With summer right around the corner, you might have a few new things on your mind -- bathing suits and swimming, heat, and maybe a vacation. I know I do. If I had it my way, I'd be going somewhere new all of the time. I absolutely love to travel. In fact, my dad teases me that I was born with a suitcase packed ready to go anywhere.
These days, Team Braddock is not traveling that often due to our two youngest members. I do look forward to giving my boys the gift of travel though, one day. In the meantime, my hubby and I have a weekend trip to Charleston planned for a summer wedding. I am so looking forward to getting away for a few nights, enjoying my best friend, and exploring a city that I've never been to.
Pre-children, we did take lots of road trips. (You can read about our previous travels under the Travels category.) It can be hard to continue healthy habits while traveling, especially if you want to feel like you are on vacation. We do try to stick to some things that help us maintain some semblance of a healthy life while still having fun. I've also worked with a lot of clients preparing for vacation and I've found two keys that I think are really important.
First, make time to be active. Whatever you enjoy doing - running, walking, bike rides, tennis, golf - plan to do something every day. It's especially nice when you don't normally have time for longer bouts of exercise. Enjoy this time as part of your relaxation experience. Also look for experiences that involve being active like a guided bike tour, a hike or a location that requires lots of walking. Second, stick to one splurge a day. It can be pretty tempting to go all out at a breakfast buffet, indulgent lunch, happy hour and an extravagant dinner. To avoid gaining that dreaded vacation weight, just pick one event each day to indulge. The rest of the day look for more moderate ways to enjoy the local fare and always try to eat fruits and vegetables.
For those of you who are traveling as a family this summer, I'm excited to share some great ideas from travel expert Kendra Thornton. She has quite the knowledge of travel, including how to get a great deal and incorporating healthy habits while traveling. She reached out to me to colloborate on a healthy travel tips post, which is honestly something I've wanted to write about for a while. Now that I've given my two cents, here are some of her great ideas. For someone who travels as much as she does, it's really important to try to incorporate healhty habits. Are you traveling this summer? Leave us a comment about your destination and what you do to stay healthy on vacay.
Thanks for sharing Kendra and enjoy!
Traveling is a great experience that everyone in my family enjoys. We are a healthy family while we are at home. When we are on vacation, I try to make sure that we eat healthy. There are many ways that people can be healthy on the road. Here are some health great tips that have helped us on our vacation trips.
Planning Ahead
It can be extremely tempting when in a hotel room to take advantage of the mini-bar. However, many of these foods are not very healthy at all. Therefore, we try to bring our own foods from home. When this is not possible, we try to stop by a health store for healthy snacks. In addition to this, we check ahead of time to see whether hotels have fitness equipment that we can use.
Silly Fun
It is important to have fun when on vacation. My husband and I try to create fun games that our children can play. At times, we create mini-Olympic games. Our events can be held in the hotel pool. There are contests to see how long we can hold are breaths underwater, and we see who can kick water for the longest amount of time. They key to this activity is to have fun.
Water World
I grew up next to a lake. As a result of this, I love being on the water. I try to get my family on the water too. We rent paddleboats and canoes in order for everyone to use their muscles and have a good time. This is great fun with our children, since they get to expend some energy while having a fantastic time. We try to get out on the water each time we are on vacation.
Active Games
Whether we are at home or on vacation, we like to be physically active. We play games that keep us active outside. Sometimes, jogging around the hotel is a great way to run off energy. Other fun games include throwing a football around or kicking a soccer ball. Games keep us active and sharp.
I try to maintain a healthy schedule for my family wherever we go. I like to pack snacks that are healthy and tasty for everyone. I even make sure to book a hotel with a quality gym and did so for our upcoming trip to Orlando. With so many hotels in Orlando, this process proved to be extremely tedious however sites like Gogobot can make it a bit easier. These recommended activities are ones that we use all the time. It makes a difference in our lives. Living healthy makes our family vacation better as well.
Kendra Thornton appears as a travel expert on television stations across the country to offer travel tips and deals to millions of people every year. She makes regular appearances on ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and CW stations in major cities such as New York, Los Angelos and Chicago. Follow her on Twitter at @KendraThornton
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