With spring here and summer on the way, it’s time to talk travel planning. Planning and traveling can be stressful but it doesn’t have to be. April is stress awareness month so I’m sharing some of my tips for to ensure your trip has little to no stress.
5. Map out your route: Spontaneous trips are great but it helps if you know a little bit before you head to the airport or jump in the car. Not everything has to be mapped out but you may want to at least have a destination and route planned. Love roadtrips? Make sure you check out the road conditions before heading out on an adventure, as some stretches of road may be closed seasonally or pit stops may be sparse. You don’t want to be stranded on a highway in the desert with no gas station in sight. I speak from experience having tried to cruise the Blue Ridge Parkway a while back in the winter realizing it was closed midway through. Not an easy turn around to make.
4. Activities for kids: To ensure you have a mostly whine-free excursion, have some sort of entertainment for the short attention spans of younger travelers. Ideas: I Spy, road trip bingo, books, mad libs, coloring books, audio books. If all else fails maybe a movie. I have fond memories of trekking to Destin, Florida in the way way back of my mother’s volvo wagon playing road trip bingo with my siblings.
3. Food: Hungry people are grumpy. Couple hunger with a long trip...disaster. My favorites- carrot/celery sticks with nut butter, PB&J, granola bars (I love LaraBars, Kind, Cliff), and popcorn (homemade or Pirates Booty). These snacks are perfect for road trips or an airplane.
2. Audio: Having plenty of music to listen to will ease tension on any trip. Load up your ipod with the classics or make a Spotify playlist. Check out my latest “Road Trip” playlist here. Audio books are also excellent for traveling because they are entertaining and last for hours. My audio book picks: any of the "Classics" because they're usually free. I've enjoyed listening to the Harry Potter and Hunger Games series too - both are action packed and will hold your attention.
1. Go with the flow: Sometimes the plan is that the plan will change. I like to plan my trips in advance, but sometimes things do not go accordingly. The best way to avoid extra stress when plans go awry is to take a step back a just try and go with the flow. If this is hard for you to do… I suggest packing a lavender infused eye pillow and head phones. Drown out your surroundings and breathe in the soothing smell of fresh herbs and you’ll be placidly sailing along. Inflight and stressed? Do the above and perhaps an inflight cocktail.
