personal style, musings and inspiration
Earlier this month, I took a birthday trip to Mexico City. It was my first trip to Mexico City meaning that I had to learn the way of the land, but it certainly won’t be my last! If you click here you will find a list of just a couple of etiquette’s I had to learn just to try and fit in with locals. I fell in love with the city for the couple of days I was there. More details on how to plan a trip to Mexico City will follow in a separate post, but read on to see highlights from my trip.
I always have a running list of places I want to travel to at any given time of the year. But it’s fun to reflect on where I’d love to travel to at the beginning of a year if only to see if I can manifest some of these trips into reality by next December… Traveling the world is expensive as we all know, which is why we all look to finance these trips in any way possible. When there are places that I want to visit but know that I can’t afford it at the moment, I just do some research into things to do in Kearney for example. So this way, I’ll have a list of things I want to do and then start saving towards visiting various destinations.
One option that you may like to explore as you get older is equity release which would certainly raise the amount of money available for vacations!
The summer travel season is upon us! But it can be challenging to maintain healthy practices while traveling. But no matter the duration, it’s important to not let healthy habits go out of the window. Here are tips to maintain some healthy travel practices for travel to nearby locales or far flung destinations.
Drink Water (As Much as Possible) – Particularly if you are traveling by plane, pack an empty water bottle and make it a practice to refill and drink it throughout the day. Note: If you are traveling to a locale where you can’t drink the tap water, just drink bottled water instead.
When Possible, Bring Snacks – Some of my favorite snacks to pack include Lara Bars, Trail Mix, Herbal Tea Bags, and Fruit that travels well (like oranges and bananas). Other packable snacks that work well include oats (just add water and you have breakfast) boiled eggs, sweet potato chips, and plantain chips.
Stick to Your Supplement Routines – When I travel on longer vacations, I also usually pack tables like Ashwagandha, where you can find this product on Amazon. You can also have it in powder form, which you can add to beverages and Matcha packets. If you’d like to learn more about some of the health benefits of Ashwagandha, click here to learn more.
Take a Probiotic or Digestive Bitters to Avoid Tummy Trouble – Taking a probiotic is a good practice when not traveling, but since travel can sometimes upset people’s digestive systems (upon the advise of your health practitioner), take your probiotic and digestive bitters. Having an upset stomach while traveling is no fun.
Be Mindful of Food Intolerances + Allergies…Order Your Food Accordingly – If you have food intolerances or allergies, it’s best to avoid foods that give you issues just in case. Be sure to speak with your nutritionist, doctor, or health coach before deviating from your normal diet. In other countries because of the differences in food cultivation and production, it may be possible that you can tolerate foods abroad that normally avoid while at home. But is best to first speak to the professional you go to for nutrition/food advisement.
Try to Add Fitness Activities into Your Itinerary – Even if you’re looking to travel around Queenstown in a campervan for example, trying to find time to go on walking tours, bike tours, jogging to enjoy the local scenery, are just a few ways you can add activities into your travel itinerary. Making time for fitness while on vacation doesn’t have to be a chore. It can be a fun, memorable way to enjoy your trip. If adding fitness into your itinerary isn’t an option, there are thousands of fitness routines or various types on YouTube that you can try such as Yoga, HIIT, or Pilates.
Don’t Beat Yourself Up if You Indulge – Indulging in treats is a fun way to experience a new place. If you are in Italy don’t deprive yourself of that Gelato! But try to aim for one indulgent meal/treat a day rather than indulging all day long. Make trying delectable treats a part of your routine by walking to the destination at least part of the way which makes your efforts a reward.
Image: Unsplash
Planning vacations brings me great joy…from picking a destination, to narrowing down must-see sights, to packing my bags. I love the whole process! I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets enjoyment from planning vacations. It got even better now that I’ve heard about bags that are similar to this hynes eagle 40l that are carry on approved. It makes packing for a trip even more fun. In fact, it’s been proven that planning vacations makes people happier than actually taking the vacation. I’m planning for a trip in March that I’ll talk about in a separate post, but as I check off things on my list that I’ll need for my trip, I thought it would be a good time to recap items I recommend packing in your carry-on for long-haul flights. If you find the process of sticking to packing limits frustrating, have you considered hiring a private jet? If so, take a look at Jettly to see what options you have.
So what do you do when your summer vacation is behind you and your next big vacation is months away? You look through your travel pics! Here are a few of my iPhone photos from my early July trip to Spain. My first stop was Madrid. In an effort to pack light I didn’t bring my regular camera. It would have been great to have, but I made the right decision not to lug it around.
See/Do
Eat (caveat – I didn’t do any resto research prior to my trip, so this list definitely isn’t comprehensive)
San Gines (for Churros)
El Brillante Cafe (for calamari sandwiches)
El Sur (for decent service and sangria)
La Latina neighborhood (for tapas)
Tips for Getting Around
There’s so much more to see/do when you only visit a city for a couple of days, but here is what I learned on my trip to Madrid: