Dream Jar Travels

Dream Jar Travels 🗺️Inspiring Your Next Family Vacation✈️Autism Insights & Toddler Travel Tips🌎Neurodivergent Family

If you’ve been blaming stress, motherhood, age, hormones, or a stressful year… it might actually be your gut.For the las...
01/05/2026

If you’ve been blaming stress, motherhood, age, hormones, or a stressful year… it might actually be your gut.

For the last few years I tried to fix how I felt through lifestyle: better food, better sleep, vitamins, somatic exercises, nervous system work; all things that helped, but still never got me back to myself.

What kept showing up for me:
• mood swings & PMDD symptoms that felt impossible
• weight gain that wouldn’t budge no matter what I did
• bloating that made me look 6 months pregnant
• exhaustion I couldn’t “sleep off”
• brain fog & irritability I blamed on motherhood

I kept getting bloodwork, some markers were off, others in range, but nothing connected the dots or explained why I still felt this way. What finally did?

👉 Gutcheck VIVO, a gut microbiome test that showed low levels of key beneficial bacteria, low vitamin synthesis (B7 + K2), and inflammatory patterns that line up with exactly how I’ve been feeling.

The wild part? Aaron’s results were actually better than mine… even though my lifestyle is technically “healthier.” Proof it’s not just habits or what you eat, your microbiome and your genetics matter. And now, I finally know what to do:

• focus on the right prebiotic foods to boost SCFA production (not just “eat more fiber”)
• add the probiotic strains my gut is low in, not any probiotic
• reduce foods that feed the wrong bacterial growth (for me, that means moderating some foods that are universally healthy)
• support vitamin K2 + B7 synthesis so my mood, hormones & energy have a stronger foundation

My hormones are out of sync, and this is affecting so many of my symptoms. It’s not just about eating better or cutting out sugar, it’s about knowing which foods positively impact my gut health, support my hormones, and actually improve the symptoms that have been weighing me down.

I’m not “broken.” I just needed information that matched my lived experience, not guesses.

If you’ve been doing everything right and still feel off… start with your gut.

Comment “gutcheck” so you can finally get clarity too, and start 2026 feeling healthier, lighter, and more you again. 🩵

01/03/2026

The secret to a life that feels more connected isn’t doing what everyone else is, it’s choosing experiences that bring you back to yourself. 🫶🏼

For me, that looks like travel.
Not the highlight-reel version.
The real one.

The kind with confirmed flights that calm my nervous system.
Quality time that doesn’t feel rushed.
Moments where we’re together, present, and not managing a million expectations at once.

As an autism mom, connection doesn’t come from perfect plans. It comes from environments that allow regulation, flexibility, and joy to exist at the same time.

Travel has given us so many incredible experiences.
It slows us down.
It gives my kids space to explore.
And it gives me moments where I remember who I am beyond survival mode.

My love language isn’t flowers or gifts.
It’s experiences.
It’s memories.
It’s saying yes to a life that feels lived, even when it’s imperfect.

If you’re a parent who craves more connection, more presence, and more moments that actually feel good in your body, this space is for you.

✨ Follow for:
• Autism-aware family travel ideas
• Honest motherhood + nervous system conversations
• Trips that prioritize regulation, connection, and joy

Because connection isn’t found in doing more, it’s found in choosing what brings you home to yourself. ✈️

Early check-in isn’t about being “extra.”For many families, it’s the difference between arriving regulated… or arriving ...
01/02/2026

Early check-in isn’t about being “extra.”

For many families, it’s the difference between arriving regulated… or arriving already depleted.

After a long travel day, hearing “your room is ready” gives the nervous system something it desperately needs: a predictable base. A quiet reset. A place to exhale.

This is a core guest experience insight, not entitlement or special treatment.

Timing, access, and simplicity shape how guests feel inside an experience, especially for families traveling with kids.

The arrival experience sets the tone.
Trust is built before the stay even begins.

If you’ve ever felt your shoulders drop the moment you got into your hotel room, this is why. 🩵


12/27/2025

THIS feeling is everything to an autism parent.

When your child sleeps through the night!!! 🎉
No 4 AM wakeups.
No pacing the halls.
No tag-teaming with your partner in the dark while whispering, “just try to lay with him.”

If you’re not raising an autistic child with sleep challenges, this might not sound like a big deal.
But if you are? You know.

You know what that kind of night means.
The months (or years) of exhaustion.
The 2 AM googling.
The desperate experiments with blackout blinds, noise machines, magnesium gummies, weighted blankets.
The prayers that maybe tonight… he’ll sleep.

When they do?
It’s not just rest.
It’s peace.
It’s healing.
It’s the kind of milestone that doesn’t show up in baby books, but lives in your body forever.

Sleep challenges are so common in the autism community, and still so misunderstood.
For our kids, regulation, sensory overload, and even circadian rhythms can all play a role.

💬 If you’ve ever celebrated a “finally, they slept” moment, I see you. If you’re still in the thick of it, I see you too.

And if you’re curious how we travel successfully and have our autistic kids sleep all night (yes, even in hotel rooms):

→ I’m happy to share what’s helped us. Drop a 💤 if you’d like a sleep tools post.

is here to remind you, travel is still possible, and sometimes it’s easier to be tired on vacation than it is at home, so book the trip. ✈️

If holidays have ever felt like too loud, too rushed, too many expectations…you’re not alone, especially as an autism fa...
12/26/2025

If holidays have ever felt like too loud, too rushed, too many expectations…
you’re not alone, especially as an autism family.

Yesterday our Christmas looked different:
no sprinting between houses,
no overstretched schedules,
no pressure to perform “the perfect Christmas.”

Instead:
🛳️ waking up on MSC Seashore
🥞 breakfast made for us (no dishes, no rush)
🌴 time in Ocho Rios, Jamaica
☀️ slow sunshine + spontaneous play
🍦 soft-serve breaks (zero regrets)
💙 regulated kids, connected parents

And here’s the part most people won’t say out loud:
sometimes the holidays feel heavy, not because you don’t love your family, but because your nervous system is already holding so much.

Travel didn’t “fix” that for us…
but it gave us:
space to breathe,
space to move at our pace,
space to make memories that feel like us.

If you’ve ever wondered:
“Could we travel as an autism family… or would it just be too hard?”, let this be proof that you’re allowed to do holidays differently.

Some questions for you (I’ll reply back):
✨ What would make a Christmas away feel easier for you?
✨ Would your child enjoy this kind of trip?
✨ What’s one tradition you’d keep, even while traveling?

Because your autistic child deserves the world…
and you deserve holidays that don’t require recovery afterward.

📌 Save this if you’ve ever dreamed of a different kind of holiday.

✨ Follow for autism-friendly travel tips, sensory-aware adventures, & real stories that make family travel feel possible again. ✈️

travelcontentcreator

Address

Thunder Bay, ON

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Dream Jar Travels posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category