Ensuring healthy travels

“I haven”™t been everywhere, but it”™s on my list.” ”“ Susan Sontag, American writer and philosopher  

As the world continues to adjust to a post-Covid society, the ability to be out and about has come back into consideration.  Judging by the lines at airports, cars on the road and sold-out entertainment events, we all seem to be getting back to doing what we want.  Below are a few simple suggestions to help your body combat the rigors of traveling:   

Drink plenty of water.  As with most health and wellness tips, this is on just about every list no matter what the focus is.  However, water is often overlooked and neglected during our everyday lives as well as when we travel.  Dehydration exaggerates jet lag.  When traveling on an airplane, your body is exposed to low moisture levels since aircraft cabin humidity levels are unnaturally low.  

Ensure you are consuming ample water throughout the day.  Also, bring a refillable water bottle as most airports have clean, filtered water fountains, as opposed to paying high prices for plastic water bottles at a convenience shop.  Water is best absorbed with some type of motion, so if you drink on a flight, that”™s the best time to stand up and stretch out for a bit.  With this, you are giving the water an opportunity to be used and distributed. Otherwise, if we drink and stay seated, the water will just sit in our stomachs ”“ and then you will forced to stand up because you”™ll have to go to the restroom. 

Adjust your sleep schedule accordingly.  This is even more important when changing time zones. Try adjusting to your new sleep schedule before you leave for your trip.  This will also help prevent some jet lag, which is inevitable, although it can be minimized. This doesn”™t have to be a full adjustment before you leave for your trip. But anything you can do to get acclimated to going to sleep earlier or later will be benefitial. (Another trick is to book a flight that will have you traveling overnight from your home and arriving at your destination in the morning.) 

Drink ginger-root tea.  Ginger has multiple properties that I have discussed in past nutritional articles.  Once again, ginger pops up a lot when discussing health and wellness optimization, so it should come as little surprise here for its benefits when traveling.  Additionally, it is a safe and natural remedy for motion sickness, which includes plane turbulence, boat rides and car trips.  Lastly, and most likely what you”™ve heard about ginger in the past, it has anti-inflammatory properties that can help fight disease and infection, which we are all more susceptible to when traveling.   

Take care of your feet.  A quarter of our bones are in our feet.  Our feet (as well as our hands) are the most proprioceptively rich parts of our bodies, which essentially means we can create neurological responses throughout our whole bodies just by using our feet and exposing our feet to different stimuli.  How so? Take a barefoot walk on the grass or on the beach, or at least just get your feet out of footwear and give them a chance to breathe.  Our shoes suffocate our feet for most of the day. Add travel (particularly flights) on top of that, and it comes as no surprise that we have circulation issues while in transit.  Also, you can try wearing some type of compression socks to help boost circulation.   

Wishing everyone a wonderful month ahead and all those starting to venture out again safe and happy travels.   

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