kids to focus on the latest travel excursion? Combine their love of tech with the latest map tools.

Try a digital map tool like PDF Maps app. It is a free app for the iOS and Android platforms.

Here are a few ideas of how to keep kids involved in the journey with doses of technology:

Create the position of Onboard Digital Historian: Family taking a road trip for the week? Download a map of the area that you’ll be traveling and place waypoints/pinpoints on all the major stops. This way YOU can ask your kids, “Are we there yet?” Have them include any additional waypoints of interesting spots you’ve stopped at with pictures and descriptions.

Time Travel through History with a Historical Map: Making your way to a historical battleground abroad or locally? Experience it more interactively with digital maps and walk to the exact location of gun positions, batteries, pill boxes and anti-tank trenches with a D-Day historical map of Omaha Beach. Give civil war history a different perspective while walking through maps from 1862 that depict where rifle pits, battery locations and military roads were located.

Join a Geocaching Treasure Hunt: If you don’t have enough time for a long trip, get the kids out of the house with a simple game of geocaching! Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices and all that’s needed is to sign up on a Geocaching site such as geocaching.com. Use a map app to locate local geocaching hunts, download a detailed map of the area and begin the geocaching search with the coordinates provided on the map. For more tech-savvy parents, create your own geocaching game by downloading a local park in your area with the app and set the kids loose to find the little treasures you hid yourself.