Shen Dove

personal style, musings and inspiration

Healthy Travel Practices to Adopt on Your Next Vacation

The summer travel season is upon us! But it can be challenging to maintain healthy practices while traveling. But no matter the duration, it’s important to not let healthy habits go out of the window. Here are tips to maintain some healthy travel practices for travel to nearby locales or far flung destinations.

Drink Water (As Much as Possible) – Particularly if you are traveling by plane, pack an empty water bottle and make it a practice to refill and drink it throughout the day. Note: If you are traveling to a locale where you can’t drink the tap water, just drink bottled water instead. 

When Possible, Bring Snacks – Some of my favorite snacks to pack include Lara Bars, Trail Mix, Herbal Tea Bags, and Fruit that travels well (like oranges and bananas). Other packable snacks that work well include oats (just add water and you have breakfast) boiled eggs, sweet potato chips, and plantain chips.  

Stick to Your Supplement Routines – When I travel on longer vacations, I also usually pack magnesium packets to add to water, powered green packages like Amazing Grass, Ashwagandha powder to add to beverages, and Matcha packets. 

Take a Probiotic or Digestive Bitters to Avoid Tummy Trouble – Taking a probiotic is a good practice when not traveling, but since travel can sometimes upset people’s digestive systems (upon the advise of your health practitioner), take your probiotic and digestive bitters. Having an upset stomach while traveling is no fun. 

Be Mindful of Food Intolerances + Allergies…Order Your Food Accordingly – If you have food intolerances or allergies, it’s best to avoid foods that give you issues just in case. Be sure to speak with your nutritionist, doctor, or health coach before deviating from your normal diet. In other countries because of the differences in food cultivation and production, it may be possible that you can tolerate foods abroad that normally avoid while at home. But is best to first speak to the professional you go to for nutrition/food advisement. 

Try to Add Fitness Activities into Your Itinerary – Walking Tours, Bike Tours, Jogging to Enjoy the Local Scenery, or Trying a Fun Fitness Class are just a few ways you can add activities into your travel itinerary. Making time for fitness while on vacation doesn’t have to be a chore. It can be a fun, memorable way to enjoy your trip. If adding fitness into your itinerary isn’t an option, there are thousands of fitness routines or various types on YouTube that you can try such as Yoga, HIIT, or Pilates. 

Don’t Beat Yourself Up if You Indulge – Indulging in treats is a fun way to experience a new place. If you are in Italy don’t deprive yourself of that Gelato! But try to aim for one indulgent meal/treat a day rather than indulging all day long. Make trying delectable treats a part of your routine by walking to the destination at least part of the way which makes your efforts a reward. 

Image: Unsplash

What to Pack in a Carry-on for Long-Haul Flight

Planning vacations brings me great joy…from picking a destination, to narrowing down must-see sights, to packing my bags. I love the whole process! I’m sure I’m not the only one who gets enjoyment from planning vacations. In fact, it’s been proven that planning vacations makes people happier than actually taking the vacation. I’m planning for a trip in March that I’ll talk about in a separate post, but as I check off things on my list that I’ll need for my trip, I thought it would be a good time to recap items I recommend packing in your carry-on for long-haul flights.

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Travelogue – Madrid

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So what do you do when your summer vacation is behind you and your next big vacation is months away?  You look through your travel pics! Here are a few of my iPhone photos from my early July trip to Spain.  My first stop was Madrid.  In an effort to pack light I didn’t bring my regular camera.  It would have been great to have, but I made the right decision not to lug it around.

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See/Do

Prado Museum

Royal Palace

Plaza Mayor

Retiro Park

Gran Via

Eat (caveat – I didn’t do any resto research prior to my trip, so this list definitely isn’t comprehensive)

Mercado San Miguel

San Gines (for Churros)

El Brillante Cafe (for calamari sandwiches)

El Sur (for decent service and sangria)

La Latina neighborhood (for tapas)

Tips for Getting Around

There’s so much more to see/do when you only visit a city for a couple of days, but here is what I learned on my trip to Madrid:

  1. Doing a walking tour is a great way to see the city and learn about its history.  A walking tour is also a good way to survey tourist attractions you want to loop back to and ask your tour guide/fellow tour participants about good restaurant recommendations.
  2. The metro is pretty easy to navigate in Madrid if you’re a regular subway rider.  Just get a metro map and city map and you’ll be good to go.
  3. Traveling to Madrid in early July is super-hot…but I actually enjoyed it!  It wasn’t as humid as it tends to be in DC while I was there.  If the heat isn’t a big deal to you, just remember to stay hydrated and wear sunscreen if you travel during the summer months.
  4. You won’t see everything, but two days is ample time to get a flavor of Madrid when there’s so much to see in a country like Spain. Hop on the Renfe or take a quick flight to go to your other destinations in Spain.