Traveling is fun. Jet lag? Not so much. Leaving one’s native habitat to go on the road for business, and even pleasure can be stressful and exhausting. That’s why I’m sharing my 5 Tips for Healthy Travel with you.
All types of travel can be intense and particularly brutal when vacation and business schedules don’t jibe with the needs of our body clock. Adjustments to different time zones are no fun. Here’s how to make the best out of things when you find yourself in a not so great situation and are far away from home.
5 Tips for Healthy Travel
1. Sleep
Sleep is so important. Dim clocks, unplug all of the land lines that go into your room as to avoid accidental calls and close any and all blackout shades and curtains. Use a white noise app on your phone to block out sound from other rooms or noise coming from nearby elevators when staying in a hotel.
2. Water is Your Best Friend
Remember to stay hydrated! If you’re like me you may forget to drink when you’re not at home and in your regular routine. Flying can be very dehydrating for some people, so be sure to drink a little more water than you do on your non-travel days. I find that once I get dehydrated it can be very challenging to catch up and rehydrate, so best to avoid this scenario altogether and drink up!
3. Pack Snacks
I pack almonds and when I get to my destination I’ll purchase a green apple if I happen to pass by a grocery store or deli. Having healthy snacks on hand prevents me from eating sugar which I crave when I’m tired and fatigued.
4. Walk
Pack a pair of walking shoes so that you can take a nice long walk and stretch out your legs whenever you have a block of free time. If you don’t have free time, make time to go for a walk, at the very least, every other day. If you’re on vacation, remember to get a couple of workouts in so you don’t feel any worse for the wear when you get home.
5. Juice Bars are Your Secret Weapon
If you drink green juice on a daily basis (like I do when I’m home) take a few moments to do an online search of juice bars so you’re not deprived of the good green stuff. When I’m traveling on business to New York City, I make a point of going to Organic Avenue (they have quite a selection of green juice with no added fruit). Most big cities now have fresh pressed juice dispensaries as well. When I’m traveling I purchase a couple of bottles of juice at a time so that I can keep a spare in the refrigerator of my hotel room. Green juice is incredibly energizing and healing for me, especially during travel. If you’re on vacation, note that some hotels now serve green juice, such as the Chateau Marmont, where I stay when I’m in Los Angeles.
I hope you enjoyed my 5 tips for healthy travel! Stay tuned for more travel tips in the near future, when I share how I organize and pack my vitamins and herbal supplements as depicted in the photo above.
What are your secrets for traveling healthy and making your trips more fun and less exhausting?
Sarah at The Fasting Diet Plan says
Tip number 5: Juice bars are great, but can be a little hard to find in some places I travel to. And tip number 1: the white noise app will be worth a try coz I often can’t sleep very well when I’m in a new place.
Nerrida says
Ah, juice bars! That is a great tip. I’ll definitely look for one next time I’m on the road. I always travel with homemade snacks such as trail mix and cashew balls, and simple utensils that can make a salad. Also I sometimes bring my small 2-cup electric jug and herbal tea bags.
Mary Beth says
I’d like to know about your cashew balls.
Gibbs Elizabeth says
For travel induced constipation, I use a handy dandy yoga technique: Seated Hip Rotations. Sit comfortably in a chair or on the floor, rest your hand on your thighs or knees and rotate your upper body in one direction for three minutes and then reverse. Works like a charm! Beth G,
Angela says
Just FYI, I know you like using Mason jars, there’s an item I’ve been looking for on Shesteals that has lids that adapt to Mason jars, http://she.steals.com/, it will probably only be available until 9pm tonight, after that items go into the Archives. I’m going to buy a few (since I started using tons of mason jars after reading about how you use them for storage, which is what I use them for, as well as for my Green smoothies!)
lauren says
Juice Bars! This was a new one for me on our last vacation and now I’m hooked. Because somehow traveling I don’t get all the fruits and veggies I eat at home and my body more the craved them once I stumbled into a juice bar. Great tips!
Jolanda says
Love it Elana, for long flights I will try night flights so it will be much easier to fall asleep.
To be honest I love exploring new countries, cultures and cities, but I hate the (long) flying part :)
Cyndi says
Freeze dried packets of greens by a company named Solle viral, just mix in water, shake, then consume, great stuff for travel.
MamaCassi says
very good tips! i like the juice bar one- totally not on my radar.
as for the rest, yup! just leaving the house w/ 5 kids and pregnant i have all those lined up!!!! ;)
Beth says
These are great tips. Thanks for thinking of sharing them with us.
catherine says
I travel a lot for work, but mostly to destinations that I can drive to. If I’m going overnight, I always try to get a hotel with a mini-fridge (pretty common at most of my destinations, fortunately) so I can pack a small cooler with things like crudites and better breakfast options. If I’m going for multiple nights I can then also hit up the local grocery store and get ingredients for simple salads, etc.