This post is inspired by Kae as she mentioned about how fun is the holiday season but feeling gross given all the treats we tend to eat. It got me reflect how I felt about the first two days of my trip to Bali, and past trips.
During the first two days I got into the flow of snacking whatever kids were snacking, including chips, fries, sweets. I felt gross by the end of the second day. So I said why do I do this to myself? I was not fully enjoying my vacation because physically I was feeling lethargic and upset with myself for poor choices. So starting on day 3, I started my day with exercise, a good sweat, taking my time to cool down, stretch, and left the gym with upbeat mood to start my day, almost 10am. Given the way I started my day, I was nudged to make better food choices as well, and went to bed feeling good about my day and without a bloated tummy.
One thing that is different this trip is that I didn’t book the hotels with breakfasts. Those buffets are an unavoidable trap to over eat. We don’t usually do big breakfasts. Everyone feels lethargic after it, and options tend to be full of carbs for the kids. So this time, I packed instant oatmeal, peanut butter, protein power as back up. And we bought fruits, whole wheat bread or even sweet breads, for the family. This way, we don’t start the day with food comma, eat our usual food, and save $$ for real meals for Lunch and dinner. This is the first time we try it and I must say I will continue to do so unless the breakfast come free.
I am also more mindful of drinking water, especially when we are out and about, and reminding everyone to do so.
In sum, those healthy habits are the foundation of my well-being so I don’t see why I should stop during holidays. If ever, I have more time during vacations to plan and do them. Instead of rushing my shower to go the office, I can take a long shower. I can do long cool down and meditation. They make me feel good physically and mentally, so I want to safeguard them even more when I am not rushing.
You might wonder what about indulging a bit? Definitely there’s room for that. We have plenty of ice creams, new cuisines to try on holidays. I don’t prohibit anything for the girls to try, and I love trying new food too, as long as they are not highly processed food.
One anecdote to share. The day before our trip, we needed to finish leftovers, cold cuts and cheese. So I offered those with crackers as dinner for the family. Lizzy was wrapping off the packaging of the cracker and said: is this our dinner? But food doesn’t come with a package, only snacks. 😀 so true.
Our New Journey 
We so very rarely stay in hotels anymore and one of the reasons is that we prefer to make our own breakfasts. Neither of us are big breakfast people – I’m happy with a bowl of oatmeal or something like that. So we usually stay in VRBO/AIRBNB places so we don’t have to eat out for every meal! I like to have some foundational habits on vacation, too. I did some workouts at the resort in Mexico but usually mid-morning, and I was up around 7 each day and got a latte and walked on the beach. Phil preferred to sleep in and lay in bed until around 8:30. I could not let myself do that, though. I felt like I HAD to get out there and soak up the sunshine and warm air. I wish I could relax a bit more sometimes! Phil felt zero guilt laying in bed – but that is so not in my nature.
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I also love Airbnb when traveling. We did that when we traveled to Europe for 4 weeks. Unfortunately quality of Airbnb in Asia is not even. But I think Bali has many villas we would try next time. I love eating at “home” instead of having to eat new food everyday.
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