If the thought of driving long distance with children and dogs in the car fills you with dread, here's an easy way to cope with the journey. First, plan your journey so you know where you're going. Then give the map to the kids so they can have a go at planning a route too.

Aim to take a break every two hours or so. Get the kids to calculate where the two hours breaks are going to be.

Log on to Driving with Dogs, select Motorway Walks and get the kids to choose where they think will be a good place to stop. Use the quick view button to see at a glance which walks have kids' stuff, and they'll need to read the text to find out if it's going to interest them. And they'll need to check height barriers if you're in a camper van.

Have the kids print off the walks they like the look of, one set for the journey there and another set for the journey back. Put these in the car so you don't forget the print-outs.

Start your journey. After an hour and a half, the driver starts to asks the kids if you're nearly there yet. For maximum effect, keep asking every 10 minutes.

Let the child read out the driving instructions to your break place, and follow them exactly (as long as it's safe). All the Driving with Dogs motorway walks have full written instruction from and back to the motorway.

Then your junior co-pilot can direct the driver back to the motorway.

After another 90 minutes, you can start asking 'Are we nearly there yet?' again, and repeat the process to find another place for a break.

Apart from the life-skills kids can learn from doing this, it's amazing how de-stressing it can be when you're the one doing the 'are we nearly there yet?' question!