Happy Friday! I am currently en route to our annual summer vacation and I’m very excited to get away for a bit. Nothing a little R & R can’t help! We are spending a few days with my brother in law in Richmond, VA and then making our way down to Bald Head Island, NC with my family. We make a big road trip out of it which is always fun. My friends went on a road trip recently and needed towing services Lynchburg after they broke down! They’ve said to me that for their next journey they might consider getting a new road trip ready car which they should be able to afford thanks to the great quotes they’ve been offered by moneyexpert.com. There are so many fantastic options out there for families. We’ve currently got our eyes on this Wichita Chevrolet Silverado 1500 for when it’s time for us to upgrade! Ulitmately though, we’re going to make sure we check the car over before we leave to make we don’t break down. But, since we’re going on a road trip, I figured I’d share some of my favorite essentials for the road.

Vacation

In this day and age, it’s really hard to disconnect and to relax. That’s why I encourage all of my clients to make time to go on vacation. Your health and your hormones rely on it. Unfortunately, the guilt can set in and you can feel like you are letting someone down or not completing all you need to when you are away. I am included in all of this.

Vacation is meant to allow you to recharge, catch up on some sleep, reconnect with family/friends/loved ones and enjoy the little things in life, like a cup of coffee without email. Vacation is not for catching up on work, calling into meetings, or answering every last message. Work will be there when you get back and vacation is a must to make you more productive going forward. In fact that’s why so many people pick a scenic seaside road trip such as a great ocean road holiday, especially in the sun – so you can embrace those endorphins, sit back and relax.

So, that is where I am headed and hope that you too can schedule in some vacation this year and make a promise to yourself to shut off email and cut yourself a little slack. It’s OKAY to not work, it’s OKAY to not hit the gym and it’s definitely OKAY to sleep later than normal.

Follow along on Instagram if you want to see how I vacation 🙂 I can guarantee there will be a lot of beach time (pending weather), a lot of coffee, and a lot of Bode snuggles. What do you do for vacation?

Bathing Suit Season

Speaking of vacation. I posted this quote this morning on Instagram:

It resonated a lot with me. Why? Because I hear so many people saying they need to get ready to be in a bikini or bathing suit OR find that people skip out on something because they don’t want to wear a bathing suit in front of others. That makes me so incredibly sad. Let me rant for one minute…

As a swammer, I grew up in a bathing suit, I even had a dream last night that I was trying on a bunch of new ones. I guess you could say I prefer bathing suit fashion over regular fashion. That being said, I take for granted that not everyone is comfortable in a bathing suit. I think we all have the right to wear one and the right to feel good in one. So stop worrying about what other people think and stop waiting for your body to be “bathing suit ready” and just enjoy the summer and whatever body of water is around you. When we were kids we never even gave it a second thought…

Worried about what others will think? STOP! If others judge you or make you feel bad then shame on them. Find new friends/ new love interests, etc. they aren’t worth your time. This doesn’t mean you can’t spend time working on our health, fitness, and body goals, instead it allows you to enjoy where you are RIGHT NOW. Buy yourself a suit that fits and makes you feel good, and stop worrying about whatever the bullies, magazines and social media are telling you is beautiful, you are already there 🙂

*END RANT*

Road Trip U.S.A.

Ok, now that I got that off my chest, here are some of my road trip essentials this time of year. I would love to hear from you to find out what your road trip essentials are, comment below!

Audio Books

I use the app Audible and have a bunch of books from last year that I never got around to listening to. I love listening to music but sometimes when you have a long drive (read: 14 hours of nothingness) you need more stimulation. Here are a few I have lined up:

Books

While audiobooks are nice, there is nothing better these days than a book in your hand. I honestly don’t get to read all that often and let me tell you holding a book instead of an electronic device sure is refreshing. I’ve picked two books for this vacation, this one, and this one. I will report back on how they are.

Crossword Puzzles

I am admittedly terrible at crossword puzzles and trivia. That doesn’t mean I don’t still enjoy doing them. So, I compromise and I buy easy crossword puzzles. I just snagged this book of Monday crosswords and can’t wait to dig in and feel good about myself when I can complete at least 80% of a puzzle.

Podcasts

In the same vein as audiobooks, podcasts can help keep you awake and help pass the time. We listened to this podcast yesterday and have been told this podcast is good as well. I have a bunch of old favorites like Girls Gone WOD, PaleOMG Uncensored and more that I listen to regularly but the ones I found for this trip are longer so they eat up more of the car ride, which is essential.

Snacks

I’m not good at going long periods without eating. I can certainly do so, but I just love food so much. While it’s easy to eat like crap on the road, if you have a good cooler or cooler bag and snacks/food, you won’t have to feel like crap at the end of the trip. (No guarantees your butt won’t fall asleep though!) I also recently purchased some reusable silicone bags to pack snacks in and I love them. Here’s what I packed:

• Gluten-free pretzels
• Meat sticks
• Kombucha
• Seltzer Water
• Protein Balls
• Cucumbers and Hummus
• …ok and more coffee

Sunglasses

The sun was so strong yesterday that I’m pretty sure I got a tan from sitting in the car, which is odd in and of itself. Anywho, I make sure to pack at least 2-3 pairs of sunglasses on a road trip in case I lose any under the seat or at a rest stop. I love these because they are affordable and functional.

Waterbottle/Coffee Mugs

Hydration is important when you travel, it helps the joints, the mind, the immune system and much more. I make sure to pack at least 3 drinks on a long trip (or more). Having reusable water bottles and coffee mugs means that I can refill when I go to a rest stop because let’s be honest rest stops are going to be more frequent if you are hydrated!

Waze

Traffic sucks. The issue with a long drive is that you are bound to end up in some kind of traffic. So, we use Waze and Google Maps to help us find the fastest routes, find any cops along the way, and anything else that might be of concern. Last night we saw a full king/queen mattress on the road and the good thing is you can report it on Waze to help others who come after you. Help yourself and help others at the same time, win-win!

Yelp

Finally, you have to eat and snacks don’t always cut it. I rely on Yelp to give me a first glance at what food is around us. Yelp gives you the hours, distance, and type of cuisine. While the reviews used to be good I find that they can be totally hit or miss so I start in Yelp then if I’m not sure I either go anyway or give the place a google for further research! It’s a must-have app when you are traveling to unknown destinations, it can also save you when you need gas because you forgot to look down in a few hours…

Alrighty, you may hear from me some next week but if you don’t know that I’m trying to unwind, disconnect and recharge so I can give you more sassy content in the months to come 🙂

xoxo,

Sassy