We traveled a great deal by car when my son was little. We had a variety of travel games and toys that only went on those trips, so it made the trip somethign to relaly look forward to. THere were also certain snacks/drinks that we did the same thing with. We always kept a good converstain going and nice music. My son's 17 today and still travels with us. I'm not much on the DVD choice to tell you the truth - to us it was always meant to be a shared family time and a DVD wuld have had him tuning us out. However, each family is different and you'll find the way that works best for you!