Road Trip – Conclusion

My big road trip is officially over.  We arrived back home today.  I just want to share a few last thoughts and tips I’ve found that can help you stay healthy and feeling well in a total body, head to toe, inside and out kind of way while getting out of town and having a great time.

I cannot stress enough how much a hike can add to your getaway, both physically and mentally.  It’s a great physical exercise that can be done by young and old.  It’s great for the lower body, and even the core, as a rough terrain requires core muscles to help keep ones balance.  It can also be great cardio.  It’s also very calming for the soul.  It’s a great way to leave the hustle and bustle that’s become a very normal part of life, and instead enjoy the peace that comes from immersing oneself in nature.  The picture above is of Silver Lake.  It is found up in Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah.  It’s a beautiful area.  The hike isn’t so much of a hike as a beautiful walk.  It’s an easy, beautiful walk for anyone.  My husband, who was suffering from intense back pain, all the way down to my 4 year-old were able to navigate their way around the lovely lake.  I wore my weight vest to intensify the exercise a bit.  There are beautiful trails all over the country.  All over the world, in fact.  For those in the United States, you can click here to find some great trails wherever you are and wherever you go.

My family and I did a ton of swimming.  This is my parents backyard.  This isn’t the best picture.  I actually took it because it was the view I had during one of my workouts. I was outside, on the side of the house, and I did a circuit workout from POPSUGAR.  It was such beautiful scenery, I had to take a picture.  Anyway, back to the pool.  We were in there nearly everyday that we were in Utah.  Swimming is a great, low-impact exercise.

Now, anyone can cool down sitting on the steps, dangling their feet from the side, or just standing against the side.  It only counts as exercise if you get into the water and swim around.  Being in a pool is not great exercise.  Swimming is.  Trust me, it is so much more fun.  Why be a swimming wallflower when you can immerse yourself in the action.  If you don’t know where you can swim, here is a list of publicly accessible pools worldwide.

I enjoyed being around family, as so many of them, like me, have Celiac disease.  This means there are so many yummy foods I can eat at every meal.  My diet is typically very paleo-influenced.  I was nervous about eating some of the gluten free foods they all had, at first.  One food I’ve been very back and forth on is rice.  If I eat a lot of rice, my body seems to react negatively.  Not only that, but a lot of rice contains arsenic, which I don’t particularly want in my body.  However, a lot of gluten-free foods contain rice flour.  I’m happy to say, I was able to enjoy gluten-free cupcakes, cookies, and pasta.  In moderation, of course.  This trip was almost 3 weeks.  Not everyday had cookies.  The point is, my tummy tolerated all of the gluten-free treats.  I suppose my body is more tolerant of the rice flour than of plain rice.  Though, being away from my normal, everyday life threw off my digestive system a bit, I can honestly say, by sticking to a gluten-free, clean diet, my body feels much better than after any previous vacation.  I don’t even feel bloated, which I typically do.  Because I was so determined to stay on track with my eating, I particularly enjoyed making dishes to share at pot-lucks.  The picture above is of my paleo sugar pies that I made for our Canada Day pot-luck.  I doubled the filling.  So yummy!

I don’t know what it is, but I really love walking through grocery stores.  I love finding foods that I’ve never seen.  This is especially fun to do when you are traveling.  I remember seeing some different vegetables on the Canadian leg of this trip.  Vegetables I don’t think I’ve ever seen before.  While shopping in Utah, I saw a melon I’d never seen, and a berry I haven’t seen since I was a little girl.  Some of the grocery stores had the neatest health food sections.  I found banana flour at Harmon’s.  I’ve heard of people using it, but have never seen it in the store until now.

For our drive home, I made some sandwiches.  As I was making them, I realized that due to dietary restrictions and picky eaters, our sandwiches were all different.  My husband is very relaxed in his eating.  particularly on vacation.  He just eats whatever is being served.  At home, he eats healthier because I prepare all of our food.  That’s just the way he eats.  My oldest does not care for cheese.  A week before this trip, my 6 year-old declared himself a vegetarian.  My youngest despises lettuce.  I used to push him to eat a little bit of lettuce, but I stopped doing that because the last time I did, it all came back up.  I give him other veggies instead.  My sandwich was gluten-free.  My mom had some gluten-free bagels, so I used those.  I normally go with a lettuce wrap, but this was fun to try.  I also bought some seaweed crisps, plantain chips, and freeze-dried yogurt bits for the way home.

The trip was wonderful!  It was great to get away.  It was so nice to spend time with family that we don’t see very often.  It’s nice to be home, now.  The best part is that we don’t have anymore long days in the car.  Not only is it boring, but it is also hard on your body.  My husband can vouch for that, as he had to visit the chiropractor while in Utah.  Anyway, I know many of you are preparing for your own getaways, and I would luck to wish you the best of luck and a safe and healthy trip!