Self-Care for Parents Who Travel content provided by Mom With a Map staff writer
As a busy parent, your time is valuable. It can seem like it is extremely limited, especially if you are regularly traveling and on the road. This makes it easy to put yourself at the bottom of your priority list, and more so when you have children to look after.
Self-Care is critical for your well-being!
If you don’t take the time to look after yourself, you may find yourself burnt out, stressed, exhausted, anxious and having to take a break. However, if you can find a way to incorporate some self-care in your travels and look after your health, you will find yourself in a much better, and more resilient position. When you feel good, you are going to enjoy your travels and the time with your family much more.
If you’re not sure where to start, here are some top tips to help you easily incorporate self-care into your travels.
#1 Find something that you need
Self-care is only going to work if it is something that you need and enjoy. Everyone is different and has different needs. If you try to copy someone else’s self-care routine, you may struggle to reap the same benefits. It is therefore important to take some time to find out what you enjoy, and what your body and mind need.
Perhaps your mind needs stimulation, or maybe it needs rest. If you are sedentary most of the day, then your body may need some exercise, whereas if you are on your feet all day, your body may need to lay down and instead, you can create a day where you pamper yourself with good skincare and a massage.
#2 Include mental, physical and emotional care
When you become more aware of yourself and your needs, you will be able to be more intuitive about your self-care. To help you get started, you must consider activities that will help your mental, physical and emotional self. By covering all these bases, you can ensure you are taking the best care of yourself.
As you consider your needs and what activities will best fulfill them, you should ensure you have an activity that will help your mental health, physical health, and emotional needs. This can look like some quiet time in nature to support your mental health, 30 minutes of exercise to look after your physical body, and talking to a friend or therapist to support you emotionally.
#3 Make time
Now that you have a better idea of what tasks you can complete, the hardest part is finding the time for them. Unfortunately, as a busy parent who is traveling, it is unlikely that you are going to feel like you have the time to squeeze these tasks in. Instead, you need to make yourself a priority and make time in your day to complete the self-care tasks.
Write down what tasks you want to complete, when you are going to make time for them and commit yourself to stick to them. If you tend to stay in one location for a period of time and stick to the same routine every day, you can build it into your current routine and it will become much easier to complete. If that’s not possible because you travel to different places often, then you should work it into a routine that you do have, for example, wake up 30 minutes early and exercise before the children wake up so you are ready to sit and eat breakfast with them.
Self-care is vital to living a healthier, happier life and enjoying your travels.
You may also enjoy reading:
Using The Hotel Gym While Traveling
The One With Our Active Boat Kids
Maintaining A Healthy Lifestyle While Traveling
*This post may contain affiliate links. By making a purchase after clicking through a link, Mom With a Map may receive commission.
