When was the last time you went on a long road trip? Did you do it right? Im here to show you how.
To me, a road trip + the excitement of the holidays and the New Year = a nicely wrapped gift.
This Christmas we chose to drive to visit family we havent seen in over a year. We decided to load up the car and head down the mountain with the pets, in full force from Colorado to California - from pine to palm.
Some question why we chose to drive fifteen hours as opposed to flying. Sure, well fly that route ninety-nine times out of a hundred, but when your animals are in tow and you have the time, experience beats out efficiency.
We crave the open road to free our minds, change the scenery, and avoid the same ol mundane motions of the airport check-in process.
Well invite the interstate highway into our lives on occasion, but sitting for hours on end doesnt mean we have to sacrifice our entire well-being for it. There are plenty of ways to find health and success on long road trips.
How to Stay Healthy on a Long Road Trip
Learn Something
Throw on an exciting audiobook or podcast. As mentioned in our previous airport blog, the more audio content you have, the better. Mix it up so you have different genres to choose from. When that entire book is done, go ahead and tell people you read it. We wont say anything. This trip we checked out The Wright Brothers biography by David McCullough. It helps listening to positive/inspirational content.
Laugh
Some stand up comedy is a great way to break up a long drive, especially towards the end when its dark and cold and youre sick of music or anything educational. We turned on some Louis C. K. This particular special was extra raunchy than his norm, but crossing the line from joke to joke was a great way to keep us awake.
Eat Well; Youll Need the Energy
Its difficult to eat healthy when trucking through a long haul trip, and even more challenging finding gluten free options for the wife, but there are plenty of ways to snack healthy on the drive. Plan ahead and itll be easier than you think.
Bring along a bag of almonds, something raw and not covered in sugar. Pack some avocados. All you need is a spoon and a knife. Peel a hardboiled egg and some clementines. Some fresh citrus fruit will help keep the car smelling nice afterwards. And try to drink water. We get so dehydrated on the go because we dont want to empty our tanks until we need to fill the car's. While dehydration might get you to your endpoint a few minutes earlier, youll get drowsy behind the wheel and feel like crap on arrival. Not worth it!
I would be lying though if I told you I didnt make my way to In-N-Out at one point.
Move, When You Can
Rest stops are a great opportunity to fit in some quick exercises before hopping back in the car. Jog around the gas station and bring the dog if youre traveling with one (turns out cats dont like jogging). Do some jumping jacks, squats, lunges - even some calf raises and push ups against the curb. Sure, people will look at you oddly, but theyre secretly jealous that youre boldly doing something they wish they had the energy and courage to do themselves.
Take Note of Your Surroundings
Ill be honest; I hate small talk about the weather, but when road tripping, awareness of the dramatic shifts in climate and landscape can be quite incredible, especially on routes like Denver to So Cal. The book cliffs, the desert, the wind - we drove through it all, witnessing the temperature rise from 3 degrees to 63 Fahrenheit in an eight-hour span. We had fun with it. We made it into a game. We also made sure the Subaru got nicely coated with Colorado mud to let those clean-car-Californians know where we came from.
Its the little things that can push a long road trip along.
Weather can act as a connector. Knowing that the unseasonably warm temperature experienced in New York was on par with San Diego on Christmas Day kept me connected to my family out east both physically and mentally.
Driving through these great United States reminded me not just of how diverse and beautiful it is, but also how beautiful and diverse my life is. The country speaks to us through the random history you learn along the way, through your fingertips on the steering wheel.
Even though I grew up on the coast, Im still awe-struck every time I witness the vastness of the ocean, the fine level horizon-line.
Even though I lived so close to one of the biggest cities in the world, Im still mesmerized by the skyline and the stories that live within the streets and avenues and buildings.
Even though I can see the Rocky Mountains from my house, Im still captivated every time I drive through those jagged snowy peaks.
The road trip is not just the act of safely driving my family and myself down the road. The road trip is navigating us forward - navigating through this life of ours, together.
The road trip is a microcosm, not of journey versus destination, but of embracing now - right now.
As another year falls upon us and yet another holiday season comes to a close, cheers to not knowing what lies ahead. Cheers to a healthy balance of control vs. spontaneity, and cheers to not always getting there in the fastest way possible.
Cheers to embracing the unknown what rests beyond the cities, the mountains, and the seas.