The mental load on moms planning vacations can be overwhelming. The planning, the logistics, the budgeting…it can quite easily suck any of the alleged ‘rest and relaxation’ from the vacation.
We travel at least one weekend a month exploring Arizona and beyond, and through continual travel, plus juggling running my own business and managing our household, I’ve developed a few mom hacks that help us hit the ground running smoothly when we arrive back home from trips.
I hope these hacks help you say ‘yes’ to more adventures, and let you linger with those post-vacation vibes a little longer!
XO,
Amy
- Come home with clean clothes
If you’re staying with friends/family, or a rental home, chances are there’s a washing machine you can use.
I always ignored this on vacations until contributor Jessica told me her vacation hack: always come home with clean clothes.
Just throw a load or two in over the last day of your trip and pack your suitcase with clean clothes. This may not work for type A’s who insist on sorting everything specifically, but if you’re like me and love to throw it all in, this has been a game changer for us! Cara and I did this on our trip to Pine and it was a wonderful thing to come home to!
- Order a grocery pickup before your vacation starts
I plan out our weekly perishable essentials (produce, dairy, etc.) that we always have in the house along with a few turnkey meal basics before I even back my suitcase.
Here’s the hack: I order it for pickup for the return date of my trip and swing by the grocery store on my way home. Literally, before we come home and unpack, I’ve already got our essentials to get through the first few days of meals.
- Order a few meal prep meals
I’ve been testing out a few local meal prep services over the past year, and I’ve found that Prepped AZ is my favorite for post-vacation meals for two reasons.
First, they can deliver on Mondays—this gives me less pressure to rush home from a weekend trip in time to get my meals, but still sets me up for a light cooking week.
Secondly, Prepped AZ offers paleo and grain free meals that helps get us back into nutrient-dense meals quicker after vacation.
- Order photo prints on the commute back home
Especially if we stay with family or friends, I try to mail a thank you note as soon as we’re home. I like to also include two or three printed photos from our trip as a sweet gesture, because printed photos take effort and often times fall in the ‘I’ll do it later’ category that never gets done.
The Walgreens app makes it super quick to order a few prints that will be ready to pickup as soon as you’re home (they can even mail them to your house). This is also a fun way for kids to keep the vacation alive after you’re home as well. Pro-tip: sites like RetailMeNot.com always have killer discount codes for Walgreens and so much more. You can get a few photos printed for a few bucks!
5. Clean before you go
This is Cara’s hack and it takes a little planning ahead, but taking a few moments to wipe down the counters, vacuum or even just make sure beds are made makes a huge difference when coming home from a trip. Walking into a mess stresses a lot of us out, so knowing we’re walking into a clean(ish) home just makes things a little easier.
