How to Get Along While Traveling
Travel is exciting but it can be overwhelming too! These 5 tips will lead the way on how to get along while traveling (in an RV, plane or living in a small space).
Stay fed!
Start with the basics. Our family has three teens. If they are not fed properly we have lost the game before it starts. Planning three solid meals (possibly four – for the boys) along with snacks is a constant priority. This is what makes RVing so fantastic! Gone are the days of being subjected to whatever is available.
A fitness trainer once said to me, “Nutrition is easy, Tricia. You just have to get the right foods…remember to bring them with you…and then remember to eat them.” At the time I found the advice pretty basic – but he was right! Shopping for the right foods, then putting them in a cooler or having them ready in the fridge is the biggest part of the battle. When we’re hungry it’s the wrong time to figure out what to eat or be in a grocery store.
While we try to make healthy choices on the road a guest on the KYD podcast (Paul Kortman) shared an interesting tip for traveling with small kids in foreign places. “Don’t get in a battle over food.” If they want cereal and hamburgers in Tokyo then let them have it. Younger children celebrate their day by what they get to eat. We don’t want them to hate a new place, or travel in general, because it means they have to eat “gross food” (relative term).
How to get along while traveling – Tip 1: Carry a cooler or backpack every time you head out on an adventure. You will not only save money but also keep up your endurance.
Solution Based
Let’s face it…life is going to throw all kinds of things our way no matter where we are. It’s our job to stay focused on solutions. When we are fatigued its easy to pick on the ones we love. Solution based thinking instead of faultfinding is a priority when traveling.
Marie Forleo, life coach and host of MarieTV, said the best thing her mom taught her was that everything is “figureoutable.” This put her in a solution based mindset.
What if we were teaching those around us, especially our kids, that we can collaborate to fix instead of trying to blame. Would an airline attendant work harder to find our bag? Would a stranger give us a time-saving tip? Would our family share more with us because they know they can trust us to elevate instead of put down?
How to get along while traveling – Tip 2: Keeping the focus on the problem and not on the person is helpful in finding a solution.
Laughter
We have gone from everyone upset to tears of laughter just by one good joke. Keeping things light and having a sense of humor is a must. Laughter is literally one of the best medicines as it triggers endorphins, boosts your immune system, and stimulates creative thinking. When things go wrong train your brain to find the humor. Sometimes I pretend my life is like a scene from the movie Dumb and Dumber. No matter how ridiculous Jim Carey’s character was in the film he still came out ahead. “So you’re sayin’ there’s a chance?”
How to get along while traveling – Tip 3: Keep jokes on the situation and not targeted attacks on each other. Taking cheap shots at your travel partner is a recipe for hurt feelings and a weakened relationship.
Escape Route
Once, we were several days into a long travel itinerary and everyone was starting to wear on each other. Let’s be more specific…our boys were driving our daughter crazy! Our daughter said something interesting, “There is just no place to be quiet and by myself.” It was so true! Living in a small space or when traveling we have to make parameters about alone time. Determining what “alone time” looks like, ahead of time, and what the rules are around it gives space for escaping and refreshing.
How to get along while traveling – Tip 4: Travel can sometimes be exhausting and we need to hit the refresh button. It’s okay to, go for a walk, listen to a book with your earphones, or take a nap without anyone interrupting you.
Body Language
Small things like eye rolls and shoulder shrugs erode trust and can lead to negative results over time. The Gottman Institute goes as far to say that it’s the number one predictor of divorce. Wow! What?… Why? Gottman says its because the emotion behind the eye roll is based in contempt.
The good news is this kind of body language is habit-based and can be changed immediately for a more positive relationship. The next time you feel the emotion (contempt, frustration, or overwhelm) hit the pause button. Acknowledge the emotion behind the upcoming body language. This will give you an opportunity find a way to respectfully deliver information that fosters trust and resolution.
How to get along while traveling – Tip 5: Travel presents many opportunities in a day to complement one another. Take as many times as you can to appreciate, show affection, and acknowledge positive outcomes with your travel partner.
A great read! My wife and I are always amazed at how you manage with the 3 kids. We have 4 between us who are all grown now so there isn’t much travel all together anymore.
Love watching your video’s, you are an inspiration.
Setting off on our journey in the next couple months!
I really appreciate the content of this blog. A nice read at the end of the day. Thank you!
Thank you for the Advice !!!!
One day I’ve read …..You live longer when you laugh !!! And have a sense of humor !
These are great tips and I am excited to put them into practice over spring break. We are taking a 19 day trip from OK to Yosemite and hits 4 other National parks on the way back with our 4 kids ages 7,5,4, and 1. This will be our longest trip yet and we are excited to build unforgetable memories. We love the vlog and look forward to it each week.
Great advice! I wish everyone was solution focused.
Well said. I appreciate the tips, but also how you have light to the nuances of communication. I am a Clinical Social Worker and have been providing therapy for eighteen years (wow. That makes me feel old! Lol) and communication is SO important in a million ways. We have our first trailer and I am so grateful for the tips you provide about how to communicate WHILE traveling! You guys are a blast to watch and it is amazing that learning can sneak right in there when you are enjoying yourself! So thank you for that!
Tricia, thanks for being so open and sharing your experiences and wisdom learned by doing. My husband and I just found your YouTube channel not long ago so we are still binge watching the first seasons and keeping up with you guys. We really enjoy the videos and I am enjoying reading your blogs. I know each of you spend a lot of time in doing what you are doing to keep us in the loop but you really seem to enjoy the entire process. 🙂 Thank you to you, Mark and the kids for being transparent and showing us real people in real life situations and that there can be peace, love and joy in all circumstances because….it’s a choice! Be safe out there! Godspeed!
Good stuff. I’m going to print it and keep it in the glove box.
Thanks
Wow! Great information! Traveling can be stressful on any relationship and you have given very good tips and tricks (sorry, I couldn’t help it Marc and Tori!) I really appreciated the information about the “eye roll”. I have a very bad habit of doing that frequently and it may hurt by partner’s feelings. Not a good way to inspire confidence by the way. Thank you for all the information. I will use it to remind myself to be a better travel partner and partner in life!
You guys have the best video’s, blogs and advice from everyone that I have seen and so practical too. My husband and I (empty nesters) are contemplating testing the life of travel out. Thanks for paving the way and then sharing the info!
Trish,
Love articles that makes one think. Such good common, basic advice. Have learned a lot from KYD’s videos and we are much older than you and Marc..
Thank you
Thank you, Barbara! It seems the most simple things hold the most truth. We are glad you are here with us. – Tricia
Hi Trish,
1 you guys are the new Gaines family to me. So lovable and informative and inspiring.
2 I want more content like this! Practical advice on how you’ve raised three kids in an intentional way (like your summer daydream wish list chart) and this blog post. And how you’ve kept your marriage strong. Thanks for being vulnerable and sharing. I like you and I trust you and I want to adopt more of your awesome ways of traveling and raising a family.
Love these tips and feel they are applicable whether traveling or not. We have no children traveling in our full time RV Life, however, everything is all new to us and can be stressful. We have learned to appreciate each of us has talents that can lend to a solution. It helps to realize this instead of assuming something is a person’s job.
One of my all-time favorites is “Don’t bring me a problem, bring me a solution.” Whenever someone brings an issue, I ask, “What do you think we should do about this?”
Thank you, the tips are wonderful. What we have experienced is that my husband and I are on the receiving end of eye rolls from expanded family. And the eye rolls (and other behaviors / talk) are always disrespectful. We try to keep positive and use humor but it is wearing us down.
Hi, I’m new to RV life due to work relocating to Indiana (wife/daughter live @ home in VA) and love your videos and such. So this upcoming weekend we are doing our 1st full family outing! 35′ Itasca motorhome that I call my RoHo (Rolling Home), 6 kids ages 16 – 26 and our oldest son’s puppy – Forrest. So excited! Thank you for all your tips & tricks.
We noticed in one of your episodes you were using electric bikes.
If you use electric bikes, would you recommend one ?
There’s noticeably a bundle to find out about this. I assume you made certain good factors in features also.
Thanks for the informations! surely helped my day!
Thanks for the informations! we are use this into our dataset collections