3 Health Tips to Travel Comfortably

We’re about to step into some of the bigger travel months, with springtime conferences, family vacations, and summertime adventures. 

Before you pack up and get ready, it’s important to prepare your body and mind for the trips ahead. Below are 3 health discomforts that often show up during travel, and several tips to prepare your body for your next trip or weekend away.

1. Digestive Discomfort

Leaving your comfortable environment or time zone can make your digestive system slow down. If you know you’ll be leaving for a weekend, or are heading on a longer journey, be sure that you eat well for 3-4 days before your trip.

Contrary to popular belief, I rarely recommend wheat bran foods as a way to consume fiber. For some people, cereals, granola bars and grains irritate the lining of the intestines, and lead to digestive discomfort. Packaged grain products often are full of sugar, which keep excess weight on the body. My suggestion is to use vegetable foods, such as salad, cut veggies (celery or cucumber are an easy choice), as well as heavier vegetables, like squash or sweet potato to get things moving. Vegetables will infuse your body with extra nutrients, and fiber to ease the function of your intestines.

2. Irregular meal times

At home, it’s easy to have a steady schedule of meals, but when you’re traveling, it’s not always up to you when you’ll eat next. Travelers find that if they go too long without food, they may overeat later, or turn to empty snacks, like crackers and chips. It’s helpful to learn ahead of time when you should expect to gather with your travel partners to eat together. You are also never obligated to eat if you’re not hungry.

3. Not enough time to recharge and be alone

As creative people, our time to do inner work is incredibly important. It sets the tone to our entire day, and then unleashes our creativity. Sometimes we miss out on this time to recharge when we travel with other people, and especially if events are planned for us throughout the day. Take time for yourself on your next journey, and explore a few quiet activities that you would normally do at home. Add an extra day of rest to a solo trip you’re taking. Take a longer bath. Listen to recorded books in the car, or recordings from mentors in your life. Do whatever it takes to spend time feeling good. This inner happiness will flow into the entire experience of your trip.