Travel Tips: Staying Healthy On A Family Vacation
We recently took our first international trip as a family of 5, and I really wanted to try to make sure that we kept up at least some of our healthy habits while out of the country.
We have three children 6 and under, so a trip of this magnitude, felt overwhelming at first and to us really was only possible this year now that our youngest is 2. It turns out that with a lot of planning, some help and patience, travel with kids actually IS possible, and so is keeping up with healthy habits.
Bring Snacks: If you have healthy snacks that you love to eat at home, bring them! Some of the items I brought were my Shakeology packets (natch) to ensure one super-healthy meal every day, Quest bars, Epic bites, dried fruit, dried vegetables, and trail mix.
Seek Out Healthy Options: Some hotels will have bowls of fruit just sitting out. If that is your scenario, take advantage and grab some for the family. If possible, see if you can make it to a local grocery store to pick up some additional fruit and snacks. When eating out, look for greens on the menu and make an effort to include it for everyone in the family at least once a day. Also, if you choose to have breakfast out, order extra fruits and save some for later.
Hydrate: Bring a portable container from home and keep refilling as much as possible. Especially after a long flight - it's important to get that water intake back up. This is an easy way to keep yourself detoxed and feeling good. I also am a big fan of coconut water. It's SUPER hydrating and will get you feeling great in a hurry.
Exercise: On our trip, I absolutely indulged at most meals, and loved every minute of it. However, I committed to exercising every damn day, no matter how sluggish I felt. Exercise not only will keep you feeling strong and fit, but I find it moderates damage I might otherwise have incurred the night before if I know that I will need to get in a workout the next day. By the way, workouts on vacation include swimming laps, doing a ton of walking, running after kids 8 hours a day...just making sure you MOVE!
Mindfulness: Healthiness in my book also includes what's going on emotionally. I've found in the past that it's actually easy to get discouraged on vacation due to false expectations, anxiety about adapting to new scenarios and downright sadness about impending return dates. On this trip, I focused on being gentle with myself, asking for help when I needed it, and focusing relentlessly on gratitude for everything. We also always plan our next trip in the days of our current trip to help with those inevitable "return to reality" blues.
Being healthy on vacation IS possible, even with young children. Don't let fear of the unknown keep you away from having new adventures. Anything is possible with a little forethought and optimism. Part of being healthy after all is having new experiences!
