If your family is screaming out for a vacation but you’re not too keen on the idea of hauling them, luggage and the kitchen sink off to some far-flung foreign land, then vacationing in the U.S. is the perfect solution.

All you need to do is hop on a plane, hop off, rent a car, and away you go. You’ll have a home-from-home on wheels, with the added bonus of full freedom to travel on your own terms.

But before you hastily choose and book a rental car, there are a few things you should think about first.

• Tailoring your rental vehicle to your destination, intended average travel duration and how many passengers you’ll be taking with you is an absolute necessity. First of all, make a list of all the essentials you’ll want from your car. Read up on car rentals and road trips on the web to get a bit of advice from worldly road-tripper parents.
• It’s crucial to ensure that you rent a car that is large enough to comfortably carry your family and your baggage with plenty room for the comfort of everyone. If you or the kids get grouchy through lack of comfort, everyone’s going to feel it – a car can be a very small place if the mood’s not great. Don’t forget to consider the designated driver, of course. They’ll need plenty of legroom, a comfortable seat and a car that they’ll actually enjoy driving.
• Air conditioning is vital. Even if you think you can hack the heat, hot, sweaty kids sticking to an equally hot, sweaty backseat will become incredibly uncomfortable. They’ll be driven up the wall, and if you haven’t already suffered a little heat madness yourself, they’ll succeed in driving you up the wall too.
• A CD player and/or jack input for a MP3 player will also be a godsend. A good singalong will keep the kids (and you) occupied where they’d otherwise be bored to tears (often literally). Music will lift your spirits when they’re down, provide a bit of entertainment during the lulls and keep you relaxed when you need it most.
• Renting a car with TV screens in the back of the headrests and a DVD player in the front will be a triumph with the kids and will keep them entertained for hours. Stick a Disney film in the DVD player and sit back in awe as you observe silence from the backseat. A marvelous invention.
• A little safety warning here – make sure that if you need a baby/child seat, you book it at the time of booking your rental car. If you leave it until you get to the rental depot, they may well be out of stock, and you could risk losing your rental car booking and having to cancel your holiday altogether.

A dependable car hire can make the difference between a happy road trip for all and a miserable experience. So with that in mind, here’s hoping you have a safe and incredibly fun family holiday. And if none of these tips work, there’s always ‘I Spy’ to fall back on …