The coronavirus and Covid-19 pandemic has meant that travel has been off the cards for many of us over the past year and a half. This has been disappointing for those struck with wanderlust, but the good news is that the vaccine rollout around the world could speed up the return to international travel. It’s not all too surprising that many of us are looking forward to long and extended trips to make up for lost time. This is great! But at the same time, you need to make sure that you still keep up with your health and wellbeing while travelling. Hopefully, some of the following information can help you to achieve this!
Keep Up With Routine Appointments
When you live in the same place consistently, chances are you have a regular doctor, dentist, optometrist and hearing specialist who send you reminders to check in with them. These appointments are important. They make sure that these professionals can monitor your health and tackle any issues you may be experiencing. While you’re travelling, you may not get these reminders or have a regular professional to check in with. However, it’s important to keep up with these checks and to carry them out wherever you may be. This will help you to keep on top of cavities, recognise comorbidities of hearing loss, ensure any lens prescriptions are up to date and more.
Create a Travel Workout Routine
When you’re at home, you may have a gym membership, sports clubs or fitness classes that you attend. We tend to fall out of an exercise routine while we’re away from home, but it’s still important that you get your recommended one hundred and fifty minutes of moderate aerobic exercise a week wherever you are. Here are some ideas to work into your travels!
Walk, Jog or Run - the easiest, most straightforward and most cost effective way to exercise on your travels is to pick up brisk walking, jogging or running. You don’t need much - just a pair of running trainers - and you can carry this activity out in most places. This activity takes on an extra special benefit when travelling, which is that you can use it as an opportunity to enjoy some time outdoors and see local sights and scenery while you’re away.
Rent a bike - many locations, especially big cities, will often have cycle schemes that allow you to rent a bike. Cycling is a great workout and can be great fun while you’re away too!
Consider Gym Day Passes - if you’re travelling to a location with a gym nearby, you could always consider using a day pass. This means you don’t have to commit to a membership, but can still use the gym’s facilities.
These are just a few suggestions that can help you to keep on top of your health during any upcoming trips you may have planned. Why not work them into your travels? It’s simple and more than worth the effort!
*contributed post*
Flaxseeds are small brown or golden seeds that you often find sprinkled on salads or porridge. But don’t let their diminutive stature fool you. They’re an absolute nutritional powerhouse and probably one of the healthiest foods that you can eat.
In this post, we take a look at the somewhat unbelievable benefits this tiny, humble food offers.
They Are Loaded With Nutrients
Perhaps the most obvious quality of flax seeds is that they come loaded with nutrients. Each serving contains multiple minerals, including calcium, iron, magnesium and potassium. Plus, it is one of the best plant sources of omega-3 fatty acids. It also comes with a host of phytonutrients - such as lignans - and, unlike many other nuts, a large amount of fiber too.
They May Reduce Cancer Risk
The idea that you could reduce cancer risk by eating something healthy still feels a little alien to many of us. We’re used to the medical narrative that cancer is something that just happens to people as they get older.
But new research is showing that this view of cancer isn’t true. Cancer requires specific conditions to get started in the body. So if you can adjust these, then your risk of getting the disease will go down.
They May Help Prevent Hearing Loss
Flax seeds are well known for their ability to improve cholesterol levels in people who are in the upper range. For instance, taking just one tablespoon per day was enough to lower bad cholesterol by around 17 percent.
Low cholesterol is important for the ears because small blood vessels serve them, just like the rest of the body. Hearing loss can progress if these blood vessels become clogged and can no longer feed the listening structures of the inner ear.
They May Lower Blood Pressure
Did you know that high blood pressure is the leading cause of mortality worldwide? Many people are surprised to learn that. What’s more, the only medical way to get it down is to go on blood-pressure-lowering drugs. And these often come with unpleasant side effects.
Fortunately, flax seed offers an alternative. These incredible little seeds when taken regularly over a long period of time - usually six months - can lower both systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels by up to 10 mmHg. You can also combine flax seeds with medication and hibiscus tea to reduce blood pressure even further.
They May Lower Blood Sugar
Lastly, flax seeds may also lower blood sugar levels, helping to stave off conditions like diabetes. This may be due to their high fiber content. Research shows that the more insoluble fiber people eat, the slower glucose enters their bloodstream. Diabetics told to eat flaxseed powder every day for a month saw their fasting blood sugar levels return to nearly normal.
*contributed post*
Happy Saturday friends! I thought that for the next year it would be interesting and helpful to those that might be moving to document and share some behind the scenes things of our moving experience.
As a bit of background, both mom and I have completed a long-distance move in different ways (our family from Pennsylvania to Tennessee when I was a child, me from Tennessee to Washington DC and then Washington DC to Georgia). In addition to this both mom and I have (at different times in our lives) moved several times across states and different places.
I say that to share that it is not our first time moving for either of us, but this move does bring with it a completely different set of emotions and intricacies then other moves in the past.
First, this is the first large move to a new place without my dad. When we moved back to Tennessee in the fall this was extremely hard, but as we set about on a new adventure this has brought about a lot of emotions and also practicalities that we didn't focus on as much. This is the first huge move without his help, his laughter and joking around which always was a gift in the midst of stressful times, and most of all without his counsel and wisdom that I so miss.
Along with that this is the first time that my mom is making a lot of huge decisions on her own after being married for 50 years. My mom is the most capable person that I have ever met and the wisest, but I have stood in awe as I have watched her navigate this new "adventure" in deep ways behind the scenes.
Second, not to state the complete obvious, but another intricacy in this situation is that we are two women in the midst of a pandemic who are moving. I am all for "women's rights", but I do admit that there are have been a lot of times where I have found myself in tears with just feeling extremely weak physically -after a long school year and I am obviously still healing from years of treatment and emotionally after the loss of not only my precious dad two years ago but then my precious grandmother in the fall...and the bittersweet grief at the end of a wonderful school year.
I am embarrassed to admit this, but for the sake of honesty and vulnerability here on the blog and for those going through a similar move, I have had a lot of tears behind the scenes and a lot of prayers for "give me strength". If you find yourself in a similar situation, I am so sorry. This has given me a whole new perspective on (in the future) helping those move- especially those who do not have a lot of help.
Third, as I just alluded in the above paragraph I am exhausted from this year... well from the past two years. Deeply exhausted and I am still healing from losing my father and then also losing my grandmother... so the exhaustion is making this a difficult move. And I know that after the year that we all have had I am not the only one that feels like this.
Fourth, moving is more expensive then I remembered. Anyone else shocked by all of the costs associated with moving? I am not sure if it is because we had more help in the past or if it has been so long since we moved as a family (obviously something I don't remember much of with moving costs) or that my previous experiences were more in moving apartments versus a house that my mom lived in for 30+ years... but it has been overwhelmingly expensive.
Fifth, if you know me well you know that up until my dad died I was one of the first people to be thinking of the next adventure. In fact the blog tells and shares lot of stories of this (click HERE)- even in the midst of fighting several life-threatening diseases... but I would be lying if I didn't say that some of that has changed over the last two years. I am still healing from the trauma of losing my dad suddenly and I often find myself second-guessing...well fourth-guessing a lot of things. So a move seems more stressful then it does "adventuresome" as I have thought in the past. This is something that I definitely want to get back to, but for now at the beginning of this move that is how I am definitely feeling.
I titled this blog post, "the beginning" but in some ways I don't really think that I would say that... since my mom announced in the Spring that she wanted to move back to New York we have been "beginning" but now we are doing this full speed as we walk forward, with all of our different emotions and intricacies believing and trusting that the best is yet to come and that there are good things in store for us...we are at the beginning.
I am looking forward to sharing and even sharing how during this moving process it was a beautiful and peaceful move with blessings beyond what we expected. Anyone have moving experiences moving across country? I would love to hear them...
(PS- I well understand that we are not the only ones moving in the midst of a season of unexpectedness or in grief... or even those who are military families moving to a different country. My heart and prayers are with you if you are in one of these situations.)
First- you may be wondering what is LIKEtoKNOW.it/rewardStyle? RewardStyle is an affiliate network that connects retailers with influencers/bloggers through a shoppable platform called LIKEtoKNOW.it. When someone in this community purchases a product through one of my affiliate links, I make a small commission from the purchase. This is similar to what a store clerk would make should they sell you something in store. AGAIN, this does not cost you anything additional or extra. It’s essentially giving me a small amount of credit for referring you to the retailer.
Now say you go to the retailer’s page after looking at a particular product only to find they don’t have your size. Instead, you shop around and buy a few other items from the same retailer. I still get credit for any purchases you make on that retailer’s page because I was the ultimate reason you went to them in the first place and they are essentially giving a "thank you" to me for doing so. This is something that is a real blessing to me and I so appreciate all of the support!
As this is new to the blog, I do plan to eventually add in a page that shares all different places where I shop, but for now I appreciate your support!
Something that is important to note: if you see something in a post or on instagram that you like there is something key to remember. If you see something on your phone and go to your computer, then go directly to the retailer’s site without using one of my links I will not get credit for the sale. Similarly, if you purchase something in store, I will not get the credit because the retailer has no way to track it back to me. So, to give me credit, you always have to purchase through one of my links! I have received so many messages about this and it is really important to note.
You may be wondering why I am choosing to add this part of "business" to the blog. This is something that I have considered for years and with the way that travel has been affected in the past two years, I have been looking for different ways to source income from the blog while supporting businesses that I am passionate about.
Several years ago I wrote a post on what it looks like to be a full time blogger (you can read more HERE), and it does incur expenses (technical costs, security, domain fees, etc.) so I know that it may seem that bloggers are just "trying to get money", but in reality we are working to help keep our businesses going through this type of support. SO thank you!!
Learn how to shop below!
How to shop my posts:
- Download the FREE LIKEtoKNOW.it app (available for both iPhone and Android!) or sign up online HERE
- Follow me in the app – my outfits will then instantly be available to you along with content I post exclusively to the app (sale items, try-ons etc).
- From the blog:
- Head to my “Shop My Feed” Tab found on the side bar. From there you can go to shopping outfits from my Instagram or Instagram Stories.
- Head to the “Shop My Feed” tab before heading to your favorite retailer so anything you buy from their site will give me credit!
- Click any product link within a post which will also give me credit!
- On Instagram:
- After downloading the App and following me (found HERE), you will then be able to “like” or “screenshot” any of my posts where you see the hashtag “liketkit” in the caption and all of my outfit details will be sent to your email or the app within 5 minutes (you have the option to opt out of emails if you prefer!)
- You can also always message me on Instagram or email (caravansonnet@gmail.com) and I can send you direct links to the products I’m posting!
A word on what I link – I will always link the EXACT product I’m wearing as well as any bags, jewelry or makeup. If the product is sold out, I will link a close match from a retailer I personally buy from or have tried on in the past. I will never promote a product I wouldn’t personally buy. And, I will always try to get near the original price point of the product I’m wearing (or cheaper!)
Again, thank you so much for all of your support of Caravan Sonnet! You are truly a blessing friends!! Happy Friday! I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
Are you tired or bored of staying home? Do you fancy a trip to your dream destination? Worry not; you can still get to fulfill your new year's resolution of traveling to your desirable getaway destination.
The Covid-19 pandemic created a significant shift in tourism, with movement restrictions being implied globally. The year 2020 saw the introduction and surge of Covid 19 cases in most countries; however, early this year, the World Health Organization declared a significant decline in Covid-19 cases globally. Good news, right?
So before you pack your bags and book a ticket to your vacation destination, here are a few tips to consider beforehand.
Research on the Country of Visit
Various regions around the globe have been affected in different magnitudes. Some countries report having a higher rate of infection compared to others. This may affect your intended vacation destination, however better safe than sorry.
It is safer to choose a country with strict controls in place to minimize the spread of Covid-19.
More so, inquire whether the hotel you intend to visit has protocols for screening guests upon their arrival and what other measures are in place to ensure the safety of you and your family.
Consider Vaccination
Have you been vaccinated? If not then this would be the right time to do so. Commuting in a public mode of travel increases the chances of you being infected. Being vaccinated helps narrow down the possibilities of infection and any other consequences of contracting the virus.
Visit your local healthcare facility and inquire whether they are administering the vaccines. It is advisable to get the entire doses for you and your family before embarking on your trip.
Testing
As opposed to the onset of Covid, technology has made it easier for you to take a Covid-19 test from your home and get the results instantly. It is advisable to purchase a couple of at home Covid test kits for your trip to track and monitor your health status.
The test kits take a short period of around 10-15 minutes to get your results.
Choose a Safe Mode of Transport
Traveling by your means of transport is a more convenient and safe choice for you and your family. Public transportation, as previously stated, increases your chances of being exposed to infection.
If you don't own a vehicle, you can use car rental services to get you to your desired destination. However, if you're vaccinated, you can take the chance of using a bus or a plane. Flying is much safer since airlines strictly request all passengers to have their masks on at all times.
Pack a Hygiene Kit
You must ensure your safety and your family by being prepared at all times. Having a hygiene kit close by will undoubtedly come in handy. Ensure your hygiene kit is packed with enough face masks, hand sanitizers, antibacterial wipes, soap, and a few bottles of water.
Most importantly, avoiding crowded places will be of substantial benefit to you and your family. If you find yourself in the same room or space with someone unvaccinated or not wearing a face mask, ensure the room's ventilation is adequate. Opening a window is an additional precaution that will promote air circulation.
Whether you’re traveling overseas, or you’re planning a trip around your city, these tips will help keep you safe as you travel during the pandemic.
