Depends on the activity de jeur. I got my 4yo to hike 12 miles a month ago. 2-6 hour days. It was a painful .9 mph. She wanted to play with everything and I had to make up stories to keep her attention. She already loves camping and sleeping in a tent.
I kept her moving by motivating with gummy bears and granola bites. Every 200 yards or so she got a single gummy bear or granola bite.
In the car, it’s a combination of stories from spotify, coloring books, streaming on a tablet, singing. If you're hunting, you'll need to have days where your child learns a new skill. You show them how the skill should be executed and they get hours to practice it. Give them a job they can fail at and it doesn't break the trip. Have them learn to use the camp stove or start the evening fire. Bring a long book for them to read. without much detail on your trip I can't give much more in terms of suggestion
You just described the life of a man richer than any king. I hope you realize that. As a parent of an adult, I damn near got teary eyed reading the bit about how your little girl got a gummy bear every few hundred yards. Enjoy it bro, it goes by so damn fast.
Pappy always used to let me have a wine cooler before long trips. Said it “took the edge off.” It wasn’t until later that I was allowed to have road sodas. Nothing over 6% though! No one likes a mean drunk that can’t even vote.
All kidding aside. My son is an adult now and I would do anything to have another road trip with him in that context. I always just engaged with my kid. Talked to him like a grown ass man in ways he could understand and asked his opinion on shit. Taught him to respectfully disagree and engage.
“ what do you think the center of the earth is made of?”
“do elephants talk to each other like we do?”
“ If you could learn one language, what would it be and why?”
“Would you hunt a lion? Why or why not”
Does your kid like to read? Get him some adventure books on Boone, Bridger, the history of our country. You do some reading and connect him to the land you’re traveling through. “ Did you know the Cheyenne once controlled these lands? The people of the horse.” Then explain context and why it’s important. “How did they survive out here? I bet they were masters of finding water. Do we know tricks on how to find water?”
I figure if we find podcasts entertaining, they do as well. Download a library for the road and listen to adventure stories, hunting legends, the works. Let him do stuff in camp that’s accomplishable. Let him fail and learn how to do it. And you do that by staying calm and leading from the front. “Dad is always cool under pressure. Never yells, just says ok and figures out a plan.”
Most of all, remember you get this one time. One F’n go around the sun with your child. Enjoy every second of it, even when it’s stressful. You’re making memories that fill the album of life. Have fun, laugh, play around, and enjoy the journey.
