4 ways to keep track of your tech on a family road trip

Whether it was left at a rest stop or simply fell between the seats, a missing phone can derail even the best-planned family road trip. To help ensure that everyone’s device makes it home, we asked two experts for their lose-proofing tips and strategies. Here, they share the four strategies they use when their families hit the road.

1. Make the car a tech go zone. If your family has a “no devices in the car” policy for shorter trips in town, lift it for longer road trips—and maybe implement a “no devices outside the car” policy while you’re on the road. The freedom to use tech in the car on a family road trip can feel like a special privilege—and this also reduces the likelihood that they’ll bring (and misplace) their device outside the car.

“When traveling, we tend to limit tech use to the car or airport, since taking a device into a location where you’re not actually going to use it makes it more likely that you’ll leave it behind,” says Taryn White, a travel writer and founder of The Trip Wish List. “On a road trip within the US, we might also let the kids bring their tablets into a restaurant. But for international trips, it’s more important that they sit and absorb the culture of wherever we are.”

Try this: Plan (and download) activities for the road. White encourages her daughters to pick out and download games for their tablet before the start of a family road trip. “They love to play word games on the tablet when we travel as a family,” she says. “I love it because it’s a great learning tool and it keeps them occupied during longer drives.”

2. Identify a home base for each device. This is a matter of establishing a spot where each item lives when it’s not being used. “If you put your belongings in the same place every time, then you never have to waste time looking for them,” says White. “That’s one of the time management skills I try to instill in my kids while traveling—they know to put their devices back in a certain bag and then to put the bag in a particular spot where they always know they can find it.”

Try this: Designate a drop spot. According to Dr. Emily King, a licensed child psychologist who specializes in working with neurodivergent kids, establishing a home base for tech devices shouldn’t be limited to the car on a family road trip. “I call it having a drop spot—the place where you’re ‘dropping’ a particular item such as your shoes, backpack or tech,” she says. “On a trip, it’s important to define where that drop spot is in each hotel room, condo or wherever you’re staying overnight.”

3. Choose attention-grabbing accessories. With the right tech accessories, your family will be better prepared for incidents where a device moves away from its designated spot. For example, a brightly colored case, especially one you can attach to a wristlet, can make a smartphone or tablet easier to locate and harder to leave behind.

Try this: Get corded headphones. When it comes to listening in the car on a family road trip, Dr. Emily says wireless headphones may not be the best choice for every kid. “It might be easier to keep track of headphones that are attached to the device with a cord, as opposed to earbuds that can be left anywhere,” she says. “Plus, corded headphones don’t need to be charged.” No headphone jack? Just use a headphone jack adapter.

4. Enable tracking for your devices. Apps that help you find your device and other tools like Apple AirTags can be configured to send you an alert every time it appears that a device has been left behind. And by setting up Verizon’s Smart Family before the start of the trip, you can help everyone keep track of their tech while maintaining important parental controls, such as blocking certain apps from being downloaded.

Try this: Check for software updates before the trip. “I always encourage parents to keep up with the latest software and app updates,” says Dr. Emily. This means making sure updates are complete before you hit the road, and also making sure you know how to use the latest features. “When we get a new phone or update software, we may not notice right away what new tools and strategies are available.”

As with all the processes involved in a family road trip, keeping track of tech devices is a skill kids can learn—especially with lots of practice.

“It can be frustrating when your child loses a device, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t responsible or that they don’t care about the item,” says Dr. Emily. “It just means that they need more practice and support around keeping up with those devices. As parents, we often have to model those strategies until kids can enact them independently.”

Keep an eye on their phones at home and on the road with Smart Family.