Road trip games that Gen X loved and your kids will, too

They say it’s never a good idea to live in the past, but sometimes it pays to look in the rear-view mirror – especially when you're on a road trip with the family. 

Growing up in the 70s and 80s, our family would load up our Ford Country Squire wood-panelled station wagon every summer, hook up the pop-up trailer, strap the canoe to the roof and head out on the highway. It was as Canadian as you can get. 

Our camping trips took us everywhere, like Rainbow Falls and Algonquin Park or Thunder Bay’s Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, where the blackflies were as thick as wood smoke. We’d pick wild blueberries in the same fields as black bears, make jam at our campsite, climb trees and make our own fun, only returning for meals and bandages. (If this sounds like a Gen X story, you're right.) 

But mostly, we would drive across our wide green country to Regina, where we’d team up with my uncle and our cousins and head to the mountains to camp in Banff or Jasper.   

Without the benefit of technology like mobile devices, portable games or the internet (which wouldn't even be a fever dream for another two decades), we relied on word games and our imagination to keep us busy. Sometimes the “punch buggy” game devolved into an all-out brawl, but not as often as you’d expect with five kids and a dog in the car. (Read more on how to travel with pets here.) Here are a few of the best games. 

Would you rather…? 

Would you rather be the fastest person alive or have the power to slow down time? Would you rather live alone in a mansion or a cabin with your best friends? All it takes is a bit of imagination to come up with thought-provoking hypothetical questions and equally engaging responses in this game. The great thing about “would you rather” is that it can be geared to almost any age group.  

We’re going on a picnic 

The aim of this memory game is to be the last player to perfectly recite all the items in the picnic basket. Start with the letter A for the first item, then go through the alphabet. Encourage creativity in what they pack (peanut butter and spider leg sandwiches, anyone?). Every player recites the words “We’re going on a picnic and I’ve packed…” and works through the list. For added hilarity, add a rule that no one is allowed to laugh – and make the suggestions as outlandish as possible. 

Who am I?  

Reach far back into the mists of time or just to last week’s celebrity news to stump your opponents in this fun game for older kids. Pick a famous person, dead or alive, and answer yes-or-no questions. The person who guesses correctly wins and gets to start the next round. This game lends itself well to all sorts of versions, like “who am I...in Lord of the Rings”, Harry Potter, Legend of Zelda or any other cultural content you can dream up.  

Fortunately/unfortunately  

In this collaborative storytelling game, an improvised tale can swing quickly from tragedy to comedy and back again. The first player kicks off with a sentence that starts, “Fortunately…”, which player two continues with “Unfortunately…” for instance, you could start with “I went on a walk and fortunately, I was wearing a pair of rain boots and a raincoat...” followed by “unfortunately, I found myself in a hurricane that was so strong, it lifted me up and flew me from Nova Scotia to Quebec City...” but “fortunately, I speak French, so I ordered poutine and a diet Coke.”  Keep statements to just a sentence or two.  

Punch buggy  

This game worked well when Volkswagen Beetles were plentiful and kept us occupied with spotting them. It can be adapted to spotting modern makes, electric vehicles, semi-trailers, or other commonly-seen farm animals. The idea is that the first person to spot the vehicle yells out “punch buggy” and either the colour or vehicle type. Back when we were kids, the winner got to punch whoever was beside you, hence the occasional brawls when we got too enthusiastic.  

Singing in rounds 

You don’t have to be the Partridge Family (yes, this really is a Gen X story) to sing in rounds, but it does pay to know a few songs that can work. This technique has multiple singers perform the same melody, but starting at different times. The result can be very beautiful, or at least entertaining. It also takes practice, which you can do to kill some time on the road. Some examples are Row, row, row your boat, Three blind mice and Frères Jacques. 

Before you go, make sure you book camping grounds ahead of your arrival, as some places like Bon Echo Provincial Park or Sandbanks Provincial Park have sites that are in such high demand they’re booked months in advance.