Why Staycations Are Still Big Right Now

I know most of us are dying to get out in the world and explore, but we also want to be responsible and safe. Eric and I are still doing Destination Date Nights and exploring Portland's outdoor spaces and through restaurants that specialize in foods from outside of America. Yes, we'll be taking a road trip next month, but like our last one, we'll be changing the way we approach this trip, eating outside as much as possible or taking meals to-go, doing outdoor activities, and masking up whenever we're around people. 

photo credit

We'll be staying at our timeshare, so we'll have a kitchen and patio and pool and picnic tables. While this may not sound like as much fun as regular vacations we take, we'll be away from home and have a change of scenery. Follow me on Instagram to follow along on our trip and maybe snag some ideas for your own next trip. 

Will you be staycationing or road tripping this year?

3 Steps to Preventing Jet Lag

Jet lag. Is there anything worse? Well, probably. Getting robbed or attacked by a bear or losing your passport. Those are all worse actually. There's a really low chance of most of those things happening to you, but jet lag is really common...and annoying. Now that you're getting close to traveling again, you don't want to waste any time on your trips. Not that you did before, but your first trip out would really be devastating, so here are 3 ways to prevent getting jet lagged.

You can lose hours or days of your trip because of it, which is kind of like being robbed, because you're paying for vacation you don't get to use. Going west to east is worse than going east to west, but it depends on how many time zones you're crossing. The best way to avoid jet lag is to start combating it before you even leave home. Here are some tips:

Photo by Brigitte Tohm on Unsplash

Adjust Your Schedule

The sooner you can get on your new schedule, the better. If you can do so before you leave home, that's optimal, but if you have to work and can't really do that, then start on your plane ride. Immediately set your watch to what the local time will be and do what you normally do at that time. If it's time to sleep, then sleep, but if it's not, make yourself stay awake as much as possible. I take a quick nap, but occupy myself reading, watching a movie, playing a game or coming up with new post ideas (maybe you journal instead). If you are traveling with someone, break out a card game and make them play with you. In other words, keep your brain busy. 

When you get to your destination, stay on schedule. If it's daytime, do some sightseeing. If it's nighttime, then go to bed. Simple! And don't forget to eat on time. Have problems getting on a new schedule? Try a time adjusting app!

Stay Hydrated

Not getting enough liquids in your body can cause you to be sluggish. Bring a big bottle of water with you on the plane, avoid dehydrating drinks like soda and alcohol, and continue drinking extra of water for the first couple of days of your trip. This can also keep you from getting sick. A great alternative to water is tomato juice. It's known to be one of the best beverages for flying, because it's hydrating and full of vitamins. If you're thinking this sounds super gross, just try it. The altitude from flying dulls your taste buds a bit, so it's actually tastier than you think.

Eat Light and Healthy

Eating is really important, but you don't want to eat a huge meal before getting on the plane. You also don't want to eat fried and junk food. Find something light and healthy (or as much as possible) to eat before your flight that'll keep your going, but not weigh you down and make you sleepy. You'll also want to bring snacks. Protein-packed, healthy foods like nuts or fruit are great options.

If you want to know more about a jet lag "diet", see my post here. I still haven't tried it like I meant to, but I found that getting on schedule ASAP worked really well. I am normally tired the first evening, but after a good night's sleep, I am good to go for the rest of my trip. I've done this for coast-to-coast trips and also trips further away.

Have you ever been a victim of jet lag?

Shereen Travels Cheap Turns 11

Yesterday marked this blog's foray into a second decade. Oddly this last year has not had much actual travel, but that doesn't mean travel is dead forever. In fact, it's far from it. Usually, I go back over my past accomplishments of the year, but I think I'd like to change it up again and talk about some of the things we've been doing that we will continue doing, even after the pandemic is over.

Even though we only took one road trip this year, we still did quite a bit. We explored more of the Portland area than we ever have and we took a ton of staycations, where we "visited" so many places we haven't been. We're coming up on September again, where I will have to decide if I want to celebrate Oktoberfest again. 

I've loved doing our Destination Date Nights and I'm sure even when we can travel freely again, we'll be continuing to do them, even if we cut back to once a month or so. Some of my favorites have been Amsterdam, Egypt, Venice, and Japan. We've found new destinations to add to our list as we were pushing off planned travel. 

We've discovered new favorite foods and restaurants. We've learned that even when forced to be together, we still enjoy each other's company. We've changed routines and haven't been sad about most of those changes. We've become more creative about what we do and stay in touch with others. We've found new podcasts and shows that we love.

Next month we'll head out on a road trip to Las Vegas, because we need to get out of the house. We've decided t hat we can only control ourselves and how we behave, so we feel like this is the most responsible travel that we can do: We'll be staying in our timeshare in Vegas, off The Strip, we'll be masking up everywhere, we'll be eating outside, and we'll be doing outside things like enjoying street art. The few things I have planned inside are things in places I know are doing the most for public health, require masks, and have rigorous cleaning routines. We'll be going first thing in the morning, to avoid as many people as possible, and know that everything has just been deep cleaned. Meow Wolf's OmegaMart will be one of those things, and the Museum of Dream Space is another. 

In Reno, a stroll along downtown's Riverwalk District is on the itinerary. It's lined with wall murals and sculptures. Outside of Las Vegas, Goldfield's International Car Forest and Pioneer Cemetery are on my list. Nearby's Rholite is a ghost town that is also a filming location, and Goldmine is a must with an open-air sculpture museum and an awesome bottle house (that's a house made from bottles). 

This might be the trip we visit the Clown Motel's cemetery, check out the Sierra Nevada Zoological Park and even the Nevada Museum of Art. Though we've been to Virginia City before, I'd love to go again. It's about a 30-minute drive from Reno, but up the mountain and totally worth the drive.  

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What's coming up after this road trip? 

If all goes well, in February I'll be back in Vegas for the Travel Goods Show, and this will hopefully see the return of our regular travel. A trip to Disneyland/Los Angeles could be on the docket, since our trip to Walt Disney World was postponed twice and then indefinitely now with the horror that is Covid in Florida. 

We are hoping to visit Chicago at some point, though I don't know if that will happen in 2022. I do know that we will be doing more Destination Date Nights to fill in the gaps between traveling. Destinations ahead so far are Reykjavik, Sydney (Australia), Edinburgh/Glasgow, Dublin, Toronto, New York City, India, and Turkey.

I hope you all are doing well. I'll continue to post travel things for you to plan those awesome trips for the future. I'll also be doing plenty of posts from my home entertainment and things around Portland on my Instagram. Stay safe, stay healthy, wear a mask, and be kind. These are the least we can do and hope for in these trying times. 

Are you starting to travel again? What postponed destinations are you most looking forward to?