Spunky Travel Tips

I’ve pulled bits and pieces from my book Easy Paleo Meals to bring you this post for traveling!

• How to avoid motion sickness and panic attacks
• How to avoid colds and flu
• Essential natural remedies I never leave home without
• Gluten-free travel food
• Gluten-free travel meal planning

I really hate flying. Or more accurately, flying really hates me. I’ve put a stop to it in the past two years, but before that I would randomly have a nightmare of a time.

Here’s what used to happen go me: I would feel perfectly fine and calm before getting on the plane, perfectly calm and fine during take-off, perfectly calm and fine the entire time. Then out of nowhere I’m hyperventilating, nearly fainting, and then throwing up. Once or twice I felt like I had motion sickness, but usually this happened without motion sickness. TMI? Sorry man. But if I can help just one of you not have a nightmare of a time flying too, that will be the bee’s knees. The cat’s pajamas.

I told our functional medicine doctor what was happening, and she said it was panic attacks. “But I’m not panicking. I’m perfectly calm and fine,” I argued. Turns out that’s the thing about a panic attack: it’s an attack. It can happen without warning. Uuuuugh. She recommended holding peppermint oil under my nose, and rubbing it on my temples, Rescue Remedy, and Gaba. My girlfriend also gave me some Hyland’s Motion Sickness. (If you have a lactose allergy: beware Hyland’s contains lactose.) I pretty much do all of them (sorry I don’t have just one cure!). The homeopathics (Rescue Remedy and Hyland’s) I make sure to take “away from food and drink”, as my nutritionist used to say. Meaning, I take them 20 minutes after eating or drinking (or longer), and then wait 20 minutes after taking them to eat or drink.

Now lets talk about staying hydrated and not getting sick when you fly.

First things first: Stay hydrated. Airplane cabins have very low humidity (like 6%), and it’s easy to get dehydrated. When you’re dehydrated the mucus membranes in your eyes, nose, and mouth have a hard time stoping germs. I make sure we drink water and electrolytes like this Coco Hydro in the plane, although I don’t recommend this flavor. If you know of a tasty one tell us in the comments below!

Second: I’m a hippie who believes in using essential oils like Thieves to keep from getting sick 🙂 I keep one of these bottles in my purse (always), with a blend of olive or avocado oil and Thieves in it. I roll it on our necks (below the ear) before getting on the plane and every couple of hours in flight. Bonus: it smells heavenly.

Finally: I make sure we all take Vitamin C and Vitamin D every day while traveling to help prevent colds and flu. Here it is all neat and tidy:

• For motion sickness and/or panic attacks: peppermint oil and homeopathics as directed above.
• For cold and flu prevention: Thieves as directed above, water, electrolytes, Vitamin C, Vitamin D

Some other essential natural remedies that I always take with me when we travel:

• GlutenEase (Since I’m celiac I try to always have some on hand in my purse, even when I’m not traveling. When I get glutened or I want to cheat and eat dairy I take a whole bunch, and they save me.)
• Evening Primrose Oil (refrigerate when you arrive) and raspberry tea for PMS, heavy flow, and cramps.

(ALL of my natural remedies can be found on page 380 of Easy Paleo Meals.)

Foodwise, I used to only pack bars like EPIC and Larabar, and I felt unsatisfied without fresh food. So now I pack the bars AND fresh food like carrot and celery sticks, apples, and bananas. If it’s a really long flight or multiple flights, then I pack sandwiches and look for safe places to eat in the airport ahead of time. Like for instance BWI has a Chipotle, which is great. But not all airports have somewhere we can eat. Also, if you have my Easy Paleo Meals then you know all about my stance on the importance of good fat. In addition to the fresh food and bars I bring nut butter packets and dark chocolate. The fat is satiating. And delicious 🙂

• Epic bars, Larabars, Primal Kitchen bars
• fresh food like carrot and celery sticks, apples, and bananas
• GF sandwiches
• nut butter packets
• dark chocolate

(click image to view page larger)

If you have a kitchen where you’re staying it’s really nice to eat in for most of your meals. And sometimes you don’t really have a choice, because it’s a gluten-free food desert. Here is how I plan our meals in this case:

1. Review Kids’ Favorites list (above), which are always changing. Printable HERE.
2. Create a meal plan that delivers maximum flavor with minimal effort and ingredients. Keep it simple: Baked, grilled, or roasted potatoes, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, or whatever your kids favorites are. Fresh and no-cook foods like sliced red peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, fresh fruit and berries, almonds, olives, and quality deli meats if possible. Easy proteins like eggs, burgers, salmon, and chicken.
3. Order pantry items and have them sent ahead if possible. When we go to our family’s in upstate New York I send a box with my flours, Herbamare, coconut milk, dark chocolate, etc. I like to include ingredients for a few easy treats, because what fun is vacation without a few treats? 🙂

This post is largely taken from my book Easy Paleo Meals, which also contains How to Get Organized, Meal Planning, 5 Ingredient Recipes (p.55), Stretch It (p.57),  SO MANY easy healthy recipes (which I use to create our vacation meal plan too!), and my favorite: a strategy for feeding kids!

Happy Travels! xoxo

♥, Kelly