My Top 5 Tips for Healthy Travel

I have been lucky to travel since I was born - partly due to being bicultural and living in different countries, but also because I love discovering new places and opening my eyes to different cultures. 

While I love exploring, I have never particularly enjoyed the process of actually getting to and in between places. I’ve had my fair share of delayed or cancelled flights, detours and long drives. And many ‘are we there yet??!’ moments. 

Over the past few years, I have come up with a strategies that make the process of traveling minimally stressful and make the most out of my adventures. 

Here are my top five tips for stress-free, healthy travel:

1. Get some exercise before you go/when you get there: Getting some sort of exercise before leaving on a trip always helps makes me feel calmer while traveling. While I enjoy running, any type of exercise to get your blood flowing is great. If leaving particularly early, getting 10-15 minutes earlier won’t make much of a difference in terms of sleep but can allow you to get in a quick walk or some stretching to make you feel more energized to take on the travels. Even if really tired upon arrival, I always try to get myself outside for a walk or run to get some fresh air. And come on, who doesn't want to start exploring!? As a runner, I usually search on Strava under Explore > Local for popular routes (both running and cycling) in the area. 
2. Get your sleep: Trying to stay/get back on your regular sleep schedule is key when traveling. More rested = better able to enjoy your new surroundings and make healthy choices. When traveling between many times zones, I usually try to avoid napping, to go to bed at a reasonable hour in the new place. I always bring along my lavender essential oil (I particularly like Auracacia’s Mellow Mix which has a relaxing combination of lavender, lemon, camomile and sandalwood). I put a few drops on my wrists and neck before going to sleep. I also take my magnesium supplement (I use Biotics Magnesium Orotate 500) to help me relax and get quality sleep. I usually keep some Melatonin on hand, though only use it if I am really having trouble sleeping. 
3. Eat healthy: Airports, train stations and highway rest stops are not havens of healthy food options. I recommend thinking about and preparing for what you are going to eat en route to avoid a) unhealthy options, or b) get so excessively hungry that you want to ‘eat all the things’ and make poor nutritional choices. I always bring along some sprouted nuts, an a apple or two and some quality protein bars for good measure. Stay tuned for a post on my favorite healthy travel snacks!
4. Stay hydrated: I have my stainless steel Klean Kanteen, and my travel mug wherever I go. Bring a water bottle that you can fill up once you get past security, or if you are in a place where the quality of water is questionable, buy a large bottle of mineral water before boarding so that you can stay hydrated. And don’t worry about having to get up to go to pee! The more you move around, the better!
5. Be flexible: I think one of the greatest things about traveling is that it pushes me to get out of my comfort zone and to be flexible. Travel may give us a rare opportunity to get out of our daily routines and open ourselves to new perspectives. You may aim to maintain lifestyle habits that make you feel good and energetic at home, but it generally isn’t realistic to aim for perfection in doing so in a new place. If you have certain dietary preferences or restrictions, look for places that can accommodate you, but remain open to trying new foods and flavors. 

Enjoy the adventures, and Bon Voyage!

New Year, Better You

I see the phrase ‘new year, new you’ everywhere at this time of year. Magazine covers, websites, television, social media -wherever I look, it almost feels as though I am being told that I have to radically transform myself into someone else with the beginning of the new calendar year.

To me, this phrase, this notion of becoming a new person in the new year is so reflective of the all too prevalent notion that we are not enough, around which insecurities about our jobs, our lives, our relationships, our bodies and general worth in the world brew. 

Underlying this idea and social to pressure to start anew, there is the notion that we are somehow inherently flawed. Or at least that we have somehow become it since the last new year and time that we tried to embrace the ‘new year, new you’ idea. We are pushed to act out of feelings of being insufficient in one or multiple ways. We lack the willpower to make ‘healthy’ choices. We lack determination to set goals. We lack focus to achieve those goals. We lack energy pursue new things. We lack the intelligence or education to get the money making job we desire. We lack the agility we need to navigate today’s complicated world. We are emotionally unavailable to develop meaningful relationships.

We internalize our relative inabilities to meet societal expectations and our own visions of an ‘ideal life’ to the point that we start believing that there is something inherently wrong with us. Thus, we believe that with the new year, we must change who we are. So all too often, we put an insane amount of pressure upon ourselves to become a person we are not. Each year, we give into this idea that we must start anew, to leave behind who we failed to become the previous year. And, in this way, the years go by, resolutions made and remade. 

How do we put a stop to this vicious cycle?

Perhaps a change in perspectives - moving away from not being ‘enough’ to acknowledging who we are and what we have to build upon. Recognizing our strengths and using them to make small changes to grow each day into a slightly better person than we were yesterday. Making steps toward our goals and acting upon values we believe in. Not letting our worth be defined by external pressures, but rather by our own gratitude for the experiences that have shaped who we are today, good and not so good. And above all, knowing that we have power to change. To continue to better ourselves each day. 

Since the beginning of this new year, I have been reflecting upon my strengths, what have learned from people around me and previous experiences to guide my decisions in setting new goals and building upon previous ones.

I am excited and looking forward to continuing to reach toward my dreams and goals in 2016! What are you grateful and excited for?