Here are 8 practical ideas to help you keep your family healthy while you are traveling.
Keeping my family safe and healthy is my utmost priority when traveling. At times. the unfamiliar environment, exposure to the elements, unhealthy food, and the presence of allergens can affect my family's health. As such, it’s not wise to let your guard down even when you are on holiday.
8 Practical Ideas To Keep Your Family Healthy When Traveling
Living a healthy lifestyle is absolutely the norm in my family. Similar to other people, we have become even more cautious when it comes to protecting our health when we travel because of the many pitfalls if you are not mindful when you are out on a family trip. That's why we try our best to opt for healthy alternatives, strengthen our family bond, and we also balance our food intake, even when the urge to indulge in delicious and rich food is strong.
Following a healthy lifestyle
On top of the health and safety precautions that we practice when out of town, we also try to adopt healthy lifestyle habits. These habits are not just about physical health but also mental well-being and relationships.
Here are some healthy living tips that our family practices when we travel:
1. Take the opportunity to bond with each other
Aside from physical health, you should also strengthen the health of your relationship with your loved ones. One thing that we learned to appreciate when traveling is the abundant family bonding time that it accorded us.
If you have small children, bond with them and engage in fun yet educational activities like taking the time to explain the things that they see in nature or exposing them to the different cultures and practices in the places you visit. Just the same, simple activities like long walks during the day, and reading stories at night mean a lot to small children.
If you have teenage children, talk to them about their dreams and goals and encourage them to pursue their passions.
2. Acquire a new knowledge
What I love most about traveling is that it can be a wonderful opportunity to acquire new knowledge or learn a new skill. Historical markers can be a good start, as well as visiting churches and local museums.
Moreover, many local residents are more than willing to teach visitors and travelers their way of doing things, such as cooking local delicacies or making textiles. Take advantage of this opportunity when you visit different places.
3. Do a lot of physical activities even while on vacation
It’s still a good idea to do a lot of physical activities while traveling. It's always an easy decision to take a bus or a cab, even when going to nearby places. Take advantage of soaking in the local vibe by engaging in long walks to get to the different tourist spots around you. Also, simple exercises like swimming can be incorporated into your daytime routine, as well as, light cardio exercises like jumping rope and jogging in place.
If you are a gym rat who misses intensive physical activities, you can watch workout videos on YouTube or download an app to satisfy your need for sweat. If you must have a piece of equipment, you may always order a few pieces of light gear from popular online shops (CHECK HERE) that you can bring with you on your trip.
In the end, try your best to do some cardiovascular exercise to maintain muscle health (and that includes your heart!).
4. Eat healthy
With all the yummy food available in popular tourist locations, it's easy to give in to the temptation of savoring rich local delicacies. However, do try your best to eat balanced meals of protein and vegetables to avoid the necessary weight gain when you travel.
 |
| Photo by Daria Shevtsova from Pexels |
5. Involve your child in your daily planning activities
While playtime is important for children, it’s also of equal value to involve them in planning your daily activities and itineraries. You can start by asking your kids what they want to do for the day or which restaurant they want to try for dinner. This will help build their confidence because they will know you trust them to do things that the whole family will appreciate. It also helps them be self-reliant and resilient in making decisions.
6. Fathers should involve themselves more
I really wanted to include this in this line-up because I am an advocate of involved fatherhood. While many modern fathers are very much hands-on when it comes to raising their children, I can never overemphasize the importance of fathers being close to their children.
According to the Institute for Research on Poverty, fathers who are involved are able to bring up children with good academic achievement, better emotional security and higher self-esteem, fewer behavioral problems, and social competence, among many other benefits.
Traveling is a good opportunity for dads to get involved in their kids more, such as helping them eat, getting them prepared and dressed for the day, or tucking them to bed at night after a long day of adventures.
7. Minimize the use of gadgets
While gadgets are a necessity these days, especially with work-from-home arrangements and online learning, it’s good to take a breather from these electronic devices and take the time out to genuinely interact with our loved ones when traveling. Let your kids appreciate the great outdoors and the beautiful scenery around them by limiting their gadget use during your vacation.
8. Take vitamin supplements
We also regularly take vitamin supplements. If you do not want to take multivitamins, at least take ascorbic acid or Vitamin C. Supplements are important in maintaining overall health as well as strengthening the immune system, especially when you are outside and exposed to the elements. So, yes, they protect us from diseases or at least help us easily recover when we do get sick.
We have seen and felt the benefits of taking vitamins. Our children, who also take vitamin syrups daily, also seldom get sick and if they do, they also recover easily.
Epilogue
It is important to keep ourselves healthy when traveling. It's not just about physical health, it is also equally vital to keep our mental health intact and our relationship with our loved ones strong.
This post may contain affiliate links, including those from Amazon Associates, which means that if you book or purchase anything through one of those links, we may earn a small commission but at no extra cost to you. All opinions are ours and we only promote products that we use.
Download a free copy of my Churches of Nueva Ecija eBook HERE!
In this heath crisis, I think mental health is equally important for us to survive. There are ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
ReplyDeleteThese are excellent tips. I made sure to keep myself active and eating healthily during the pandemic. I didn't want to allow myself to become unhealthy and lose all my progress.
ReplyDeleteI think making your own meals is a great way to stay healthy. When we make our own meals, we are more likely to eat healthy food.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had seen this prior to the quarantine. I wound up buying tons of snacks. Bad move.
ReplyDeleteThese are fantastic practical ideas to keep your family healthy during quarantine. I love the emphasis on preparing your meals at home!
ReplyDeleteMeal prep at home, working together as a family, and taking care of your overall health is something that will benefit every member of the family.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteReading about quarantine now gives me chills, but I see that the article is from last year "^^ However, I always find these tips useful regardless!
quarantine life brings family closer together, it's a good opportunity to do these activities and kids would definitely enjoy
ReplyDeleteThis is really great tips.. But unfortunately, we weren't into the "keeping" healthy stuff. Ended up actually buying canned goods and junk foods. hahaha
ReplyDeleteThis is great information, especially with the cases going back up! Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLovely ideas, i think we should spend more quality time with our family during these day
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I were both going for daily walks and even trying out yoga during the first lockdown, then we went back to work where we've been since. There's very little time for exercise now, but it helped at the time.
ReplyDeleteI know that different people react differently this is why I always call my friends or relatives from time to time because I want to make sure that they have me no matter what. The whole situation is stressful especially if you are away from home. I check them on regular bases so that they will not feel sad.
ReplyDeletePutting the gadgets down resonates most with me. It's easy for everyone to get lost in their electronic world.
ReplyDeleteI think the pandemic really brought family closer. Take the opportunity to bond with each other and do fun activities. That will enhance your bond.
ReplyDeleteI know that many people gained weight during the pandemic. Obviously, you can work out at home, but it's simply not the same. Also, we all needed comfort food ;-)
ReplyDeleteLots of fantastic ideas! These are tough times for so many and tips to help people through quarantine are so, so needed. I found focusing on self-care, making sure I stayed active and preparing healthy meals helped so much. As well as finding ways for my husband and I to bond and have fun (we played through some Lego Video Games together, made puzzles and so on.) I hope you're doing well!
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more on the list. Since pandemic started I was able to start cooking for myself and I am enjoying it since we are working from home.
ReplyDeleteThese are all the great tips to keep the family healthy during pandemic time. Improving personal health is really important to fight the virus and stay strong. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThese are great tips! So cool that you and your family learned to make ice cream! xx
ReplyDeleteShannon | Hotel Wise
Great tips! And I think most important is to limit the time on screens... I see it from my example also... When you are mostly at home, sometimes you just drown in soc. media.
ReplyDeleteNapakahalagang Tips ito and Thanks for sharing po
ReplyDelete