90+ Family Road Trip Quotes to Inspire you to hit the road

Kids running towards water, stopping on a family road trip

What is it about planning road trips that get me all sentimental?  Is it fond memories of my own childhood with countless hours spend bumping along rutted country roads in Australia in an XF Falcon, or the memories I know I am creating for my own children with each mile we travel?

I wonโ€™t deny those hours spent in the car with our tiny kids was tough. Not something I thought Iโ€™d want to repeat at the time, but Iโ€™m already looking just those few short years back with some nostalgia (ok perhaps rose-tinted glasses!)

Me crossing the Nullarbor with my family in Australia c1986

So whether youโ€™re looking to gear yourself up that your next family road trip is something not just to be endured but enjoyed, or you want to be ready for some witty comebacks when things donโ€™t entirely go to plan โ€“ hereโ€™s our selection of family road trip quotes to take along every step of your journey.

Let us know in the comments if you have any more suggestions (or any attributions we may have missed! )

This post is part of our family road trip series โ€“ you can see all of our road trip destination guides and handy road trip advice.


Family Road Trip Quotes – Inspiring you to plan that trip

Building up expectations and planning the journey can be half the fun. Letโ€™s see why you should be planning a journey together as a family and adventure quotes for kids get you inspired to hit the road:

โ€œLife is either a daring adventure or nothing.โ€ โ€“ Helen Keller

“Jobs fill your pocket, but adventures fill your souls.” – Jamie Lyn Beatty

โ€œThe road is there, it will always be there. You just have to decide when to take it.โ€ โ€“ Chris Humphrey

โ€œRoad trips are the equivalent of human wings. Ask me to go on one, anywhere. Weโ€™ll stop in every small town and learn the history and stories, feel the ground and capture the spirit. Then weโ€™ll turn it into our own story that will live inside our history to carry with us, always. Because stories are more important than things.โ€ โ€“ Victoria Erickson

โ€œHappiness isโ€ฆ planning a trip to somewhere new, with someone you love.โ€ Unknown

“The best education you will ever get is traveling. Nothing teaches you more than exploring the world and accumulating experiences.” – Mark Paterson

โ€œThe freedom of the open road is seductive, serendipitous and absolutely liberating.โ€ – Aaron Lauritsen

โ€œTo awaken alone in a strange town is one of the pleasantest sensations in the world. You are surrounded by adventure. You have no idea of what is in store for you, but you will, if you are wise and know the art of travel, let yourself go on the stream of the unknown.โ€ โ€“ Freya Stark

โ€œWe all have that one friend who is either on a road-trip or planning a road-trip or thinking about a road-trip or talking to people who are on road-trip or posting quotes about road-trip.โ€ โ€“ Crestless Wave

โ€œWe must take adventures in order to know where we truly belong.โ€ – Unknown

โ€œLife is too short to not go on that spontaneous road trip.โ€ โ€“ Unknown

โ€œKilometers are shorter than miles. Save fuel, take your next trip in Kilometers.โ€ โ€“ George Carlin

โ€œYou can be writing every day. When you go on a road trip, the trip itself becomes part of the story.โ€ โ€• Steve Rushin

“If we were meant to stay in one place weโ€™d have roots instead of feet.โ€ – Rachel Wolchin

“People donโ€™t take trips, trips take people.”John Steinback

โ€œTraveling can never be taken for granted, no matter how meticulous the preparations.โ€ โ€” Eugene Linden

โ€œI travel not to go anywhere but to go. I travel for travelโ€™s sake. The great affair is to move.โ€ โ€“ Robert Louis Stevenson

โ€œKids donโ€™t remember their best day of television.โ€ – Unknown

โ€œOnce the travel bug bites there is no known antidote, and I know that I shall be happily infected until the end of my life.โ€Michael Palin

โ€œTo move, to breathe, to fly, to float, To gain all while you give, To roam the roads of lands remote, To travel is to live.โ€ โ€“ Hans Christian Andersen

“When you travel with your children you are giving them something that can never be taken away โ€ฆ experience, exposure and a way of life.” – Pamela T. Chandler

โ€œThe world is full of wonderful things you havenโ€™t seen yet. Donโ€™t ever give up on the chance of seeing them.โ€ โ€” J.K. Rowling

โ€œHaving kids is a reason to travel, never a reason to stop.โ€ – Unknown


Family road trip quotes โ€“ Family, company & togetherness

We know that travel is a beautiful way to bring you together โ€“ even if itโ€™s trying at times! Everyday life can be too busy so letโ€™s treasure these moments โ€“ some light-hearted, some much deeper and sentimental to reflect on as you take off on your family road trip together:

โ€œA road trip is a way for the whole family to spend time together and annoy each other in interesting new places.โ€ โ€“ Tom Lichtenheld

โ€œTwo of the greatest gifts we can give our children and roots and wingsโ€ – Hodding Carter

โ€œMay your adventures bring you closer together, even as they take you far away from homeโ€ โ€“ Trenton Lee Stewart

โ€œIn the end, kids wonโ€™t remember that fancy toy you bought them, they will remember the time you spent with them.โ€ – Kevin Heath 

โ€œEvery day we make deposits in the memory banks of our children.โ€ โ€” Charles R Swindoll

โ€œWhen you travel with children you are giving something that can never be taken awayโ€ฆ experience, exposure and a way of life.โ€ – Pamela T. Chandler

โ€œTravel sparks our imagination, feeds our curiosity and reminds us how much we all have in common.โ€ โ€“ Deborah Lloyd

โ€œThe greatest legacy we can leave our children is happy memories.โ€ – Og Mandino

โ€œIf you think adventure is dangerous, try routine; it is lethal.โ€ Paulo Coelho

โ€œTraveling in the company of those we love is home in motion.โ€ โ€“ Leigh Hunt

โ€œWherever you go, go with all your heart.โ€ โ€“ Confucius

โ€œPeople forget the years and remember momentsโ€  Anne Beattie

โ€œGood company in a journey makes the way seem shorter.โ€ โ€“ Izaak Walton

โ€œIt doesnโ€™t matter where you are going. Itโ€™s who you have beside you.โ€ – Unknown

โ€œJoy is portable, bring it with you.โ€ โ€“ Unknown

โ€œAs soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happenโ€ – A. A. Milne

โ€œI have found out that there ainโ€™t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.โ€ โ€“ Mark Twain

โ€œTravelling the company of those we love is home in motion.โ€ Leigh Hunt

โ€œWhatโ€™s your favourite place?โ€ โ€œI donโ€™t have a favourite place, I have my favourite people. And, whenever Iโ€™m with my favourite people, it becomes by favourite place.โ€ – Late Night Tales, Nivaz Ahemad

“At the end of your life, you will never regret not having passed one more test, not winning one more verdict, or not closing one more deal. You will regret time not spent with a husband, a friend, a child, a parent.” – Barbara Bush

โ€œSome roads arenโ€™t meant to be travelled alone.โ€ โ€• Chinese Proverb

โ€œNo road is long with good company.โ€ โ€“ Turkish Proverb



Family road trip quotes โ€“ enjoying your journey

Now youโ€™re under way let the fun of your family road trip begin, here’s whay we love a good family road trip!

โ€œRoad trips required a couple of things: a well-balanced diet of caffeine, salt and sugar and an excellent selection of tunesโ€”oh, and directions.โ€ โ€“ Jenn McKinlay

โ€œThatโ€™s why I love road trips, dude. Itโ€™s like doing something without actually doing anything.โ€ โ€“ John Green

โ€œIf youโ€™re on a road trip, you need driving music.โ€ โ€“ Edgar Wright

โ€œHappiness isโ€ฆ a car, the open road, and a best friend.โ€ – Unknown

โ€œThe best part of a road trip isnโ€™t arriving at your destination โ€ฆ itโ€™s the fast food along the way.โ€ โ€” Unknown

โ€œThe freedom of the open road is seductive, serendipitous and absolutely liberating.โ€ โ€“ Aaron Lauritsen

โ€œI love road trips. You get into this Zen rhythm; throw the sense of time out the window.โ€ โ€“ Miriam Toews

โ€œNow, on this road trip, my mind seemed to uncrinkle, to breathe, to present to itself a cure for a disease it had not, until now, known it had.โ€ โ€“ Elizabeth Berg

โ€œHappiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling.โ€ โ€“ Margaret Lee Runbeck

โ€œThe road goes on forever and the party never ends.โ€ โ€“ Unknown

โ€œI climb behind the steering wheelโ€ฆ I drive off immediately without once looking back; itโ€™s a long journey but it leads to freedom.โ€ โ€“ Corinne Hofmann


Family road trip quotes – When things start to go slightly off the intended path, all is not lost!

Ok letโ€™s be frank, thereโ€™s bound to be a point where road trips donโ€™t take the intended path. I donโ€™t know about you, but this is where I really need to draw on inspiration from those far wiser than me!

Remember to keep some of these up your sleeve if tensions are getting frayed or youโ€™re questioning your decisions!

โ€œThe journey, not the arrival matters.โ€ โ€“ T.S. Eliot

โ€œI’m not lost. I’m exploring.โ€ โ€“ Jana Stanfield

“Some beautiful paths canโ€™t be discovered without getting lost.”Erol Oza

โ€œStop worrying about the potholes in the road and enjoy the journey.โ€ โ€“ Babs Hoffman

โ€œLook for chances to take the less-travelled roads. There are no wrong turns.โ€ โ€” Susan Magsamen

โ€œTo the tourist, travel is a means to an end; to the traveller, itโ€™s an end in itself.โ€ โ€” Marty Rubin

โ€œMap out your future โ€“ but do it in pencil. The road ahead is as long as you make it. Make it worth the trip.โ€ – Jon Bon Jovi

โ€œRoad trips arenโ€™t measured by mile markers, but by moments.โ€ โ€“ Unknown

โ€œA good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.โ€ โ€“ Lao Tzu

โ€œIf you donโ€™t know where you are going, any road will take you there.โ€โ€“ Lewis Carroll

โ€œSometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.โ€ โ€” Unknown

โ€œDo not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.โ€ โ€“ Ralph Waldo Emerson

โ€œLife is one big road with lots of signs. So when you’re riding through the ruts, don’t complicate your mind.โ€ โ€“ Bob Marley

โ€œI may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.โ€ โ€“ Douglas Adams

โ€œI just go with the flow, I follow the yellow brick road. I donโ€™t know where itโ€™s going to lead me, but I follow it.โ€ โ€“ Grace Jones

โ€œGod made the world round so we would never be able to see too far down the road.โ€ โ€“ Isak Dinesen

โ€œSometimes, the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to – it’s not for them.โ€ โ€“ Joubert Botha

โ€œSometimes the most scenic roads in life are the detours you didnโ€™t mean to take.โ€โ€“ Angela N. Blount

โ€œWhen all’s said and done, all roads lead to the same end. So it’s not so much which road you take, as how you take it.โ€ โ€“ Charles de Lint

โ€œSome beautiful paths canโ€™t be discovered without getting lost.โ€ โ€“ Erol Ozan

โ€œLook for chances to take the less-traveled roads. There are no wrong turns.โ€ โ€” Susan Magsamen

 โ€œSometimes the road less traveled is less traveled for a reason.โ€ โ€“ Jerry Seinfeld

โ€œIf you donโ€™t know where you are going, any road will get you there.โ€ โ€“ Lewis Carroll

โ€œNo matter how far you have gone on the wrong road, turn around.โ€ โ€“ Turkish Proverb


Family Road Trip Quotes โ€“ itโ€™s about the journey, not just the destination

Itโ€™s all about the journey, right? OK, tell me this 6 hours into an epic driving day when the snacks are running lowโ€ฆ but thereโ€™s a lot of truth here too.

I hope this collection will be the final inspiration you need to get out there and hit the road:

โ€œRoads were made for journeys, not destinations.โ€ โ€“ Confucius

โ€œNothing behind me, everything ahead of me, as is ever so on the road.โ€ โ€“ Jack Kerouac

โ€œI guess the lesson is you canโ€™t go everywhere. You should still go everywhere you can.โ€ โ€” Charles Finch

โ€œThe greatest legacy we can leave our children is happy memoriesโ€โ€” Og Mandino

โ€œLife is like a road trip โ€“ Enjoy each day and donโ€™t carry too much luggage.โ€ Unknown

โ€œRoad trips arenโ€™t measured by mile markers, but by moments.โ€ โ€” Unknown

โ€œWhat it takes to realize everything is fine around you? A road trip to the mountains where your soul dwells in the echoes of the winds that carry fragments of clouds with them. What it takes to realize world is going back to chaos and infinite hurry? End of the aforementioned road trip.โ€ โ€“ Crestless Wave

โ€œOf all the paths you take in life make sure a few of them are dirty.โ€ โ€“ John Muir

โ€œTravel isnโ€™t always pretty. It isnโ€™t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But thatโ€™s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.โ€ โ€“ Anthony Bourdain

 โ€œEvery journey is simultaneously a beginning and an ending: I was leaving my old life behind and starting on a road trip to find a new me.โ€ โ€“ Debi Tolbert Duggar

โ€œThere are no perfect parents and there are no perfect children, but there are plenty of perfect moments along the way.โ€ โ€” Dave Willis

โ€œAt the end of the day, your feet should be dirty, your hair messy and your eyes sparkling.โ€ โ€“ Shanti

โ€œBecause the greatest part of a road trip isnโ€™t arriving at your destination. Itโ€™s all the wild stuff that happens along the way.โ€ โ€” Emma Chase


Looking for more great road trip inspiration?

You’ve come to the right place, why not check out these road trip guides:

And if you haven’t had quite enough quotes yet we have an incredible selection of 200 family travel quotes over here covering everything from education and travel to adventures, camping and escaping to nature.


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