Whether you’re traveling for work, play, or rejuvenation, there are tricks for keeping your time on the road healthy.
Travel for Work/Touring
For many business travelers, being on the road is an extension of daily life and where 60–80 percent of their time is spent. This is their life. When you’re home only 20 per- cent of your life, you can’t just say, “I’m going to get healthy when I’m done working.” You must make your routine the same on the road as it is at home. You will need to have a system in place before you leave that allows you to be healthy without sacrificing your lifestyle; otherwise it’s nearly impossible to achieve or maintain vitality. You have to figure out how to build your health routine into travel mode because this is the life you created. Then change your consciousness about it—learn to love and enjoy it. After all, it’s giving you abundance and experiences so be sure to appreciate it and make the best of it.
When you’re constantly on the go, it’s much more difficult to stick to the 90-10 Rule by winging it. Instead, build your healthy lifestyle on the road. Sure, you’re probably not traveling on private jets or tour buses outfitted like rolling apartments, but you can make travel seamless and healthy so that transitioning from the road to home is an easy adjustment.
Use this checklist to streamline the process from the beginning:
- Separate supplies for home and travel to make it easy, convenient, and instantly packable.
- Keep a toiletries bag packed with nontoxic beauty and grooming supplies.
- Keep luggage ready to go and stocked with your different regimens—in fact, when I prepare for a trip, all I do is add clothes to my suitcase.
- Stock an arsenal of healthy snacks to have on hand for hotels, buses, and planes.
- Keep self-help and spiritual books packed or downloaded.
- Download online workouts or bring CDs, plus a tablet, phone, or computer.
- Pack your traveler’s first-aid kit.
- Bring personal items that will make every hotel room feel like it’s your own room, such as pictures, candles, and incense.
- Connect to loved ones and friends before you leave and stay connected while you’re away.
- Be in the moment and grateful so that even the travel prep becomes enjoyable.
Travel for Pleasure (Vacation)
Everyone needs a break in routine to relax, rejuvenate, and re- charge the body, mind, and spirit, whether that means a beach holiday, yoga retreat, or hiking trip. Some of us rejuvenate through doing absolutely nothing. Others need some real activity that allows them to let off steam and release tension.
Choose a vacation that balances what you are lacking in your daily life. For instance, if you are working seventy-hour weeks doing physical activity and burning out, then ten days of sleep, massage, and beach lounging may be perfect for you. However, if your job is sedentary and mentally draining, an active vacation with loads of hiking, biking, and yoga may be just what the doctor ordered. Regardless of how you choose to spend your down- time, a few guidelines can help you maximize your trip:
- Catch up on sleep and exercise.
- Check emails and internet only once per day
- Let your mind be free from the constant barrage of information and enjoy the space to let your mind wander. This enhances creativity and lets your brain cells reset.
- Try to pick an activity or area that allows you to eat healthy.
- Unplug from constant electronic stimulation
- Use cell phones only for emergencies
Travel for Adventure, Exploration, or Experience
This is my favorite form of travel and where I find I’m the most open, aware, and fully present. When you’re in a new country or environment or culture, you’re completely immersed in the moment and because everything is so new, you’re often always on your toes and aware of what’s happening around you. It allows you to be fully present and experience a completely new lens on the world and its inhabitants. It’s excellent for sharing cultures and healing intolerance and prejudices. And it can remind you that there is more going on in life than the mundane everyday issues that cause stress and anxiety and anger.
Many artists often love this type of travel—although it’s challenging with their schedules—because it sparks creativity and opens awareness to new ideas or ways of seeing the world. It clears your mind and exposes you to different perspectives. Others, like Bono, travel to places like Africa to meet the people and make a difference in their lives. Bono gathers information and learns about a culture so he can make an impact on the world.
Maximize this travel by:
- Dining at local restaurants
- Learning phrases in the native tongue, like hello, good-bye, thank you, how are you?
- Leaving a small footprint environmentally and socially
- Losing expectations about having the same things you have at home
- Respecting local dress and customs
- Sharing your culture with them
- Speaking to the locals and learning about their culture
With love,
Dr. G
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