Did you know that a study published in Applied Research in Quality of Life found that the happiest part of a trip could actually occur before you even reach your destination? That’s saying something about the power of positive anticipation. And it makes sense. When you’re thinking about a vacation you’re going to have, it’s pleasurable to fantasize about the adventures you’ll have, the relaxation you’ll enjoy, the dishes you won’t have to clean…

Even if the reality of the trip doesn’t produce as much joy as these fantasies, it doesn’t matter, because you’ve already scored major happiness points, and the feel good hormones that often come with this happiness, just by anticipating your trip. Pretty cool. And, you can amplify the joy of this pre-trip period by being intentional with how you prepare.

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First off, research the destination/s you’ll be exploring.

Discovering customs, phrases, popular activities, common foods and more of the destination you’ll be enjoying will not only make you a more conscious, considerate traveler, but will get you and the family hyped up for the experience. To do this…

• Read travel guides, fiction, or anything else you can find that piques your interest and expands your knowledge on the site of your adventure. For young ones, look into children’s books that offer insight into the location and its culture.

• Have family movie nights where you watch documentaries or feature films about the area or activities you’ll be enjoying.

• Prepare meals that include dishes you’ll likely encounter on the trip.

• Find music from the prevalent culture of the destination, and enjoy family dance parties (or maybe meditation nights if you’ll be hoofing it to a place like Tibet.)

If your family has a hectic schedule, ensure you make time for this vacation prep – that doubles as family bonding time – by selecting a certain day and time each week to engage in these activities.

Next, make a plan for how you want to capture the trip.

We used to think we’d never forget the details of that pristine water fall we swam under in Costa Rica, or the eccentric Canadian couple we met in the dining car on that train trip… but we did. We have whispers of the memories, but not the full picture. The travel journals and photos on this site are the products of our solution to this issue. We’ve also used sketching and voice memos to help us remember the “unforgettable” moments of our travels.

This dedication to capturing special travel moments, through various creative mediums, has done wonders for enhancing the enjoyment we experience not just during and after a trip, but before we even leave. To enhance your own enjoyment…

• Have each family member select a creative medium they’d like to use to capture and express their vision of the adventure. For example, someone might choose to express their experience through photography, videography, song writing, poetry, journaling, painting or sketching.

• Next, begin practicing your chosen mediums by taking a mini-trip where you get to strengthen those creative muscles. Or, you can just have a staycation where you challenge yourself to experience your hometown in a new way. The beautiful thing about almost all creative mediums is that you can practice them anytime, anywhere.

As an added bonus, we’ve found that committing to this creative expression during a trip helps us stay present, aware and involved in the magic of our adventures.

Finally, receive any applicable training.

If the itinerary you created includes activities that require specialized skills, you may need to organize training and certifications for your family before you depart. For example, if you plan to scuba dive, go horseback riding, say yes to river rafting, kayaking or anything else that takes some know how, committing to the necessary prep now will minimize your learning curve on the trip.

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The post How to Get Your Family Excited For a Trip appeared first on Adventure Travel Fam.

I used to slip into a secret mini-depression at the halfway mark of every vacation. I knew I now had more vacation behind me than before me and I could hear 6am wake up calls, incessant emails, and dishes (so many dishes) calling me from the “real world.” It was ridiculous. Instead of enjoying the days I had left for meandering through curious towns, floating in a warm ocean, or seeing what’s at the end of that dirt road, I would just be thinking about how much better it all was than my day to day life. Despite my efforts, being in the present moment wasn’t a thing for me.

On a trip to Nicaragua I realized I wasn’t alone. I was working in the lobby of a surf ranch and watched a large group checking out. Setting my computer aside, I became that creepy person watching from the corner, eavesdropping on their conversations. I had found my people – the secret society of travelers who felt more sad than rejuvenated as they prepped to return home. They spoke in murmurs devoid of emotion, aimlessly checking their phones, and looking around with distracted eyes set against tight facial expressions.

While there’s a common belief that we’re supposed to float away from vacation feeling light and refreshed, ready to tackle our careers, homes and relationships with vigor, vacation just reminds many of us how much we’d rather be on a permanent stay in a beachside villa.

Have I depressed you yet? Let me put some pep back into your vacay step by mentioning that I cracked the code (with a lot of help from people smarter than me.) After being over myself after my 30th-ish trip spent mourning the day when I’d have to go home, I started digging into strategies for how to invite Present Moment on my journeys, leave behind Depression and Anxiety, and shift my perspective of Home so it no longer felt like the enemy. I interviewed psychologists, fellow explorers, and other travel writers, then immediately booked a trip so I could try out their advice… a girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do. It worked.

The following tips transformed my vacations and pleased my family, as they no longer had to deal with my three-day post-trip bouts of lethargy and long sighs.

1. Plan Your Next Vacation

It’s easy to trick ourselves into thinking that the vacation we’re currently on might just be the last vacation we’ll ever take. Without getting bogged down in thoughts about mortality, we can assume this will not be your last vacation. But your mind wants proof. To offer up this proof, start planning your next adventure.

Even if it’s not financially feasible for you to go on this adventure for a year, it can feel lovely to unleash your creativity during discussions about where you’ll go and what you’ll do, then relish in the anticipation. And sometimes, fantasizing about cloud-like hotel beds, endless room service, and whenever-you-feel-like-it naps, feels better than the reality of those vacation pleasures (sometimes.)

If the idea of not having another sojourn for a year hurts your wanderlusting heart, remember that there’s likely hundreds of destination-gems within driving distance that are prime choices for an affordable weekend trip. Heck, you can even book a room at a local hotel and spend two days pretending you’re on the other side of the world.

2. Return Home on Not-a-Sunday

Few things pack a punch as dizzying as returning from vacation less than 24-hours before the clock strikes Monday. If possible, give yourself at least one night and one full day to re-acclimatize to civilian life before heading back to work, whether that’s being a C.E.O. or packing lunches, cleaning children, and getting said children to school on time (not for the faint of heart.)

To ensure your one-full-day isn’t devoured by chores, pre-plan at least one treat you can look forward to, like a family ice cream party, trip to the movies, or some screen time for the kids so you can finish that book you started on the beach.

3. Remember that Even Popular Vacation Destinations Get Old

I used to live on Roatan, Honduras, one of the most popular scuba diving destinations in the world. On my first day on the island I promised myself I would never stop appreciating the sight of sparkling turquoise water melting into white sand beaches lined by forests of palm trees. I broke that promise.

After three years living on the island I was sick of always having sand everywhere, not being able to buy fresh produce beyond mangoes and chalky bananas, and having to spend $800 to see my family. I. Was. Over. It. Ironically, my most coveted vacation destination at that time was my parent’s stomping grounds of Ojai, CA – where I now live. So if you start feeling down about leaving paradise, find solace in the fact that “paradise” will eventually feel tired, and someone out there thinks of your home as vacation-land.

4. Exercise and Eat (Fairly) Healthy While on Vacation

I used to work out like crazy and do absurd juice fasts leading up to a vacation so I wouldn’t feel guilty about skipping exercise and saying yes to lots of carbs, melted cheese and beer. Then, I would start to feel like crap about half way through my trip, coincidentally around the time my pre-post-vacation blues set in. Looking back, I’m confounded as to why I would skimp on the things that filled my body with endorphins and energy while on vacation. I shouldn’t have been surprised that journeys filled with booze, fried food, and not-enough-sleep left me super bummed.

While you don’t have to go all Ironman on your vacation, and turn away from all cravings, balancing out indulgences with activities and choices that make your body feel good will not only help you optimally enjoy your trip, but also take some pain out of bidding vacation farewell.

5. Infuse Your Itinerary With Spaciousness

Have you ever felt like you needed a vacation after your vacation? Many travelers (ourselves included) often overload their trip with activities, leaving them totally burnt out in the end. Rushing from one location to the next, in an effort to do and see it all, can limit opportunities for spontaneity, introspection, eye-opening conversations with locals, relaxation, and other experiences that allow you to receive lasting growth and rejuvenation from your travels.

When you intentionally carve out many hours, each day of your vacation, to wander down that trail that piqued your interest, post up under a tree with the book you’ve been trying to read for the past six months, or settle into a prime people-watching table on the front patio of that cafe frequented by locals (one of our favorite ways to discover the authentic vibes of a destination) your vacation will be filled with more substance, sending you home feeling satisfied and excited to implement the ah-ha moments you likely had on that trail, under the tree, or in the cafe, to your day-to-day life.

6. Don’t Let Work Snowball

The reality of pretending like your job doesn’t exist during holiday is often less satisfying than our mind would have us believe. One reason for this is that (hopefully) you like your job, and get some satisfaction out of engaging in it. The other factor is that those emails and tasks keep on rollin’ in, even if you’re rocking in a hammock above clear, Caribbean waters. Lastly, when our mind completely closes out of work mode, it’s that much harder to reboot it.

So what to do? First off, delegate what you can to colleagues before you leave, and set up that oh-so-lovely auto away-message on your email. Then, set aside an hour or so each day of vacation (my preferred time is first thing in the morning) to check off some essential tasks or emails. You can even sweeten the deal by tacking on some time at the end to start work on a creative project, or another enjoyable activity you have trouble finding time for at home.

7. Transform Your Home Into an Enriching Sanctuary

For many of us, the emotions of tranquility, curiosity, newness, simplicity, and (fill in the blank of how you feel during a dream trip) are what makes a vacation so magical. Those emotions are not exclusive to holiday destinations – they exist in your home, and you can revel in them if you know how to call them out of hiding.

To do this, make a list of everything you love about vacation (e.g., swimming in warm water, trying new foods, sleeping in a luxurious bed, having someone else clean your digs), and how those elements make you feel.

Then, circle everything you can replicate in your home. For example, you could upgrade your bedding, invest in a housecleaner to come every week or so, or delegate more cleaning tasks to family members.

Next, examine the elements that are a little tricker to replicate – like a warm tropical ocean to lounge in – and list ways you could emulate that experience. For example, schedule two baths a week that include coconut bath salts, ocean meditation music, and sea breeze scented candles.

Finally, look over the pleasant emotions you listed next to your favorite vacation elements, and explore additional activities that elicit those emotions. For example, one of the emotions on my list was creativity, which comes alive when I’m on vacation, specifically when I’m outside. Luckily, we have outside where I live, so I created an outdoor creativity nook where I write and my son crafts modern art sculptures out of playdough.

Since making my list (and Eric kind of making his list), our home is now clear of clutter and filled with objects we love (like lots of twinkle lights and organic cotton sheets), outdoor movies nights, French toast in bed, all-day-pj-days, postponed email responses, and margaritas sipped in a two-foot deep kiddie pool. These shifts have made all the difference. Whenever I see the shadow of my old mopey self at the end of vacation, I remind myself that (almost) all of the good feels and luxuries I’m enjoying while away, are waiting for me at home.

8. Be Mindful that You’re Taking the Best Part of Vacation Home With You

People are often at the heart of the most transformative journeys. This is especially true when those people are our nearest and dearest. Vacation can strip away many of the to-dos, schedules, and petty tits-for-tats that often coat us at home, exposing the beautiful essence of our core selves.

Eric and I used to say that we’re our best selves during vacation. I initially shared this belief with pride, until I realized there was something off about it. Why weren’t we trying to take our best selves home with us? What did I need to do to hold on to the loving, appreciative perspective I had of my family members while on vacation?

To address this issue, I now take vacation as an opportunity to observe, soak in, and write down the components of Eric and Hudson (and my parents, brothers, or other special people I’m adventuring with) that I treasure. By the end of the trip, I’m often filled with so much gratitude for my family (that I get to take home with me!) I’m not sad to leave, I’m just stoked that I get to keep hanging out with them. And when they inevitably piss me off with a wet towel on the bed, renegade Lego under my foot, or urine everywhere but the toilet, I pull out that list of treasured traits and my perspective of them regains its sparkle (after I internally bitch a bit.)

9. Reserve a Night to Relive the Memories

Help the essence of your vacation follow you home by planning a night to cook up (or order in!) a version of everyone’s favorite dishes from your trip, and watch a slideshow of your family’s favorite photos and videos from the getaway. Research has found that looking at pleasing photos, especially those that feature nature, can reduce stress levels and release serotonin (a happy hormone.)

What to do if post-vacation blues doesn’t go away after a few days…

If you’ve tried all of the above tips and still can’t kick your bummer mood, this might be life’s way of telling you you’re ready for a shift. Look at the most important elements of your life and see if any are in need of remodel… or should be totally demolished. For example, maybe your health needs an overhaul, or your heart is yearning for a career transformation, or your family is ready to relocate. Take this blue-period as a shining opportunity to mold your life into what it’s ready to become. I’m not saying this is easy. But I’ve been there – at one point overhauling almost every part of my life – and there were tears and fears, but eventually astonishing relief and a renewed love affair with life.

My hope for us all is that vacation transitions from an escape into an opportunity to clear the mind, nourish the body and enliven the spirit, sending us home with a rejuvenated zest for every day of our lives, regardless of what part of the planet we’re inhabiting.

The post How to Stop Mourning the End of Your Vacation appeared first on Adventure Travel Fam.

Living on Roatan, Honduras made me want to become a mother. The sandy bodied, messy haired, laughing kids (and parents!) on this Caribbean island reeked of relaxation… instead of my common aroma of fatigue and stress. While these parents kept it real, never proclaiming to have it all figured out, they did some things differently than I do up here in the States. Thinking of these subtle, yet profound, differences makes me fantasize about what it might be like to return to the slow pace, easy smiles and lush surroundings of island life…

While our family isn’t in a place (yet) to ex-pat it up in Central America, we are working on adopting some of the gems of wisdom gleaned from this tropical culture.

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1. Easy-Going Grooming

Because island dwellers care more about their vibe than appearance, crisp clothes, polished hair, and even whether or not you and your kid have shoes on matters little. And honestly, because of mosquitos, the worse you smell the better. Parents certainly take care of essentials (teeth, hand washing, and sunscreen), but beyond that you and your kiddo can do you without judgement.

While we can’t go all the way there with our little dude (because of pesky rules like “No shirt, no shoes, no service”), we can start easing off our obsession over his tangles and whether or not he has a dried booger on his shirt, and focus more on helping him enhance that oh-so-important vibe, man.

2. Island Time

On Roatan, kids are not rushed around by parents going bats*it over getting to the dry cleaner on time (I’m lookin’ at myself on this one.) Start times for activities on the island are usually flexible, which results in everyone taking their sweet time, with pretty much everything. While this takes some getting used to, especially if you’ve been trained to let the clock rule the day, you settle into it when you realize everyone is on island time, and not worried about whether you’re 15 – 60 minutes late for a play date. They’re perfectly happy to take a nap on the beach or go for a snorkel while they wait.

Remembering the serenity that blossoms from this shift in pace was the inspiration we needed to start pressing pause a few times throughout our day. These pauses have become our “do nothing time” where we tune into the moment, have some laughs, cuddles or zzzs, and give ourselves permission to not get it all done.

3. Tribe-Style Child Care

In the United States, quality childcare is freaking expensive and often hard to come by. While my family is in the rare position of having my parents close by, and have no qualms shamelessly asking them to watch our child for free, many of our friends live hundreds of miles from family and always seem to be scrambling to find a sitter. Not so on Roatan. This island fosters a tribe-mentality where framily members (friends that have morphed into family) watch each other’s littles when someone needs solo time, an adult date, or has to take care of a work thang. It’s not uncommon to see one adult roaming around with a herd of children.

Because the physical layout, and mindset, of many American communities doesn’t facilitate the “walk down to the dive shop and see if you can hang there for awhile” style of childcare, I’m going to start paying it forward to friends who don’t have semi-retired parents at their disposal, and offer to supervise small gangs of five-year-olds more often. And selfishly, I need to build up some good karma, and want my child to think I’m cool… which I’m not.

4. Scant Screens

When you have super crappy Internet, and unpredictable cell service, watching the Octonauts when you’re out to eat, or playing Candy Crush while sitting on the beach, isn’t an option. Instead of seeing island kids latched to screens, you’ll see them tossing french fries to roiling schools of fish, throwing sand balls at one another, or getting their diaper stuck on a palm frond. Sure, they get down with satellite TV while at home, but when they’re out and about, they’re forced by the limitations of living on a rock in the middle of the ocean to get creative and engage IRL.

Screens are a hot ticket in my house, and they’re not going anywhere any time soon because, well, sanity. But, my child’s brain could stand less time with the glow of Netflix, and more time with a mother who stops being lazy and figures out fun ways for us to play in the non-digi world. I might even take a page from my island friends and leave the screens behind when we’re out of the house… maybe.

5. Kids Appreciate the Simple Stuff

Because the power is out half the time, grocery store options are mainly limited to lard, frozen fruit, and questionable deli meat, and the “movie store” is a guy on the beach selling grainy, counterfeit movies that came out five years ago, Roatan children grow up with a deep appreciation for moments when the fans and television are working, and Nana brings a bag of Skittles and a copy of Coco over from Florida.

Confession: I’m in an expensive love affair with Amazon, and my child says “just order it online” about 10 times every day. We have a problem. We have too much stuff. And we don’t have enough appreciation for all that stuff.

So dear reader, I’m going to work on scaling back purchases to the essentials, and becoming more aware of the wonder that exists in everything we take for granted. I’m hoping these shifts will rewire my brain, and Hudson’s, to value the magic in easily accessing organic produce, turning on lights whenever we like, and watching a movie that doesn’t show a faint reflection of the weird guy taking a video of the screen.

6. Meager Fast Food

It’s hard to be tempted into unhealthy quickie meals when the only fast food Roataners have is a Wendys that’s always out of pretty much everything, and a gas station fried chicken joint called Bojangles. Instead, island inhabitants are forced to eat at their house, or utilize one of the many non-chain restaurants that serves fresh fish, and other for-the-most-part healthy fare.

While my family is pretty good at bypassing the bright yellow, orange and red signs calling to us from the side of the freeway, we have a special connection with Mickey D’s soft serve. Sorry swirly cone, we’ve got to quit you.

7. Limited Choices

On Roatan, there’s usually just one parenting group, one school, one grocery store, and one place to have a baby. With the exception of dive shops, bars, and snorkel sites, you don’t have many choices to juggle. This lack of choice, which can initially seem restrictive, actually makes island life take on a potent essence of simplicity (at least for me).

I used to think I wanted 50 preschool options, malls with every variety of hipster garb, and seemingly endless midwives to interview, but in reality, all the decisions make my nerves spaz out.

Reflecting on these differences also reminds me of the overarching similarities of parenting in the United States and Central America (and every other corner of the world), where parents are just trying to do right by their kids through nurturing their development, protecting them from harm and loving them fully.

As we all continue to do our best as we parent on this uncertain, ever-evolving planet, maybe we can absorb some inspiration and motivation from the laid-back, love-centric philosophy of the parents on the tiny rock of Roatan.

The post 7 Gold Mines Learned from Parents on Roatan, Honduras appeared first on Adventure Travel Fam.

We used to have some of our biggest arguments while traveling. The combination of a foreign environment, fatigue and the free time to think about our issues created combustible situations. Once we became aware of this unfortunate trend, we took steps to reduce its frequency.

Our first step in curtailing the travel arguments was recognizing the conditions that triggered discord, like fatigue and hunger. We then made a pact to hold off on expressing our irritation until we were fed and rested. Often, the seed of the potential argument had disappeared when our bodies and minds had been taken care of.

While the “no arguing when we’re hungry and tired” thing significantly helped, it didn’t end all squabbles. So to minimize the damage done by verbalized discontent we set some ground rules, which were so effective we now use them for all arguments, regardless of location.

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1. Stay on topic

An argument about where to eat can easily spiral into bigger, sticker areas that really don’t need to be brought into a discussion about whether to grub at the sandwich shop or local pub. If one of you veers off topic, offer a gentle reminder to come back to the original subject.

2. No name calling

Keeping unkind labels out of our mouths allows conversations to be more civil and less triggering. But this is easier said than done, as it’s so easy to let phrases like, “you’re so irritating,” “you’re the worst listener,” or “you’re selfish” spill out. #3 and #4 will offer tools to help you avoid gut-reaction talking.

3. Stick to “I” statements

When expressing your feelings, prevent finger pointing by starting your sentences with “I” instead of “you.” For example, instead of saying, “You always take forever to get ready in the morning and it’s your fault we’re late,” you could say, “I feel frustrated when it takes us a long time to get out the door in the morning. What could we do to change that?”

In this situation you’re focusing on how a certain circumstance or action makes you feel, instead of labeling or placing blame on the other person. This vocabulary adjustment often leads to a productive conversation, versus an “I want to prove I’m right” battle of the wills.

4. Pausing before responding

The previous suggestions are much easier to implement when you take a pause before responding. Often, when we say the first thing that comes into our mind during a tricky discussion it’s laced with defensiveness.

In addition, it takes an emotion 90-seconds to move through the body. So if something your family member says triggers a burst of anger, count to 90 in your mind before responding. This will feel forced and awkward at first but can save you from saying something you’ll regret.

5. Moving your bodies while talking

Going on a walk during tense discussions can help anger, frustration and other limiting emotions flow out of you. When we stay stagnant, the emotions stay stagnant and seriously limit our ability to move forward – so instead, make yourself physically move forward. In addition, walking in the environment that you worked so hard to get to will likely add a fresh perspective and serenity to your conversation.

Happy fight-free trails y’all!

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