Sports Weekends, Winter Travel, and Making the Most of It
Hi, good morning everyone.
I started my morning thinking about January—and specifically all the weekends we won’t be home as a family. Between swim meets and hockey tournaments, January through March is jam-packed with out-of-town sports. Des Moines, Iowa… Springfield, Illinois… all the best of the Midwest, ha!
So I hopped into EvoPlus, booked what we needed, and started thinking about what sports travel really requires from us as parents: flexibility, snacks, and a good attitude even when the GPS sends you on some unusual reroute that makes no sense at all.
And here’s the thing—I want the WildHer journal to be a place for BIG dreaming (Peru! Iceland! Morocco!) but also a place that acknowledges the real stuff. The “we’ll be at a Holiday Inn Express at 6:45 AM for warm-ups” kind of travel. Because that’s real life for so many of us.
Over the years, I’ve learned a few things that make sports weekends actually work:
1. Pack the Things You Know You’ll Need
Healthy snacks, good water bottles, layers, and a mini first-aid kit. Kids fall apart when they’re tired or hungry—and so do we. Having the basics makes everything smoother.
2. Your hotel matters more than the destination.
Let’s face it—there’s not a ton to do in many of these Midwest towns.
So choose a place you can actually breathe in.
Huge shoutout to Home2 Suites by Hilton.
They are fantastic for sports weekends:
full fridge and microwave
space to spread out
the option to bring your own food and cook simple dinners
a lobby full of other tired sports parents doing the same thing
It just makes the whole weekend feel more manageable—and honestly more fun.
3. Stay human in the chaos.
Drink water. Stretch. Take a walk between sessions. Protect your sleep (as much as a hotel hallway full of kiddos allows). When we feel better, they feel better. Find escapes!
4. Give yourself permission to not fill every minute.
Sports travel is already enough. You don’t have to turn Des Moines into Paris. Sometimes the win is downtime, an early bedtime, or letting your kids watch a movie under hotel blankets while you sit on the couch eating leftover pasta.
So yes—WildHer is here for the dreaming and the bucket-list places…but I’m also here for the everyday travel that keeps your family moving.
Quick room bookings, simple itineraries, sports weekends, spring-break ideas, whatever you need.
Sports parents, I see you. And I’ll be right there with you this winter, cheering from pool decks and hockey rinks across the Midwest.
