On living out of a suitcase
and my travel essentials as of late
I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. I get to travel a lot and connect with people all over the world and get wined and dined in some of the best places. It’s all fun and games until you get sick or over-exhausted. Travelling for work is a marathon, not a sprint! That being said, I found that after long bouts of travel, I constantly experienced weird flash fevers - none would last longer than 48 hours, but I would be shaking and cold with a temperature, headache, and sore throat.
A combination of makeup workshops, travel campaigns, and fashion month have me on a plane over the next month more than I would like to admit. While guides will ensue for each destination, in preparation for such a physically and mentally demanding part of the year, I thought I’d share a few things I always have on hand to make travelling a little bit easier on the system. It’s not all health stuff - I’ve combed through my routines and essentials for the past few trips and narrowed it down to a few vital and sustainable pointers. I hope you find them helpful for your next travels (or even an upcoming busy/demanding period of your life)!
Ritual Multivitamins: I didn’t believe in taking supplements until I kept getting sick after/during my travels. It makes sense - your routines change, your diet changes, your whole system is thrown off. Sometimes it’s ok to admit that you need help. I hate packing a ton of vitamins, and I find Athletic Greens too spatially inconvenient and gross (it’s really inefficient, to have to mix it into your drink, and I find the travel packs wasteful). This formulation has what I need:
vitamin D3
vitamin B12
iron
magnesium
other goodies like omega-3, vitamin K2, boron, folate, and vitamin E
For my US friends, here is the link. For my fellow Canadians, here. This is the only multivitamin I take, and I really love this brand (I’m not sponsored, I buy this with my own money). Plus, right now they’re on sale!
My grandmother always kept a bottle of Hoe Hin White Flower Oil in the bedside table of the room she stayed in when visiting Canada - the medicinal scent was something my mother always warned to be “offensive” (she was mostly worried about what white people would think, since they “coudln’t handle spice”), but I found incredibly soothing and nostalgic. Known as a “miracle oil” (no scientific claims at all here), this potent blend of essential oils assuages a number of mild maladies such as headache, bloating (I’m serious about this one!), stomachache, and muscle pain. I keep a bottle in each purse, but also carry a small travel sized one in my liquids and gels pouch.
Hoe Hin White Flower Oil is also available at most Asian grocery stores - in Toronto it’s available at the C&C pharmacy counter. It’s also available on Amazon.
Melatonin, no matter how small the dosage, is something I save as a sort of last resort for sleeping. I do love a small dose for sleeping in sometimes on a Saturday morning, but find that I’m often left groggier and drowsier than I would be had I not taken it. I started testing out the Arrae Sleep supplement, which is formulated without melatonin, but rather with:
GABA (I feel like this is the main character here as it’s a neuroinhibitor. Don’t worry, it does not create a permanent effect. I was worried about this)
chamomile
valerian root
holy basil
hops
So far I am loving this product (again, not sponsored - I picked this up at Nutbar when looking for the Cymbiotica sleep supplement, which does unfortunately contain melatonin. With the Arrae supplement I don’t wake up feeling drowsy, though I do recommend giving it a test run on a night where you can get 8-10 hours of sleep to see how your body reacts.
Cleansing bars are such a game changer - I’ve raved about the Rowse Beauty Calendula cleansing bar, which comes with its own aluminum tin for safe storage, but I’ve recently fallen for the Glossier Milky Jelly cleansing bar. You know the iconic cleanser, but I truly believe that the solid bar formula lets this product shine. I find it removes more than the liquid version (perhaps a placebo effect of emulsification, or the satisfyingly smooth texture), it can be used all over the body (though this should be a fact of all cleansers, the soap bar format makes this function more applicable), and it frees up space in my liquid and gels bag for other goods. A note: when travelling with a carry-on suitcase, make sure this soap bar is with your personal items in plain view. TSA likes to flag any small circular discs.
I alternate between the Crown Affair dry shampoo and the Violette FR Frange Puff. Both are great options - I do like the convenience of Violette’s product being entirely one piece (read: the applicator is built into the packaging) and refillable, but I like the scent of Crown Affair more. I appreciate and use both equally as often, and both have saved me on numerous occasions as I get greasier and feel grosser when I travel
Nudestix Dewy Barrier Hydrating Stick is a new favourite, and one that deserves to be included in this roundup though it is in its nascent stages of existence. Like the dry shampoos and cleanser, this is not a health-related product, but it can certainly make you look a little healthier when you feel your grossest and most tired. It instantly wakes up your skin and makes you look like you drank a litre of water. I recommend applying this during landing so you can de-board your flight looking like you slept the whole time.
Other travel-related habits I’ve picked up:
Ask the hotel to clear out the mini fridge so you can grocery shop and store snacks, some ready prepared meals, and other goods for when you need a break from restaurant food.
The second night of sleep is always the worst for me. I now avoid drinking alcohol on the second day as it worsens my sleep.
Speaking of pacing alcohol consumption, soda and bitters is a great cheat for when you have multiple events and want to stay sober (but are greatly feeling societal pressure to hold a drink in hand)
Exercise when and where you can, but don’t be hard on yourself if you simply cannot. Sleep is so important for not getting sick, and walking is the best form of exercise