If you’re a parent, you know how challenging traveling with your entire family can be. Especially when your children are young, there are few things more stressful than trying to survive a cross-country road trip or plane ride. So once your kids get old enough to start taking some trips on their own, you might find yourself feeling both excited and scared at the prospect. So to help ensure that your children stay safe when they’re not in your presence, here are three ways you can prep your teen before their first road trip without you.  

Set Up Some Ground Rules

Before you let your teen head off on his or her first road trip, be it a solo trip or a trip with friends, it’s going to be a good idea to set up some ground rules that you expect to be followed. To help you with this, Susie Kellogg, a contributor to TravelingMom.com, recommends making rules about things like a curfew, certain places to avoid, and sticking to the plan they laid out before they left. With these rules in place and your teens commitment to follow them, you should be able to feel a little more relaxed about the overall safety of your child while on this road trip.

Emphasize The Importance of Communication

While you don’t want your teen calling or texting you while they’re driving, you should emphasize to your teen how important it is that he or she keeps you in the loop. According to Melissa Popp, a contributor to Trip Savvy, your teen should communicate to you how their progress is going on their trip, where they are, where they plan to go during the day, and if they anticipate making any stops along the way. By sharing this information, you’ll better be able to send help if it becomes necessary or give advice or direction in the event of inclement weather, construction, or bad traffic along their route.

Quiz Them Before They Leave

Before you let your teen leave the house for their first road trip without adult supervision, Traci L. Suppa, a contributor to Family Vacation Critic, recommends giving your teen a little quiz. Ask them questions about things like how to change a tire, what to do if the weather gets bad, or how they’d handle being put in a variety of different situations. Not only will this help your teen know how to respond in all kinds of potential circumstances, but you’ll rest easier knowing that they’ve been given the information they need to make smart choices along the way.

If you have a teen that wants to take a road trip, consider using the tips mentioned above to help prepare him or her for this adventure.