I don’t think it’s a secret that I love food. I love good meals made from local ingredients. As we travel, I try to rent places with a kitchen or cook outdoors when that is not available. Over the years I figured out a minimal and easily packed set of cooking essentials to take along on our road trips. Who knew that in 2020 this will become real handy for more than just culinary explorations?
As I was not about to give up my love of travel, I worked out ways to travel with focus on outdoors and avoiding people and indoor setting, including restaurants, whenever possible. That being said, we still love good food and are not subsiding on sandwiches for a week. This might attract some spectators along the way, but I do accept it as a part of fun and opportunity to show people what you can do in a budget, social distanced and still supporting local businesses at this difficult time by purchasing locally whenever possible.
Wheeler, OR A charming little town Ana a home to cozies little motel our family loves. The rooms are equipped with fridge and kitchenette, but the owners have very strict “no seafood cooking indoors” rule. No problem!
Oregon is absolute THE most favorite destination of our family, and Oregon means fresh seafood. While there are plenty of places to eat just out if the water freshly cooked crab, sometimes it’s good to try other gifts if the ocean. Clams are very popular along the coast and make a wonderful quick meal.
Here is everything you’ll need to make restaurant quality mean on the doc at fraction of the cost.
Equipment needed:
Camping stove with fuel
Deep frying pan with lid
a knife and a cutting board (you can skip the board and use a paper plate)
Ingredients:
Clams
An onion
Couple cloves of garlic
A lemon
Your favorite dry or semi-dry white wine
Good butter
Seasonings (salt and pepper are perfectly enough, but you are welcomed to add whatever seasonings you life with your seafood if you have them)
Thinly slice onions and garlic Melt the butter in the pan and slowly cook onions and garlic over medium heat. Don’t go stingy on the butter! It will be a part of the sauce, and it’s not the time to count calories. Have some wine. After all, you want to make sure it’s of good quality! Add salt and pepper to taste and squeezes half of the lemon in. Add generous amount of wine and let reduce for a couple of minutes. Add the clams, mix them up and close the lid! At this point of process it really helps if the lid to your pan is a glass one so you can see inside. Shake the pan periodically but avoid opening the lid as it will let out all the flavorful steam that should be cooking the clams instead of attracting other vacationers to your picnic area.
Importantdisclaimer: if you went clamming and picked up your clams, it is important to soak them for a couple hours in a salty water to have them express the sand out. Ours were bought from the dock where they were sitting an a tank of running water, so we could skip this step.
Also, NEVER keep clams in the water for more than an hour or two at most and they will suffocate once they use up the oxygen in the water. You do not want to eat them if that happens! I had no idea about it and was glad the locals shared this tip.
Once the clams are opened they are ready to eat! There might be a few that don’t open up. No big deal, just discard them!
Slice up some bread, pour some wine and enjoy the delicious food with beautiful scenery around you!
Before I tell you about how we did the Hawaii trip, I have to tell you why we did it.
My son loves cats. He is a cat fanatic. During one of our “let’s watch cute cat videos” sessions we came across a video from Lanai Cat Sanctuary, an amazing cat rescue organization from Lanai island. What the video showed was a crazy cat lady’s (or gentleman’s) paradise set in the actual paradise like setting where you can hang out with literally hundreds of happy cats. And my than 11yo wanted to go. Since Hawaii was not in my travel list due to distance and financial considerations, I told my son that if he really wants to go he needs to pay for his airfare, and I will cover the rest. We checked the price of the tickets, and it came up to about 600$ a person. I was pretty sure that either he will not be able to come up with the money or he will forget about the idea. I was wrong on both accounts.
Now let me clarify, my kid does not get an allowance. He earns some money from grandparents when her gets a full honor roll report card, and in the summer time he runs a booth selling baked goods at the farmers market (he bakes, I drive and supervise). My son also likes to spend, sometimes a lot for his age. But for over a year his mantra became “do I want this or do I want to go to Hawaii to see the cats?” Cats were winning. And I had to come up with a plan to cover the rest of the trip, quickly realizing it will cost over double what we would normally spend on vacation.
This is what inspired the whole trip
I obsessively searched Pinterest over and over again for ideas. We didn’t want to be just in Hawaii, we wanted to experience Hawaii. I’m not exactly sure at what point it clicked with me: CAMPING! It’s close to the nature, economical and mobile. After talking to my husband and son regarding their position on sleeping on the ground for 8 nights and securing their agreement to this crazy plan, I went ahead with moving in that direction.
Although the purpose of the trip was to see the cat sanctuary on Lanai, we decided to make Maui our home base and do a day trip to Lanai as there is a ferry going between the two islands multiple times a day. I made a list of other activities we wanted to do, which included the road to Hana, Haleakala national park, seeing the Haleakala volcano itself, snorkeling, luau, and of course seeing the cats and exploring Lanai island.
Remembering my nauseating experience of traveling to Hana during our honeymoon (I used to get motion sickness very bad), I decided we will stay in Hana area for two nights to have more time to explore the black sand beach and hike in the National Park. The rest of our time we were going to spent at a private campground Camp Olowalu as it offered a good location and nice bathrooms with showers. We decided to stay at the motel first and last night of the trip as we were planning a Haleakala sunrise tour the day after we arrived, and I didn’t want to wake up at the crack of dawn to pack all the gear the day of flight back. The next quest was to decide on transportation, gear, and how to get it all to the islands on a budget.
Maui has multiple rental companies that rent everything you can possibly need for camping. However when we ran the numbers for 3 people adding it to camping fees, it turned out to be about as much as a hotel room beating the moneysaving purpose of the whole enterprise. So I came up with the next level crazy idea of bringing everything we need with us from Montana to Hawaii and back. At this point my husband and couple of friends who knew what I was up to thought I lost my mind completely, but here is the plan I followed.
We were flying Southwest Airlines, which allowed 2 check-in items per person up to 50lbs each. In addition to our normal luggage, which is usually 2 bags, we brought the largest duffel bag allowed by airline regulations and a cooler. Yes, we got weird looks at the airport, but after all the weird I saw flying over the years I really didn’t care.
Duffle bag contained:
3 self inflatable sleeping pads
A sleeping bag for two and additional sleeping bag for our son. After the trip I can honestly say you don’t needs sleeping bags because it’s really warm even in February, even when it rains like crazy. We would have been just fine with camping blankets that pack down to the size of a rolled up dawn jackets.
A 6 person tent. Now that sounds like an overkill, but my reasoning was that we will not just sleeping in the tent for a night or two, we will be living in it for 8 days. I was right in bringing the larger tent because couple of night when it was raining really bad we were comfortable inside making dinner and playing card games.
A small lantern and couple head lamps
A long nylon rope
A collapsible bucket
Small hatchet
Beach towels
3 full face snorkeling masks
A picnic blanket
The camping gear to make us a portable home on the island. Oh, I forgot to mention my son insisted on cramming in his metal detector in there too.
All this stuff came up just under 50lbs.
Next came the cooler. Knowing how hot is can get in Hawaii was the main reason I wanted to bring my own quality cooler. The bear resistant closure system also insured it was securely locked during transport. Here is what we stuffed in the cooler:
3 plates and 3 bowls from camping dish set
My trusting camping cooking utensils set
Set of collapsible pots and pans
Backpacking stove
3 oz bottles of dishwasher liquid and cooking oil
Salt and pepper shakers
Cloth pins
Paper towels
Wet wipes
Dollar store rolls of cling wrap, foil and trash bags
Travel mugs
Couple collapsible storage bins to organize groceries
All we had left to buy on site was pillows, gas canisters for the stove and groceries. At the end of our trip we donated pillows, fuel and extra supplies left to the local folks who camp out of necessity rather than recreationally, so nothing went to waste.
Walmart on the island is a whole different shopping experience.
Because of all the gear and extra luggage, we needed to rent an SUV. Renting a car at Hawaii is already expensive, so getting a larger vehicle was going to be a challenge. After doing some research we found Go Rent a Car Maui, and this is my go to rental place whenever we decide to go back to the island. This company rents out older fleet of cars, which costs about 50% less than any other place. They are locally owned, provide amazing service, clean well maintained cars, and you can’t beat the price. We ended up with Subaru Tribeca that was about 8-9 years old, and the only way you could tell is by lack of fancy electronics we normally don’t use anyways as I prefer navigation in my phone.
Now to the camping itself
Our first stop was at Wainapanapa state park, just a few miles away from Hana. You have to make reservations in advance and print your reservation. I can’t stress this enough. The space is very limited and rangers do come and check your paperwork. I read stories of people being kicked out. Another advice – come early. There are no pre-designated spots. Essentially you are trying to get a piece of real estate on the large lawn. Keep in mind that it’s almost a 100% guarantee that it will rain in that area. And by rain I don’t mean a little drizzle. Imagine standing under high pressure shower for hours. That should give you a more or less accurate idea. With that in mind, choose your tent site accordingly and away from any areas with dips and down the hill. Third point: there is just a handful of picnic tables and chances are you are not going to get one. I didn’t mind, that’s what our waterproof picnic blanket was for. And the big bonus I found – they had outdoor rinsing stations. Not a full shower, but definitely an upgrade over washing with baby wipes.
Our home at Wainapanapa state parkOur neighbor Black sand beachThe view
After we were done exploring the area, we headed back to civilization at Camp Olowalu. This private campsite is absolutely out of this world. They provide tent sites, camper van sites, tentalows and cabins. The tent sites have the best location right at the shoreline. They are predesignated, there are grills, picnic tables, and their shower/bathroom facilities are heavenly. There are several common areas with fire pits and gazebos as well.
Boys setting up the tent. You can see the access to the ocean. New neighborEarly morning view from a picnic table by the shore
Camp Olowalu sits right outside Maalaea bay. It’s a prime location for snorkeling, whale watching and swimming. The water is calm and clear and provides large shallow area for little ones. There is a place that provides kayak and paddle board rentals among other things. There is a store, a restaurant, and a huge fruit stand right across the road. Lahaina is just 15 min or so away, Maalaea and Kihei about 20 min in the opposite direction.
Hawaii food deserves its own separate post, but here is a brief overview of food as it pertains to camping: give yourself a chance to eat different, strange and flat out weird food. Road to Hana now has several stops with food trucks and stands selling any imaginable deliciousness. Hana itself has 2 locations with permanently fixed food trucks and a small grocery store that sells several kinds of poke that was delightful. We bought numerous exotic snacks and beverages. Local fruits is like nothing you’ve ever tasted. Keep your eyes and your mind opened, and you will have an incredible culinary experience in Hawaii without ever setting foot at a sit down restaurant and footing a $100+ bill.
Happy campers
To sum this whole thing up – don’t be afraid to go off traditional route. While pulling off this trip required extra prep, the experience we had was completely unique and more Hawaii than what we would have gotten staying in a traditional resort setting. That extra effort is worth it and is much easier than it looks. Stay creative and happy travels!
Thirteen years ago I fell in love. He was loud, didn’t have much hair and was practically neon orange, but he was perfect. Over the years he grew a mop of unruly curls, his color is normal now. He is still loud though. And still every bit as perfect as he was the day he was born.
I had no idea what to do with a boy. Honestly, not a slightest idea. Because my husband’s work schedule and vacation policy at work is much less forgiving than mine, my little buddy and I were logging in a lot of time solo. And it is my favorite time, because we only have to adjust to each other.
A solo trip with you child, especially a young one, is not easy. When he was 2 we drove together back home from Seattle after dropping my mother off at the airport for an international flight. A 10 hour drive for just the two of us. When his majesty decided he was done traveling for the day, he unscrewed his milk bottle cap and looking me dead in the eye through the rear view mirror poured it over his head. He repeated the same feat with a water bottle the next day and drove for a couple of hours pouting in a wet car seat.
Traveling with little one means frequent stops for no reason
For his 4th birthday we flew to Disneyland ( daddy couldn’t join us that time), and our last night there I spiked a fever. I’m still not sure how I drove us to the airport, managed to get us on the right flight and then drove additional 90 miles home.
Leaving on a jet plane…
At 7 we were driving to visit a friend in Washington, and I got hundreds of pictures of the cars we were passing by on the interstate and a lecture on how I should not be driving alone in the dark because there might be bad guys chasing us and we don’t have daddy with us to protect us. After that trip I realized we had it figured out. My kid and I finally found a rhythm that worked for the two of us. Soon after it also dawned on me that I was running out of time.
Big city exploring
By the time my son was 10-11 yo I noticed a shift towards separation. It is normal and natural for a boy to start pulling away from mom, it’s what I want him to do, but it hurt. I was worried that with my work schedule getting busier and my kid developing more independence and inherited desire to do things either with dad or with friends I might loose a connection we had. So our first intentional and purposeful mother-son trip was born.
We started with a picnic dinner at the resting area and were not disappointed with company
The idea was to do a trip that is centered around what my son wanted to do. Not that we haven’t made trips for the sole purpose of taking him locations he was interested in before, but the idea of mother-son trip was to focus everything around his world view and not what I wanted to show him. This meant digging deep within myself and shutting off the never stopping “go” switch and letting go of my expectations.
The very first trip we took was to Silverwood amusement park in Idaho, which is about 5 hours away from us. I let him pick snacks, and because we ended up leaving later than planned we skipped the formal dinner and ate roadside at the resting area where we met lots of overly friendly gophers, which was a highlight of the day. I showed him how to look for restaurants, and we picked a breakfast location with a machine that makes fresh orange juice right in front of you, which my kid found fascinating. We spent the day playing in the water park, walking around amusement park staring at the rides my 10yo refused to get on and found an arcade. By my standards the itinerary was very underwhelming. My son loved it. He picked a fancy looking restaurant for dinner to make sure I had something nice to choose from as his primary choices of food are very limited. On our way home next day we stopped by the lake and basically did nothing, which turned out to be nicer than I thought.
Lake beach bum
Next up was a winter trip to an indoor amusement park and a quick trip to a ski resort, both long weekend trips. We laughed, stopped at road side attractions, listened to the same comedy albums and my sons favorite songs. His favorite memory from the amusement park trip? Chasing me around at the laser tag and eating dinner from grocery store deli in bed because by the time we got done with the park all restaurants nearby were closed and we were too tired to look further than immediate vicinity.
It’s January in Idaho, but the grass looked squishy and inviting, so he had to test it out
And then came out big 9 day road trip…. it did come centered around one event I wanted to introduce my son to, but everything else was designed according to his interests. We spent several months researching the itinerary and looking up a list of things we can do in the area. It took some prodding on my part, but we narrowed it down to an exploratory visit to a volcano, medieval living history village, “looking around the city” and seeing an aquarium. We also planned camping and a rock concert that was bringing us to the area in the first place. Tall order, right?! We ended up doing it all, complete with visit to Dave and Busters, which my son kept talking about for 2 years since he was introduced to the establishment by his grandparents on another trip.
Exploring the lava tube at Mount St.Helens
The main thing I learned with this massive adventure is a beauty of both letting go and taking risks. Original plan was to explore the easy side of lava tube hike and look around mount St.Helens. We ended up getting lost on a short hike, decided to take the complicated route of the lava tube when we finally found it and skipping the rest of the volcano because of how dirty and tired we were when we finally emerged from underground. We found a fancy Italian restaurant on our way to the hotel and enjoyed our pasta despite our ragged looks. It has been the best adventure we ever had. In the following days we found an amazing living history museum on our way to the zoo in Tacoma, a military base on our way to sea glass beach in Townsend and an odd experience medieval restaurant that my son still thinks was absolutely out of this world despite sketchy reviews on yelp. Half of these places I would have totally missed on my own. It just wouldn’t seem like a justified idea to drive all the way out for those smaller attractions.
Medieval restaurant complete with trenchers for plates and tankards
I let go of massive planning on these trips. I didn’t book any hotels except for the private campground spot in the Olympic park because I knew that area can be booked up quickly. This allowed us to stop when we were tired and not to push through extra hours just to get to a specific hotel. It also allowed us to change plans on the fly.
I let go of notion of proper healthy meals. Outside of couple restaurant meals and specific stops we planned (finding a good local donut shop is a well established tradition) we snacked and picnicked our way through the trip. I brought a cooler packed with lunch meats and cheese, some fruits and veggies, pb&j and chips and we ate when we were hungry rather than when we had to because restaurants were around and opened. We ended up eating way less and way healthier that way too. We had a chance to try some unique snacks from food trucks because we were not full from a big restaurant meal we just ate. And we always had something to eat in the hotel if we were to tired.
I let go of educational activities and agendas. We listen to stand up comedy on iTunes and my kid got to pick the music. Turned out he has a good taste and introduced me to some new artists I ended up enjoying. We had awesome out of nowhere conversations that would have never happened if I tried to include educational lecture on history and geography along the way.
Big city exploring
Something magic happens when it’s just you and your kid out of the regular hamster wheel of school, homework, sports, chores, and work and your child is allowed to take the lead. We essentially traveled to the area I have been to multiple times and had absolutely new and unique experience that brought us closer and helped me understand my child better. It is an incredible opportunity to connect to your growing and changing child on a deeper level that is not possible with multiple people around.
So take some time, be it a weekend or a week, and take your kid on a road trip. You will be surprised at what you find along the way.
It seems like no matter which social media platform you open these days you are bound to come under waterfall of Coronavirus related posts. From funny memes to somber essays on how we will never be the same and how the second Great Depression is about to start, there is no way of hiding from it.
Yes, at this time we all grieve something: a church service in the actual church, sitting down in a favorite coffee shop or restaurant, going on a trip, visiting family. We have anxieties about our jobs, our health and the health and wellbeing of our loved ones, the financial future of our families and the country. Our kids have similar anxieties and worries. Some say it’s time to cut yourself some slack because it’s an unprecedented situation. I say it’s time to raise the bar, mobilize and teach your kids to do the same.
First, let me say that this journey did not start smoothly for my family. I am still torn between the relief of realizing my husband and I have job security because our jobs are considered essential and fear that one or both of us will end up sick because of said jobs. Our son had a rude awakening when he realized that this was not a vacation time and he still had to do school work. What he can’t do is pretty much anything from his list of favorite activities besides video games (more on which later). We struggled to find a space for both of us to work and then had to adjust again because my son and I are not compatible to work side by side if we want to actually get anything done. Meanwhile we still had to figure out supporting technology, and I had to make random trips to the office where our team was trying to figure out how to do something that has always been done face to face remotely. My husband continued to work out of home under ever increasing pressure grocery retailers are experiencing. So many reasons to be stressed to the max. But I can’t afford to be.
When this is all over with, I want my son to emerge not traumatized, but stronger and more adaptable. Adaptability is something that is hard to come by in the age of convenience and having everything easily accessible. Right now we have a chance to focus on developing skills necessary to do more with less, manage social isolation, be able to entertain self and find opportunities in every situation. I do not allow my son to wallow in self pity over canceled birthday plans (we had epic weekend trip planned for him and his best friends) or homework he had to navigate himself. I expect him to rise up to the challenge and learn to manage.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not leaving a 13yo to his own devices and wish him luck, but I don’t lower my expectations either. What we have now is a crisis only if we make it into one, and we are just not going to by using our time wisely and setting up some goals.
Maintain what normal you can: we still maintain reasonable bed time and wake up. While I don’t drag my kid out of bed at 6:30 like I normally do for school, I still want him to wake up early in the morning to maintain routine to have an easier transition back to 6:30 when the time comes. It also helps me keep him from gaming into all hours of the night melting his brain. We maintain family dinner and normal chores.
School work needs to get done: younger kids might need more help getting set up, but by 4-5th grade kids should have enough reading skills to navigate online learning. Younger kids will need more help, and kids with disabilities will obviously need more individualized approach, but most kids this applies to. If they can figure out a smartphone or a PlayStation type of device they can do online learning once shown which log in credentials to use.
Yes, they will have questions. This is a good opportunity to teach them to use available resources to find out answers on their own. Online dictionaries, maps – resources are endless these days. Show them how to use the power of the internet for something other then cute cat videos.
It is also a good opportunity to start instilling time management and self organizing skills. Now, we’ve been working in this one since kindergarten, and 7 years later it’s still a work in progress. I absolutely refuse to police my son’s work and track down completion and submission of his assignments. I don’t check what he is assigned and when it is due unless he asks my help in planning or figuring something out. We made it very clear that if his grades are not up to par or we get a call from a teacher because his work is not turned in, the consequences will be swift and severe. One 6 months ban from all electronics was enough to get the message across early on. We also dealt with “I’ll just slap something together” approach, which we have addressed. I don’t care so much about my son’s grades at this point. My job is to teach him how to learn and organize himself because very soon he will be in his own in college, and I don’t want him to have a rude awakening that’s going to cost thousands of dollars.
Your regular work needs to get done: if you are working from home your kids need to respect the fact that you are actually working. Set boundaries and expectations around the time you cannot be disturbed and around the time when you can be more flexible and have a conversation with your kids about why this is important.
Set goals: as a very much on the go family, we have a long list of things we needed to do but never had the time. Now is the perfect time to get to that list. And get your kids involved. Declattering, home improvement projects, yard work, trying out new recipes- all these things can occupy the whole family for hours and results can be appreciated long after pandemic. So far we are half way done with home office and are working on organizing my craft room. There are several projects in the garage as well. Is my kid always on board with that? No. But we expect him to pitch in for the good of the family and the next thing you know something awesome is done and we have time for fun.
Teach kids to do more with less: to minimize trips to the store I’m working on problem solving things like substituting ingredients in cooking or coming up with creative ways of using items in more than one way when we need something. Also good time to teach kids sewing and mending clothing so they don’t think they need to toss out something expensive because zipper is broke or the button fell off. Again, treat it as a creative adventure rather than managing deprivation and results will surprise you.
Stay physically active as a family: this one is a no brainer, but I was surprised how quickly both of my guys and I reverted back to the reliable comfort of the couch once the gym was closed. Make time to go for a walk. Dig out some outdoor toys from the garage ( if one of your goal was home improvement, chances are you already found some). Try dance lessons from YouTube or just dance around to your favorite music. There are lots of ways to make yourself and your kids get up and move. We even dug up the description of Native American games I learned about in a workshop couple years ago and had fun making necessary tools and accessories out of what we could find around.
Recognize that change is hard, but it’s a necessary and beautiful part of life that makes evolution on global and personal level possible. It’s ok to be uncomfortable or sad. It’s all part of the process. Where you arrive in the end of the process is up to you.
Let me start by saying that I love leftovers. Both as a way to have a quick meal and because I hate food waste. I will be sharing more leftover transformation meals, but let me start with this fish salad that is essentially a twist in a tuna salad.
Here is the fish dish that started this. A bit sad looking, but we are about to fix that.
First of all you will need cooked fish. The night before I made baked white fish filets. I usually go simple salt, pepper, lemon and butter route, but this time I cooked the fish a touch too long so it was a bit dry and wasn’t a hit with my boys. This recipe will work great with any cooked boneless skinless fish filets, and if you prefer more elaborate seasoning it will just add extra flavor.
Flaked fish +mayo +diced onion
Is you house decided like mine? My husband swears by Miracle Whip and despises mayonnaise. I will have to be starving and literally out of any other options before I touch Miracle Whip, but I will add mayonnaise to almost anything. Therefor two variations here.
Flake fish up with a fork or with your hands, add your chosen add-ons and mix together. Since fish is already seasoned you shouldn’t need any additional salt or pepper, but if your taste buds feel different it’s always an easy fix.
Ready to eat!
Because my fish was on a dry side, I let both salads sit in the fridge for about an hour before serving to make sure it got nice and hydrated.
Hairloom tomatoes and good crusty sourdough bread go perfectly with this salad
So here it is! From sad overcooked leftover to a delicious lunch!
The current state of affairs in the grocery stores and pharmacies had me wonder: did we as a society get so spoiled we need to have everything readymade?
With sanitizers disappeared weeks ago and both me and my husband holding what turned out to be essential jobs I had to improvise and dig back into my high school chemistry skills.
Hand sanitizer is essentially alcohol mixed with water soluble base. After considering possibilities Aloe Vera gel appears to be the most cost effective option and is still mostly readily available in cosmetics isle next to sunscreen. For Alcohol I skipped the drug store and went straight to liquor one. Essential oil I had on hand, although it is totally optional.
Ready, set….
Everclear was the strongest alcohol I could find at the store except for tequila that apparently can be stronger. Who knew? Deciding that wasting tequila to kill germs is a bit wasteful I stuck with basics.
When picking out Aloe Vera gel pay attention to the label. You are after the cheap stuff. I would have grabbed store brand, but anything related to sun bathing is slim pickings in Montana before June. The main thing to pay attention to us presence of topical anesthetic such as Lidocaine in the product. While great for sunburn, it is not a good idea to add to something you will be using in your hands multiple times a day. Unless you enjoy not feeling your hands.
Measure gel and alcohol and put in an a large bowl. You will need roughly 1 part gel to 2 parts of alcohol in whatever units you are planning on making the final product. I had one cup of gel to 2 cups of Everclear. Essential oil ar added at this point as well, however it is optional. Add as little or as much as you’d like or omit it all together. I added 3 droppers of peppermint oil just because I had some around.
Mix it like it’s an Olympic event
Mixing this concoction took a little longer than I expected. You do have to put some effort into until the mixture blends together smooth. And it’s ready!
I did have some 3oz traveling bottles for toiletries I used for the final product. You can use any portable container as long as it has a tight fitting lid. Alcohol evaporates, and you don’t want to loose any of the germ killing goodness.
Funnel turned out to be a bad idea
Unless you have a funnel with a wide spout, do not use one. The sanitizer will be to thick to go through. For as uncoordinated as I am I had way better luck spooning it into the bottle straight up.
That is the question… Well, not really, because in our family the answer is always YES!
When I first moved to the United States in 2002, internet was not what it used to be, cell phones were not smart yet, and there was no GPS. Mom and I were new to driving, and we lived in a rural part of Montana where bears roam and getting blown off the road can actually happen. We also didn’t know the area, so we were cautious venturing out. Our first trip was to Glacier National Park, roughly 2 hours away. We were somewhat stressed as everyone we talked to kept saying how big of a trip it was. Armed with Slavic signature stubbornness we threw some snacks and maps in the car and took the plunge.
Let me put something into perspective here. Growing up 2 hour one way commute was a normal thing to get to school and to work between lousy public transportation system and traffic. In comparison to being jammed between dozens of sweaty strangers a 2 hour ride in a personal car seemed like a luxury regardless of the destination and purpose of the trip. And here we were talking about world class natural wonders!
Glacier didn’t disappoint. Our first trip we drove the Going to the Sun road and got out just a few times to take pictures. Back then hiking was still a very uncharted territory for us. And we were hooked! The gas was cheap and the whole adventure cost us around 60$. Why wouldn’t someone want to go?! We were surprised to find out many people didn’t and most of our acquaintances have never seen the park despite living just two short hours away. To this day it blows my mind.
To this day one of my most favorite places on Earth
Over the years we took many more trips and with each one things became easier and easier. When my son was born, it became our preferred way to travel. As my son grew, we worked road trips down to practically a science. I will be sharing more tips, tricks and destination specific knowledge in other posts, but let’s just go over the positives and negatives of road trips as preferred mode of traveling.
Positives:
You get to spend time with each other. Some of my best conversations with my husband happened in the car during long rides. My husband and I peacefully talked over countless marital discords that we just didn’t have time, desire or energy to talk about during our busy daily life. You also can’t avoid the conversation, so things that were being left unsaid came out and we had to talk till it was resolved because walking away or distracting with other activities is not exactly an option.
Your kids get your almost undivided attention. Yes, you are driving, but you are not distracted by needing to run errands, cook dinner, put away laundry and million other daily things we moms do. You are both getting to see new things you might be surprised what original thoughts it triggers in your child’s head. And you have hours to discuss those brilliant new ideas!
You don’t have to stress about weight of our luggage and can save money on not having to rent or buy things at your destination. Nobody wants to pay luggage fees, and by taking your car you don’t have to. You can also save lots of money by bringing favorite snacks, toiletries, and recreational equipment. I can write a whole separate essay on how to make it all fit in available space, but trust me, it make travel with kids a whole lot more enjoyable. And shopping! No stressing over treasures found on the trip being too big, to heavy, or all together “hazardous” as deemed by airline.
You can be flexible. This is a big one for me. Over the years of traveling I found that even with the best research you will not be able to always accurately predict how much you are going to like specific location or associated activity that looked so great online. We also were steered away from original itinerary on more than one occasion after talking to locals. During road trip you can adjust as you go along and not miss anything along the way.
Price: This one is hard to beat. Even for a family of 3 the price of flying adds up quickly. Even for frugal and savvy airfare shoppers. If you have more than 4 people traveling together you also run at additional cost of renting a larger vehicle and packing issue of how to fit everything in the rental and having to buy what doesn’t fit on location. For the times when I don’t plan a trip to a specific location where we want to spend most of the vacation time driving always comes out cheaper. Even with lodging along the way. And your vacation is an adventure from the moment you step out of your door, not when you step out of the airport.
Minimal unexpected delays: Major downfall of air travel is unexpected and uncontrollable delays. We were stuck in Denver once for 11 hours. With a 3yo! With pretty much just a diaper bag because everything else was in check in luggage. Because the airport didn’t have a gate assigned to our incoming flight we missed a connection and nothing was available for our final destination till late at night. We missed a full day of our honeymoon because the president happened to be flying through and the whole airspace got shut down for almost 2 hours. By the time we got to our hotel it was 15 hours past original time and 2 extra flights later. Yes, delays can travel with any mode of transportation, but it really makes a difference to have some form of control over it and all you necessities with you.
This is whom I fine trip that took about 32hours longer than originally scheduled.
Negatives
Mileage on your car: Not necessarily something we consider in my family, but it can be a factor for some. It’s almost common knowledge now that cars make a bad investment and depreciate in value faster then you drive them off the lot, however sometimes preserving miles makes sense. Not sure under what circumstances it would deter me, but again, for some people it matters.
TimeDriving vs time flying: It is a serious consideration depending on your destination and the structure of the trip. If you have a week to use and are traveling to see family or friends at your final destination you probably wouldn’t want to drive 3 days one way. Those same 3 days of driving look completely different if you are planing a loop track for a road trip making each day something exciting. When assessing driving vs flying time remember to count the entire time traveling, not just a flight itself. Drive to airport, time going through security, hanging out at the gate doing nothing, waiting in luggage claim, getting a cab or a rental or waiting for public transportation, etc. How much time are you actually gaining by flying and how much does this time cost?
Time: Yes, this one is different. Is everyone in your party comfortable driving the same distances. I can easily travel 15h days, but my husband gets uncomfortable around 8-10 hours because he is tall and sitting in the car for a long time is painful. When we traveled with our son’s friend we quickly found out we had to cut our traveling window to another 6 hours because poor kid would periodically get car sick. Not considering a physical comfort of one traveling buddy can lead to a very miserable time for everyone.
This gem is just on the side of the interstate in Oregon! Would have never found it if we flew to Portland
As you can see, there is very few cons against taking a road trip. So get out a map, gather your family around and go on adventure! And stay tuned to read more about more ways to get the most out of your experience.
Couple of weeks ago my family went to Hawaii and visited an island of Lanai. As a fan a visiting grocery stores everywhere I go, I had to see a store that supplies the whole town in search of exotic foods and snacks I might bring home.
One of the finds was a packet of pre-made soup spices called Tamarind soup. Since, as I mentioned, Lanai is a small place where literally everyone knows everyone local, a lady at the checkout got curious about my purchase. I guess not that many people come on vacation looking forward to cooking. In the process of chatting away I got all sorts of advice on how to make a proper tamarind soup and a long list of suitable combinations of vegetables and proteins for this dish.
Let me start by saying that I love soup of any kind and personally think it’s the most budget friendly and versatile type of food in the world. The recipe is more of a guideline than a set requirement, so there really are no measurements for the ingredients. the amounts are determined purely by the size of the pot you are using and how brothy or thick you want it. Which is a very individual thing.
When I got married, I gradually adjusted my soup making skills to my husband’s American tastes and was making soups thicker. Several year later my elderly grandmother, who I owe all my culinary skills to, moved in with us and eventually mentioned that as much as she enjoys my stews off all kinds, she really missed having soup. Imagine my surprise, as I actually was making soups quite often the entire time trying to cater to some of her tastes. Lesson learned.
So back to Tamarind soup. Hawaiian lady’s advice boiled down to two main points: use a lot of seafood and try to stick to green vegetables. After some additional research I settled on the following
Baby broccoli, onion, garlic, shiitake mushrooms, spinach and broccoli and carrot slaw mix.
Than came the seafood. Combinations are endless, but I settled with cod, shrimp, and mussels and were conveniently sold without shell. Cod is a great soup fish because it retains its shape and doesn’t fall apart like many other types of fish do. I also prefer to buy raw shrimp because it is so easy to overcook.
Cod, shrimp and mussels
The thing you absolutely will need is the tamarind soup base. If you live on a big city you can probably by it at the Asian market. If you are a lucky dweller of the rural area, you can order this mix online. On the second thought I also decided to add some rice noodles since this was going to feed my husband and teenaged son who can’t survive of broccoli and spinach in broth.
The packet of soup mix that started it all
This soup cooks very quickly and is perfect for a busy week night.
One packet of mix calls for 8 cups of water, so get a pot big enough to hold that plus all the additions. Slice onions and garlic and sauté them in a tablespoon or so of cooking oil of your choice over medium heat till softened. Add sliced mushrooms and let them fry up for 3-4 minutes. Trust me, it does make a big difference in flavor.
Garlic onions and mushrooms are best friends
When mushrooms start browning at the edges, time to add our water and tamarind soup mix. Mix it together and bring to boil. While that is happening, cut your fish in nice big bite size pieces cause once the broth comes to boil things will be happening quickly. At boiling point add the seafood, the rest of the veggies and rice noodles, mix together and wait about 5 min. That’s it!
Keep in mind that seafood cooks very quickly and while 5 minutes seems like nothing it’s more than enough to get seafood done. Also the soup will keep cooking when you take it off the stove as the liquid will continue to be hot for a while. Don’t risk getting soggy green veggies and rubbery shrimp and fish. Five minutes is really all you need.
The taste of the soup is sour with slight heat. If you prefer your food spicier, we found that adding some sweet chili sauce works great.
Perfect Imperfections 