Travelling When You're a Creature of Habit

I just recently got back from a little road trip with the family to Kawartha Lakes and Toronto.  It was originally a 4-night stay that turned into 5, and I'm glad to be back home.  In March, we went to Florida, and also there, by the 4th-5th day, I start to feel like "I've had enough, take me home".  I'm a creature of habit. I like the food I cook (usually make something healthy), I like my bed that has an indentation of my body, I like my shower, my kitchen, and gasp... my daily routine.


I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy going on vacation too, but I feel like my choices about what I eat go haywire (chips, French fries, pizza, ice-cream, and chocolate daily).  My clothing choices are stifled (I try to pack light and never can predict the weather).  My personal hygiene might be questionable too. haha.  I don't have my creature comforts.  And we spend a good amount of time in the car travelling between destinations. It's hard for someone who runs on routines.
Here's some things I do to help me deal and learn to embrace/enjoy it:

1. Don't try to pack so much into your day.  Pick one or two "highlight" activities you'll do and the other things can be low-key relaxing, or, even something you would do daily (more on this later).  When there's too many planned activities in your day, you end up feeling like you're constantly trying to beat the clock.
2. Try to stick to some healthier food choices (I said try!).  This one is tough for me because I feel like, if I'm on vacation, I'm going to treat myself.  And although you should treat yourself, it can become a problem when you're treating all your meals as treats.  When we don't eat foods we're used to, and/or eat foods that are processed, our bodies feel sluggish.  Answer this quietly in your head... do you ever get "backed up" on vacation? 
   I tried to make one of my meals of the day be a large salad with lean protein, and the other meals were things I wouldn't normally indulge in.  Looking back, I made more "bad" choices than good, but, it's a hard habit for me to break.
3. Do something from your normal routine.  There's two things I really enjoy doing to wind down my day and feel relaxed: either watch YouTube, or read a book.  Back in our hotel room at night, when it was time for everyone to wind down, I would sit in a chair under a lamp and read for 30-40 minutes.  This is something I try to do everyday anyway, so it was a nice way to center myself and feel like I was following my normal night routine.  Another thing I would do is go to a store I was familiar with, just to pick up some snacks, or walk around.  Yes, I'm that person that goes to Walmart when I'm in another city.
4. Just Breathe, you're on vacation!  It's easy to get frustrated by things while traveling: weather not cooperating, traffic jams (Toronto!), indecisions or disagreements about what to do.  If you feel yourself getting frustrated, just breathe, and remember that this isn't a permanent situation.  Soon you'll be back at work and missing the time you had with your family or friends, whoever you're travelling with.  Find the good in the situations.  Example: stuck on the 401 near Pearson airport?  well look at the planes taking off.  Stuck on the 400 near Canada's Wonderland? watch the rollercoaster carts dropping down the hills (see, there's a theme here of sitting in traffic in Toronto).  Just try to appreciate everything going on around you.

Here's a bonus tip for when you get home... I do this all the time and it makes it much easier to "get back to normal" the next day:
Unpack right away!  We bring our luggage to the laundry room and I get a couple of loads going.  I put all toiletries back.  I empty any backpacks or purses.  Put away the shoes and jackets.  Then we tackle the car if it was a road trip and get it vacuumed and wiped.  It's a lot of effort, but you'll feel better the next day to not have all these tasks lingering over your head.
Happy Travelling!