| Do your allergies feel more out of control than normal this year? Is this your first year ever getting allergies? Well, you are not alone. A growing number of allergy sufferers are reporting the same observations. | |||
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| I found out about an herb called Quercetin at a seminar and it has done wonders for my immune system. I knew that I’d be traveling in a few weeks and was going to need more than Claritin, Flonaise, etc. etc. but I didn’t want to take any new prescription allergy medicine. After the initial two weeks of taking quercetin twice a day, I haven’t had to use it again thus far. If you travel during the Spring or Fall, this would be a great supplement to travel as you don’t always know what to expect in your destination. | |||
| Have you ever tried Quercetin? How did it work for you? What else has been beneficial to your system? I’d love to hear your thoughts and experience on beating the pollen. |
Affording Family Travel – Road Trip or Fly?
As my husband and I start thinking about our weekend getaways, I began to get curious to the price of taking a road trip with current gas prices. I have to admit that I was slightly annoyed to spend $64 the other day filling my gas tank although I know many people around the country have to spend a lot more.
Here is a sample price comparison chart of the cost of flying for a family of 4 vs. driving using various departures and destinations across the country.
Destination Departure Miles Flight for 4 Driving (Fuel)
San Diego San Francisco 500 $149/pp $596 $191.25(3 tanks)
San Antonio Dallas 278 $138/pp $552 $128 (2 tanks)
Charleston Baltimore 580 $280/pp $1120 $256 (4 tanks)
Norfolk New York 357 $228/pp $912 $128
Nantucket Baltimore 475 $447/pp $1788 $191.25
Fresno, CA Salt Lake City 815 $376/pp $1504 $320 (5 tanks)
So looking at these figures, rest assured that although gas prices have jumped significantly in the last few months and have compromised your leisurely driving, a road trip for a family of 4 is still significantly cheaper than flying everyone. Each method of transportation has its positives and negatives. Depending on your schedule, patience, time commitment, and goal for your family vacation, one mode may prove more beneficial than the other.
Parameters:
* Fuel totals calculated using current national average price of $3.72/gal for unleaded gas.
* Flights are based using economy airfare prices for a weekend departure.
* Friday Departure, Saturday Return; early summer; non-holiday weekend.
* Gas/mileage rate of 20mpg with a 17 gallon tank
Note:
* Prices for flights will vary depending on your travel flexibility. It’s cheaper to travel Mon-Thu vs. Fri-Sat, so keep that in mind when comparing the figures.
* The closer you are to the destinations, the cheaper your fuel costs will be and the more reasonable it would be for you to drive. Thus, I have tried to include a collection of popular family destinations.
If you want to do your own math, check out sites like:
www.distancebetweencities.net
http://www.travelmath.com
www.cheaptickets.com
Travel Anxiety
Is it just me or do the nights before a big trip create a bit of anxiety that impede your sleep? Me of all people, talking about anxiety? Yes, me, consummate traveler, and professor of travel organization gets a tinge of anxiety before going on a trip. Thankfully enough, t’s not bad anxiety; it’s an immature type of kiddie anxiety. I’m not stressed about an upcoming trip, I’m actually overly excited about it. Maybe I should look for the opposite of anxiety, since that word’s root meaning is to vex or trouble and I, by no means feel troubled for an impending travel.
However, travel anxiety is real for many people. Either they’re afraid to fly or their afraid of tight spaces or they simply are troubled about traveling with their young child. Part of the issue is a simple need for more practice and addressing the fear head on. In the past where I’ve indeed felt anxious about traveling overseas with my oldest son when he was a baby, I redirected my thoughts and viewed our upcoming trip as more of an adventure than as an oncoming train wreck. I kept my mind focused on the end result instead of the small steps to get there. It’s the negative thoughts of a perceived future event that creates anxiety. When you can flip the switch on your mind that your upcoming travel will be fun, no matter what happens, you can allay those fears and get past all that anxiousness.
So, don’t think this:
Think this instead:
What do you normally get anxious about?
Day before Family travel – healthy meals
The day before a family trip tends to be the most hectic in the trip planning phase. Last minute bag checks, reservation verifications, cleaning and organizing the house are a few of the many action items that tend to be on our To Do List. Sometimes what happens in the midst of all the commotion, is that we lose our healthy eating habits and reach for something fast, which has the tendency to also be unhealthy. And if we’re feeling particularly anxious (or lazy), we may even opt to grab take-out (though you definitely can make healthy choices with take-out, why not save those extra funds for your trip?). However, we don’t have to make poor choices when rushing about the day before we hit the road.
To recap, here are some meal options to consider:
1. Breakfast for Dinner
2. Sandwiches with fruit and salad
3. Grilled Chicken/Cold Cuts on Salad
4. Turkey cutlets (sauteed) with side of string beans and/or fried potatoes
5. Baked/Grilled Fish with salad
6. Spaghetti and turkey meat sauce with a side of spinach
All of these meals take less than 30 minutes to cook. Using frozen vegetables instead of fresh vegetables can help cut down on preparation time as you’d cook them straight from the bag. Use paper plates, cups, and utensils so that you have minimal items to clean up. Your goal is to get out of the kitchen as quickly as possible and get to focusing 100% on your trip.
What do you do for dinner the night before a family trip?
Tips for Family Thanksgiving Travel
Thanksgiving travel tends to be the most hectic travel for most families. Are you traveling for Thanksgiving by road? Hopefully by now, you’ve already prepared for your family road trip. According to AAA, an estimated 39.7 million people will travel by car this Thanksgiving. Here are some last minute ideas to help you before you hit the road and while you are on your way.
- Give yourself plenty of time to get to your destination.
- If you are driving, save the texting for later. Otherwise, pass your phone to the passenger and have them send and receive your message.
- Ensure that your GPS is fully-functional, packed, and charged, just in case you have to take a detour or there are unexpected road closures.
- Practice patience on the road with yourself, your spouse, and your kids.
- Pack any and all electronics that will entertain and engage your kids (CDs, light up toys, See N’ Say toys, educational toys, iPod, iPad). Don’t forget the movies and videos for the children when you need a break from entertaining them.
- Bring flashcards for educational time-out for kids.
- Pack plenty of snacks to hold you and the kids over for the ride. Double or even triple the amount of snacks you’d normally bring. You can never have enough snacks. Here are some healthy snacking ideas.
- Make sure everyone uses the restroom right before you leave the house.
- Limit the amount of drinking you and your kids do in the car and halt all drinking at least one hour before departure.
- Take along a CD of Christmas (or Hanukah) songs so that the family can do a sing-a-long and get excited for the upcoming holiday.
Hopefully you are already on the road and just happen to be reading this from your phone – of course you aren’t driving while you are reading this though. If you haven’t left yet, then you may want to prepare yourself for a long practice in patience.
The key to a successful road trip is not only getting “there” safely and soundly but also having enough snacks and activities to make the trip as comfortable, relaxing, entertaining and fun enough as possible. We all share the roads; hopefully we can share these tips.
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