Travel tips

Now that our most recent travel is almost done, I thought I'd share a few lessons learned for anyone considering a big family trip…

When traveling with four people, make sure your overnight accommodations have more than one bed. I somehow overlooked that not-so-minor detail twice during our most recent travels. Fortunately both times we were able to get a roll-away bed, but one of the kids still ended up on the couch….

It’s still not as bad as the time I accidentally booked a room in Japan that had two single beds for all four of us! Japanese hotel rooms are notoriously small, so that night was just plain comical 🙃

When flying into a time zone that is 16 hours different, don't take a five-hour nap on the first day. I should have known better, but I was just SO TIRED. I'm not opposed to a nap, but I definitely should have set an alarm for a much shorter time. We all ended up wide awake at 2AM on our first full day stateside (except for Wile E, of course — he has no problems sleeping all day AND night)

Don't leave home without fairy lights! Unbeknownst to me, G packed a strand of battery-powered fairy lights in her carry-on, so she could create her own cozy space everywhere we went. They made us smile, but they also came in handy when M’s reading light died, and they worked great as a nightlight in some of the darker hotel rooms 🧚‍♀️✨

Don't be embarrassed to do yoga anywhere! On our 18-hour layover I started doing yoga in the airport security lounge. M said it was weird. I loudly announced that “YOGA IS NOT WEIRD!” and kept doing it… soon she joined in (and I think we inspired a few others too).

I definitely didn't practice as much as I could have on this recent trip, but I squeezed in some stretching and breathing exercises occasionally — in the hotel room, on my brother-in-law’s front porch, even in the car.

Some backdrops are more beautiful than others

Make sure to partake in the local delicacies*. In Seattle I got my favorite marinaded tofu from a place I used to work — it's the same recipe 25 years later! In North Dakota E ordered a signature dish: tater tots. (He got it as a side, but apparently it's the star of several main dishes there too). On the shores of Lake Superior, we had fresh whitefish and pasties (meat pie pockets). In Traverse City we ate ice cream at Moomers (named America’s Best Scoop Shop by Good Morning America and Best Ice Cream in the Country by USA Today). In Detroit we drank Faygo “pop”; and of course in New Hampshire it was apple cider donuts, whoopie pies, and lots of maple syrup!

Food tour!

*You will probably also need to keep some Tums or Lactaid on hand for this part.

Look up old friends in the area! We have friends all over the world (mostly thanks to this military lifestyle), but we don't necessarily keep in touch with them on a regular basis. Nevertheless, when we are heading for a city that sounds familiar I try to reach out and catch up with someone in the area. I know we missed a few along our most recent travels, but we did see friends we haven't seen in 10+ years, meet family we had never met before, and play with all the pets (and farm animals).

🫶

Thanks to everyone who housed us, fed us, or made time for a quick visit. We were getting pretty bored of each other during our 10,000mi journey (😳) and it was so fun to reconnect!

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P.S. Sorry to everyone who I did not get pictures with! Despite the fact that I use photos in these articles every week I still forget to take them all the time 🤦‍♀️