Tips for Staying Healthy While Traveling for the Holidays

Most of us travel much more during the holiday season than any other time of the year. Meeting up and reuniting with family and friends is one of our favorite things about the holidays, but excessive traveling can take a toll on our health, both physically and emotionally.

First, whether we’re sitting in an airport or making pit stops on a long car ride, traveling can often be a cause of a change in our diet. Think about it: While we’re traveling, we don’t have the option to pull out our blender and make a delicious smoothie bowl, and it can be very tempting to pick up fast food at a rest stop or in a train station. Therefore, it’s always a good idea to pack some superfood snacks for the journey!

Certain superfood snacks are easier to carry than others. For example, incorporating goji berries, chia seeds, and goldenberries into energy bars before your trip can give you plenty of boosts to keep you going as you travel. Additionally, if you tend to experience nausea or dizziness on long car, train, or plane rides, stirring some Super Green Peppermint Powder into your drink can help ease symptoms of motion sickness. Plus, keeping some chlorella powder on hand to pour into a water bottle is a great way to take care of your digestive system, keeping it healthy and happy just in time for those big holiday meals.

Speaking of a healthy gut, any time we travel out of the country it’s super important to pay attention to the foods we eat and the water we drink, as our bodies often respond negatively to the bacterias in many foreign places. However, even if you’re not travelling internationally, most types of travel are destined to expose you to more germs than you would otherwise run into were you to stay home. Of course, germs are not a good enough reason to stay local for the holidays - we just have to be a bit more careful while traveling!

Luckily, avoiding germs in the same way we always do is usually just enough to keep us protected from getting sick while traveling, but we do have to be extra diligent about those things. Washing your hands is a germ-killer that is often taken for granted, but in reality it can make the difference between spending the holiday sledding with the kids and spending it in bed with chicken soup. Your time spent traveling very well may be when good hygiene is most important, so stocking up on some Vitamin C-packed Camu Camu or Sea Buckthorn Berries for some extra immune support won’t hurt.

All of that said, staying healthy while traveling doesn’t just have to do with our physical well-being. Think about it: Our emotional and mental health is directly connected to our physical health, so if one has the potential to be thrown out of whack, so does the other. The holidays are already a stressful time; there is often pressure to make holiday celebrations “perfect” as well as to see as many friends and family as possible. But the toll on our mental health doesn’t stop there. For example, losing sleep to pack a suitcase or catch an early flight will unquestionably contribute to the state of stress that many of us experience during this time of the year.

In order to keep your mind at ease, be sure to cook up some adaptogen recipes (hello Ashwagandha!) and get plenty of sleep this holiday season. Also, remember to take some pressure off of yourself! If traveling becomes too excessive, keep in mind that you’re always allowed to say “No thank you” to that third out-of-town holiday party, and meet up with friends and family during a more relaxed time of the year. The holidays can be a ton of fun, but if your body starts to feel some of the effects of traveling, it may be time to sit down with some hot cocoa and let yourself enjoy the cozy fireplace instead.

Shop the Post