Healthy Living and Travel Tips

What do we mean by Healthy Luggage?

Healthy Luggage in my mind is any kind you can push versus pull and any kind of bag that can move fully upright, not slung over the shoulders.  Healthy luggage we believe can save the wear and tear on both your back and shoulders.

If you are like me and the many other road-warriors out there traveling full-time, you have probably used several different types and sizes of suitcases.  This may not be the norm, but in my 14 years on the road, I am now on my 12th bag.  This is for many reasons–some cases I just didn’t like, they weren’t functional and so were abandoned.  Some were damaged beyond repair by the airlines and for my last two bags, I traded up for the healthier “Spinner” type bags.

You may have seen one of these suitcases being wheeled around in airports recently–they operate on 4 multi-directional spinner wheels which means they can be fully upright and pushed versus being pulled.  And because you can put that shoulder bag on top of a spinner case and push them both rather than pull from behind, well it’s almost heaven compared to pulling and slinging luggage.

I didn’t actually seek out healthier luggage though.  I over-packed a carryon bag 5 years ago and the zipper broke while I was trying to get to a gate in the Minneapolis airport.  That’s an airport you can walk a great distance in, so while struggling to keep that broken bag together, I took a look at new cases in the airport luggage shop.  Not the cheapest place to buy you know, so I decided to only window shop unless there was a great deal.

That’s when I saw my first spinner and was I skeptical.  I was having a hard time grasping the concept but the salesclerk demonstrated the push versus pull method, assuring me that once I switched to a spinner, I would never go back.  Well . . . against my better judgment (the bag was a red cloth Samsonite 21″ spinner on sale for $100 off but still very expensive) I purchased on the spot.  A red bag is just not typical business travel attire but that’s all they had. I really didn’t want to fuss with my broken suitecase, so I left the store that broken one and rolled out of there repacked into a new red spinner.

Wow, was that salesclerk ever right!  Before I could even reach my gate, people had started stopping me wanting to know where I got that bag.  They got the concept much quicker than I did in the store.  You see they saw me pushing that case upright with ease, my shoulder bag resting on top of it.  I was no longer hunched over and off-balance.  That first spinner case made such a difference in my travel experience, that there was no way I would consider choosing a 2-wheeled bag again.

So when that first spinner was damaged beyond repair by an airline 2 years ago, I was so sad.  Thank goodness there were more spinners to choose from so my need to have another one was easily filled.   Not only were there single spinner bags (like I first purchased 3 years before), but every major supplier had expanded their luggage sets to include spinners.

With so many options to choose from, I purchased the smallest spinner I could find–the 17″ Brookstone carryon.  This time it was silver polycarbonate because that red cloth bag became very dirty over time.

Brookstone carries a 21″ spinner, but by opting for the smaller spinner I not only saved some money plus there is less room to over pack.  Less is more (and healthier) when full-time traveling.  To see a comparison of small spinner carryons, check out our product review page on spinner luggage

One more thing if you are not convinced by the health aspects to try a spinner the next time you need to purchase luggage.  Spinners move down the aisles of the buses, trains and airplanes more easily because you can turn these bags sideways and push them ahead of you.  No more bumping into the seats or worse yet into people already in aisle seats.  No more getting your luggage straps caught on the arms of seats either.  So let us know if you have had the pleasure of traveling with spinner luggage.

P.S.  That last spinner was damaged recently by another airline but since it is silver in color and polycarbonate, a couple of strips of duct tape has allowed me to still use that case.  Does this mean that duct tape is also healthy?

On The Road Nourishment

Healthy Drinks for the Road:

• Purified Waters or water purifying bottles for fountain water
• Unsweetened teas, take along herbal tea bags to add to your water bottles (like making sun tea only without the sun)
• Essential oils of lemon, peppermint, orange, grapefruit and stevia for flavorings and sweetness (there are flavored stevias as well)
• May be able to find V8 Juice but unless it’s the low sodium version, there will be excess salt contributing to additional thirst
• Avoid:
  • Sodas, juices or drinks sweetened with empty calories
  • Energy drinks loaded with sugars and caffeine

Healthy Snacks for the Road:

• Fresh fruit (organic if you can find it) and dried fruit that’s not been sugared or sulfured
• Unsalted raw nuts
• Carrot and celery sticks
• Raw almond butter or tahini for a dip, may be able to find raw walnut, pecan or cashew butter
• Veggie and fruit trays from the grocery if traveling by car or RV
• Salsas for blue corn chips and whole wheat crackers
• If allowing dairy: 
  • low-fat string cheese packs
  • plain yogurt sweetened with Stevia and/or no sugar-added jellies, jams or granola
  • veggie pizza
  • high cocoa content chocolate
• Avoid:
  • jerkies and leathers with excess sodium or sugar
  • Salted, toasted nuts
  • Chips and white flour crackers
  • Sugars, high fructose corn syrup and sweeteners

Fast Food, Convenience Stores and Restaurants on the Road:

• Fresh fruit or unsweetened fruit cups/fruit salads
• Green Salads, raw veggies
• Broiled or grilled veggies and meats
• Avoid:
  • candy bars
  • items to avoid listed above
  • high fat, cheesy breakfast sandwiches and potato cakes
  • burgers and fries
  • breaded nuggets
  • high fructose corn syrup sauces
  • milkshakes, ice cream
  • high salty, fatty meat pizzas

General Rules to Live by on the Road:

• Hold to your normal daily routine and eating schedule
• Set the example for your family, they will generally follow
• Plan ahead for take along drinks, snacks and supplies
• Take a cooler if traveling by car or RV
• Stop at a grocery rather than a convenience store for breaks (these offer more in the way of healthy food choices plus the bathrooms are usually much better) 
• Carry extra plastic bags and plastic ware
• Pickup or bring napkins and wet wipes either in a large container, small packets or individually wrapped for hygiene
• Avoid:
  • skipping meals
  • late night eating

5 Ways to Lessen Jet Lag

Did you know that while we have 24 hours in a day, our biological clock (i.e. circadian rhythm) actually runs on a 25 hour cycle?  I found this out while researching how to handle Jet Lag from crossing 3 time zones twice a week.  You see I was doing cross-country air travel East to West on Mondays and West to East on Fridays every week a few years back.  If you have ever done this kind of travel for an extended period of time (in my case it was for over 2 years), then you know what jet lag can do to your health.

Our circadian rhythm is in tune with the time of day, environmental factors and magnetism of the area and time zone where we reside.  This monitor tells us when we should eat, sleep and be active.  So when we change time zones, that internal clock can become out of sync or disturbed.  For me it was insomnia.

Other symptoms of jet lag can include nausea, fatigue, appetite loss, stress or anxiety and irritability but these are only temporary once you stop traveling.  It can take as many days to recover from jet lag as the number of time zones you cross but you can help to maintain your health and lessen the effects of jet lag by doing some of these simple steps:

• Sleep – If traveling West you can and will probably want to stay up longer, but train yourself to go to sleep earlier on your first night in a new time zone.  It goes back to the 25 hour body clock – we can naturally stay up easier than getting up earlier.  If traveling East, however, you need to go to sleep 1 hour earlier and wake up 1 hour later adding an hour to sleep/wake each progressive day equal to the number of time zones to be crossed.  If traveling across many time zones, I also try to arrive a day early to have time to adjust.
• Meals – Some people adjust when they have their meals to correspond to the new time zone prior to leaving.  A simple diet of fresh fruits (I usually carry-on an orange or an apple to munch on in the cabin) and vegetables chosen over heavy carbs, sugars and fats really helps and eliminate as much table salt as possible.
• Water – Keep yourself well hydrated with healthy water (see Oct 7th post on how to have inexpensive, good quality water at the airport) while in the airport and on the plane.  I also eliminate the alcohol, carbonated and tomato-based beverages which are loaded with sodium to avoid dehydration in the dry cabin air.
• Exercise – While exercise is very beneficial especially on the road, overexertion can add to our jet lag, so easy does it the first day or two in a new time zone.
• Other Remedies – If you are still suffering from physical distress, there are some supplements that can ease your distress (see my next post for a review of several homeopathic and alternative remedies for jet lag)

So by taking some preventative measures before the long trip, we can have healthy travel and minimize the physical distress from jet lag.  Please comment with some of the things you have done to minimize jet lag.

Be Healthy at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

The Hot Air Balloon Fiesta is in full swing this week in Albuquerque, NM–the other mile high city.  Ballooning is a healthy sport undertaken in the wee hours of the mornings and late afternoons so if you want to stay healthy, layer your clothing, carry a jacket and wear a hat.  In October the mornings are chilly around 44 degrees but by mid-afternoon the temperatures will be around 71 degrees.  The hat will keep your ears warm but it is also a great collection place for one of the many balloon pins that can be purchased and worn proudly as a souvenir of your visit.  And one more thing, while the port-a-potties do have sanitizing gel dispensers, it’s also best to bring some of your own because the crowds are expected to be several hundred thousand this year.

There’s a wonderful tradition of arriving at the launch field about 5:00am and having a breakfast burrito from one of 40 food vendors.  But if you are new to the Albuquerque scene or simply a traveler to the Fiesta for the first time, please have your red, green or Christmas chile on the side as the “heat” can be overwhelming.  Varieties of the pepper grown in New Mexico tend to be hotter than those grown in California so be careful.  The mature red ones tend to be hotter than the green but this also depends on the season so we highly recommend having it on the side until you build up your tolerance.  

What do we mean by red, green or Christmas chile?  Well it’s not the Chilli con carne (made with meat and beans) that many of you might have grown up eating.  New Mexico’s chile is actually an Anaheim pepper (also known as a Hatch pepper after the town of Hatch, NM).  It is often stewed in water and/or lard until fully broken down into a sauce.  Red and green chiles are medium-hot peppers that are a major feature of Southwestern cooking and New Mexicans put this stuff on almost everything.  Green chiles are not fully ripened while the red ones are and by Christmas we mean that you want BOTH with your meal. 

You may have seen 1-4 feet dried, red pepper chains strung to make decorative wall hangings or ristras in books and magazines about the Southwest.  Well, if you visit Albuquerque, chile ristras can be found just about everywhere.

Chile as the locals know is also very addicting.  Here’s an excerpt from Allrecipes.com about the New Mexico Green Chile Breakfast Burrito:

“Hatch green chile from New Mexico may be the most addictive substance on Earth.  At the famed Chicago Dog in Santa Fe, NM they will line up in a blizzard to get their variation of this recipe.  Dozens of local Santa Fe eateries, stands, gas stations and taco trucks make their own variation.  This may be on the Heart Association hit list, but you will die with a smile on your face.”

Please check out the breakfast burrito recipe made with potatoes, green chile, bacon, eggs and cheese at Allrecipes.com.  It may not be the healthiest but it certainly is tasty.

Getting back to the Balloon Fiesta – it’s held the first full weekend through the 2^nd full weekend each October at Balloon Fiesta Park located on the north side of town.  Anywhere from 500-800 balloons participate in the many activities including Mass Ascensions, tethered Balloon Glowdeos, Gas Balloon Races and the Special Shapes Rodeo.  There is also an Art Show, a Car Show, Chain Saw Carving, Fireworks, the Anderson-Abruzzo Balloon Museum and the Annual Quilt Raffle to keep you busy between the morning and afternoon launches.

People begin arriving in Albuquerque in cars and RV’s the week before this even and almost all planes into the Sunport and most hotels are typically full this time of year so sort out your transportation and lodging early to keep your wallet healthy.  Traffic can be heavy for this event, so keep your mind healthy and avoid the crush of cars by using the Fiesta Express Park and Ride Service to be delivered just outside the gates.  Or use the Rail Runner Express where you can save $5 per ticket by purchasing early online.  So check out all the festivities and enjoy healthy Ballooning the Albuquerque way.

Save Money on Healthy Water in the Airport

Do you hate having to pay up to $4 for a bottle for water in airports?  One solution is to simply take a large EMPTY bottle with you through security.  You can then fill up at a water fountain.  But a word of caution because the quality of that fountain water may not be the best so can you make airport water healthier? 

Here’s what I do:  to ensure I have the healthiest water possible, I also carry a small 15 ml bottle of lemon oil and a 1 oz. bottle of liquid minerals with me.  These items easily fit in the 1 qt. plastic bag allowed for liquids that are screened as you go through airport Security.  Young Living has a great Lemon Essential Oil for about $12 that consists of 68 percent dlimonene, a powerful antioxidant and Nano 2+ from Nano Health Solutions, Inc. contains 85 trace minerals, fulvic acid, 18 Amino Acids and 28 Enzymes for around $30. 

A couple of drops of lemon oil purifies the entire bottle plus adds a pleasant taste.  I also add about 10 drops of the liquid minerals to augment that fountain water.  Both the lemon oil and minerals will last for several months making the cost per water bottle just pennies.  The lemon oil and minerals will also help alkalize the fountain water which helps offset the acidic stress of travel.  For more information about alkaline water, please check out Dr. Robert O Young’s research.

Now if you are also concerned about how clean that fountain water is and the amount of particulates in that water, an additional solution is to filter it but this step will add more costs to your solution.  Instead of taking a large EMPTY bottle through security, try bringing an empty 22 ounce personal water filter bottle such as the Sport Berkey for about $30.  This unit lasts for ~640 refills of municipally treated water before the element needs to be replaced so the cost per refill is under 5 cents. 

There are several other water filter bottles on the market but that will be the subject of another post.  Super water bottles such as the Sport Berkey can filter out unpleasant tastes and odors, toxic chemicals, micro-biological pathogens, heavy metals and radiologicals that might be in the fountain water.

So now you have healthier, almost free, purified, alkalized and filtered water that you can drink in the airport as well as take onboard with you.  And this also saves having to wait for the attendant to make it up and down the aisle with everyone else’s drinks.

Please let me and other readers know what you have done to have healthier, inexpensive water in your airport travels.

So what kinds of travel are we talking about?

There should be something for just about everyone on this healthy travel blog eventually.  We are going to cover how to be healthy when traveling by cruise line, airline and RV as well as traveling by train or driven vehicle.   Just about any kind of travel you can think of.

Think of us as the BMW of Travel Health Sites–Healthy Body, Healthy Mind and a Healthy Wallet so you may even find ways to save on your travel here.   

But first I want to make sure that you all know this site is not about dispensing medical advice of any kind.  This site is about communicating and exchanging tips and hints of what helps keep us healthy when we travel.  There are excellent travel medical sites out there that do dispense advice but this is not one of them.  We may feature some tips from those medical sites here through links however.  Plus we encourage you to search for the other sites that do dispense medical advice if that is your need.