Let’s be real! Most parents don’t have the time or finances to take a luxurious vacation. Obli-cations has become the new travel norm. If anyone knows about obli-cations and keeping it real, it’s Kristen Hewitt.
Sports host and reporter, television personality and viral mom blogger, Kristen Hewitt, is a Hampton by Hilton Real Traveler.
The busy mom of two invites others to skip the burden of living up to unrealistic travel plans and focus on making the most out of obli-cations.
Kristen shared further insight on how Real Travelers are making the most out of trips. Check out what she had to say:
Nekia Nichelle: What is a Real Traveler?
Kristen Hewitt: A Real Traveler is someone who travels mostly for work and family reasons, rather than leisure and relaxation. Real Travelers embrace their travel experiences with a positive, new spin and a sense of humor. They know that life isn’t perfect and neither is travel, so they might as well just take it as it comes and savor every second of the “off” days when they’re not working!
NN: You’ve gone viral with your “Keep It Real” attitude, as a mom what’s your “Keep It Real” perspective regarding travel?
KH: Every parent knows there’s no such thing as a vacation with kids, it’s a trip. So we live by one very important philosophy, expect the unexpected. With kids there are always 85 stops to go to the bathroom on road trips, or someone inevitably gets sick, so we just try to make it as fun as possible and not have high expectations. I think when you go through trips and life with this attitude you’re never disappointed and a whole lot happier!
NN: Any travel hacks for other busy moms?
KH: Of course I have lots of travel hacks to make any trip or vacay a little smoother. The first thing is snacks. Every mom knows kids are happiest when they’re fed, so I pack a Ziploc freezer bag full of snacks no matter where we go, plane, cruise, or automobile. Tic Tacs, Nutella, granola bars, the sky is the limit. I also always bring a bag of Vitamin C lollipops on an airplane for our girls for descent to help with their ears. I also pass them out to all the other crying kids on the plane. It keeps them quiet and sugars them up at the END of the flight! Also, tablets are the best invention ever. New games, apps, and new movies are every parent’s BFF. I honestly don’t know how our parents survived without them.
NN: A lot more people are taking Obli-cations…break down what that is.
KH: An obli-cation is a trip someone takes for work, family or a life responsibility. Hampton by Hilton’s Real Travel campaign aims to encourage travelers to make the most of their obli-cations and invites travelers to share their real travel moments with others. We recently took an obli-cation to Arizona for our niece’s high school graduation. We were able to stay at the Hampton by Hilton in Flagstaff and take the girls to the Grand Canyon and visit an awesome drive through zoo called Bearizona. We figured if we have to travel cross-country, we might as well see as much as we can!
NN: Heard you partnered up with “Hampton by Hilton’s Real Travel Influencer Community”, give us the real on that partnership.
KH: Yes we recently had to help my husband’s aunt pack up to sell her house in Key Largo, so rather than just going down for the day, we stayed for the weekend at the Hampton by Hilton. We were able to see so many things that are so close to us that we’ve never done before! We went to Theater of the Sea, and we kayaked with manatees. It was such a nice obli-cation, we wondered why we had never taken the time to do that before!
Be sure to check out Hampton by Hilton’s Facebook Live on Aug. 2 2 & 4 p.m. EST as Second City will be taking over for a Real Travel comedy hour-ish and giving away prizes. You can also follow the conversation on social media via #RealTravel.
Comment below and let me know when your last Obli-cation was and did you enjoy it?
