My boys and I just got back home after traveling for a week to Nevada and Utah. Traveling can be a nightmare for those of us who try to live healthy lives. Between the
bleak food options and
ever present media (i.e. TVs) in every hotel room it can seem like an internal and external invasion on your mind, body and soul to go traveling.
Here are some tips to help you easily fight the attack...
In the Car
Ronan shows off his rock collection
I'm a huge fan of traveling by car when I'm able. That meant a 14 hour drive, one way, with three boys ages 8, 5 and 2 - by myself. But still I prefer traveling by car for a few reasons...
1. It's usually much
cheaper
2. You can
see the landscape change, experience the geography and local color of new places
3. It encourages both parents and children to
use their imaginations
4. I'm afraid of flying LOL
5. You can
take more stuff with you, thus making things cheaper and easier over all
We took our driving trip in four stages. 7 hours, stop for the night and then 7 hours to our destination and the same on the way back.
We woke up at 7 AM and hit the road about 9 AM. We would drive three hours (straight through if no one had to pee). We would stop at a park, rest stop or other grassy location to have a
picnic lunch. Then the boys could watch one movie on the portable DVD player while we clocked another 2 hours. (My kids love Avatar, Jurassic Park, Pollyanna, and Little House on the Prairie).
We would stop and stretch our legs and the boys would be allowed to have a juice from a convenience store ( I would usually have a juice too to keep up my energy) and then we would knock out the last two hours.
In the car we kept various
toys, ones to stimulate imaginative play such as small dolls, stacking containers, small sticks and string, etc. The boys also had
a treasure box, a small container, that they would put things in they found along the way such as stones, leaves and other things they liked.
Extra Tip: Google map any LDS Temples with visitor centers that are along the way on your drive, they are great leg stretching places with wholesome family activities that are Christ centered :)
At the Hotel
I use Hotwire to book our rooms before we started our trip. I have found a lot of savings on Hotwire and I also like the reviews, they help me pick the right place for us. I've found really nice hotels for $30-40 dollars per night. I'm a fan.
Before we leave for our trip I
check TV Guide online and see ahead of time if anything appropriate is playing on TV in the area we will be staying. I then write down the dates and times. The children know they will be allowed to watch these programs but nothing else and
no channel surfing or flipping is allowed on the hotel TV. We also mute the commercials.
To entertain the children while in the hotel we usually bring along our home school books, crayons and paper, beeswax, clay, reading books, scriptures and the like. Most hotel rooms have
a desk so that becomes our entertainment central - instead of the TV.
Because I'm out of my routine of constant cooking and cleaning I make sure that I bring along lots for me to do to so I'm not tempted by the TV. A
knitting project and a few good books and a small reading light to read after the children have gone to bed are my favorite things.
Food
Food is the hardest. Not only are you usually limited in your cooking ability but "bad" food can easily tempt the weary traveler.
We set a food budget ahead of time. For example, on this recent trip, we knew that we wanted to eat at Cafe Rio in St. George and that we wanted to go out to dinner with family one night. Other then that,
we packed our food.
We
took along a cooler and in it we had apple butter jam, a block of cheese, some lettuce, some eggs, mayo, ketchup, mustard, butter, and chicken hot dogs.
In our other
food bag we took, sprouted bread, fruit (oranges travel well), almond butter, nuts, dried fruit, fruit and nut bars, Terra chips, cans of dolmas, salt, sprouted Tortillas, cans of tuna and chicken, instant oatmeal, coconut sugar, stevia, instant rice noodles and raisins.
Other things for food include a can opener, forks, spoons, knives, napkins, wooded or plastic plates and bowls for each family member.
For breakfast we ate
oatmeal made with hot water from the hotel coffee maker, with raisins and coconut sugar. For lunch we had
apple butter and almond butter or cheese and lettuce sandwiches. For dinner we ate
chicken hot dogs wrapped in a sprouted tortilla,
instant rice noodles made in the hotel coffee maker (let them sit for about 10 minutes to cook all the way through). To the noodles we added chicken and tuna and we also ate
dolmas or made grilled cheese using the (cleaned!) hotel iron with our cheese and tortillas.
We took along jugs of water and our reusable water bottles.
After we were done eating I would scrape any left over food into the trash and
wash the dishes in the hotel sink or if we were on the road I would place the plates in a plastic bag and wash them when we got to the hotel. (Be careful to scrape plates well otherwise you will clog the hotel sink.)
I hope you and your family have a fun, safe and healthy traveling experience this year :)
