I like to think I travel quite frequently, but most of the time they are very shorts trips away from home for a few days. I recently went on a family holiday to Noosa and that was the longest both Brock and I had been on since 6 weeks in California last September. We were down south for 10 days in total and it was during this time both Brock and I got thinking about tips to offer others when they go away.
The brainstorming started quite early in our trip as we were staying 2 nights with my mum, 2 nights in Byron, and then a week in Noosa with B's family. All these locations had a proper kitchen but there were times when we knew we could have better prepared.
If you're like us, we do best eating organic food. Whole foods. Not boxed cereals or spreads on toast. Not ham and cheese bread rolls by the pool, fish and chips or pasta for dinner. All of which are super easy when holidaying with 8 adults and 5 children under 5 - and when everybody else is used to eating this way.
We were happy to buy and make our own meals which we did 95% of the time but it can still cause a stir amongst beloved family members - they're family for a reason right? Biggest button-pushers we have the most love for. But we chose them!
So I've conjured up a bunch of easy suggestions for the next longer-term trip you take away from home, to make sure you're eating your best and feeling amazing!
Travel Tips to keep Healthy (and sane) when holidaying with family:
// Make sure you're staying in a place that has a proper kitchen, stove top, and fridge. If you're away for a week or longer, it's a no-brainer that you really need a kitchen. Unless you're staying in Byron Bay all week and have an additional $1000 to spend on amazing organic food to eat out 3 meals a day (plus snacks, smoothies, juices, raw treats, and anything else you spot at Santos and Naked Treaties...) trust me, get a kitchen.
// Go shopping the day you arrive. It need not be the minute you arrive. Chill out. Unpack. Have a cuppa tea. Then write a list of what you'd like for the length of time you're staying.
~ Fruits and vegetables (not too much as you can always buy more later in the week)
~ A dozen eggs
~ A roast chook or some beef chunks or mince
~ A block of butter or a small jar of coconut oil
~ A small packet of sea or Himilayan salt
~ Filtered water
~ Snack ideas (to calm erratic behaviour when there is no food near by, and to also save money as snacks out at cafes can be pricey!); nuts, trail mixes, yoghurt pots, raw food bars, organic jerky, pre-bottle green juices
~ A box of assorted herbal teas or a bag of coffee
~ A carton on nut mylk
~ A block (or two) of good organic dark chocolate
// Google amazing places to eat! I love love love eating out! And one meal every now and then when its not organic is totally fine by me. But every meal for an entire week? No thank you. Enjoy the food when you eat out but make great choices.
// Offer to make dinner a few nights. That way you can WOW everyone with your amazing food and start to nudge them into healthier eating for themselves, AND you get what you want! A quick BBQ with salads, a tonne of veg and some fresh fish? I don't know anyone who'd say no to that!
// Set your alarm earlier than everybody else and get out the door to move your body! Brock and I were up at 630am everyday and went walking by the river or through the National Park, and 4 evenings I managed to get myself to an Xtend Barre class (I'm still training and need too you see). If we don't get our morning movement in, plus incidental movement throughout the day, we go freaking bonkas! And it ain't pretty!
// Suggest group activities that involve exercise: kayaking, walking, beach swims (sand castle digging, sprints, paddling), local parks playing tip, adventure parks, etc
// Take time for YOU. I know it's a family holiday, but your mum might go mental if you wanted to hang around her 24/7 so I'm sure she (and everyone else) will be fine if you duck out here and there to do your own thing, and not see you 24/7. For B and I, we needed our morning walk together before the family were awake, and then cooked our own eggs and veggies back at the house, and enjoyed eating at the table whilst everyone else had Weet Bix, yoghurt and milk. When I had bills due and a newsletter to send, I jetted off to an organic cafe for a cup of tea and used their WiFi. The same with my Xtend Barre. Then when we all re-grouped again, we were happy as Larry having looked after ourselves first (a lot of it might also have to do with us not having kids to tend too and my sister-in-laws have multiple each).
// And drop the expectations. I learnt this one quick smart. Staying in a room no bigger than our bathroom, I had nowhere to practice my own Barre routines everyday. When a family dinner out was planned, we had to roll with what was organised. And not planning a tea date with my mum half an hour away until the very last minute, was just what I had to do, not knowing the plans of we were doing, as 5 kids can alter them at any moment anyway. Go with the flow. No expectations. Take things as they come. And your trip away will be so much sweeter as a result.
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