When traveling, many people focus on elements like: safety, time management, and hitting the tourism hot spots. Unfortunately, preparing for health and wellness when packing for a trip may slip many people’s minds. While it’s forgetful, packing wellness travel essentials for a big trip can come in handy and prove to be a real lifesaver (no pun intended).
Whether it’s packing up the essentials that prevent an upset tummy, boost your immune system, or ease your mind and mental state, there’s never a situation where you’d regret not packing something that could make your day better and your trip a little easier. Thankfully, we have eight wellness travel essentials we recommend everyone pack for an international trip. Best of all, none of these items take up much space in a checked suitcase or carry-on bag.
1. Tea Tree Oil
We’re adding an essential oil on our list that has multiple benefits in one tiny bottle (and we mean tiny). Anything from antibacterial properties to healing skin, tea tree oil is a must-pack when traveling anywhere.
Use tea tree oil on your trip for the following functions: hand sanitizer, mouthwash, wound antiseptic, boost wound healing, fighting acne, or even as a natural deodorant. Remember to do your research when it comes to tea tree oil, always dilute essential oils with water or a carrier oil and patch test before trying on wounds or your face.
2. Travel Insurance Card
We pay attention to our medical insurance when carrying out our day to day routine at home, but why don’t we care about medical insurance when traveling out of the country? For many it’s the lack of knowledge around how medical insurance outside the states works. Unfortunately, many insurance companies do not extend coverage overseas (while others do).
One of our healthy travel tips include calling your medical insurance carrier to see how your coverage works. If not covered abroad, companies like Travelex will provide coverage for a small fee. Additionally, certain premium credit cards, like American Express’ Platinum card with provide a certain amount of medical and travel insurance for your trip (if booked on the card).
3. Activated Charcoal Pills
Many parts of the world have unacceptable drinking water, and can lead to many complications when ingested. While we can avoid ice or drinking from the tap, water tends to find its way into the food we ingest on occasion. As we should be enjoying the local cuisine without worry, this is where activated charcoal pills come into play.
Roughly fifteen minutes before going out to eat or enjoying a meal – take a tablet or two. The activated charcoal will absorb the bacteria before it’s released into the gut and makes us sick to our stomachs. While activated charcoal pills help, there’s always a risk consuming foods like fruits and vegetables when traveling to countries with unacceptable drinking water.
4. Facial Moisturizer and Eye Cream
One of the biggest mistakes someone can make for their skin, is not moisturizing properly while traveling. Regardless of the weather conditions in the location you’re traveling to, the air on airplanes can wreak havoc on your skin.
The lack of moisture in the air is like a desert on your skin and can either dry your skin out completely or overcompensate and produce a ton of oil. Avoid these reactions by packing facial moisturizer and eye cream. Helpful hint: to avoid losing the glow and creating a refreshed look, put the eye cream on for ice thirty minutes before applying.
5. Electrolyte Tablets
When sharing a confined space with multiple people (like an airplane), there’s no way out of breathing in air that may be shared by those feeling under-the-weather. However, just because they’re not feeling well, doesn’t mean you have to pick up those icky germs. Prep your body and immune system properly by giving it one of the wellness travel essentials it needs to kick germs to the curb.
An easy way to do this is by drinking a ton of water, and adding in a daily electrolyte tablet. Electrolytes boost minerals in the blood which aid in strengthening our immune system. Try brands like NUUN which limit using excess sugar and fillers in their tablets.
6. Blister Blocker
We can’t help it, when going on vacation we prepare ourselves with new goodies like clothing, accessories, and… shoes. Oftentimes, we purchase new shoes for vacation and don’t bother breaking them in properly in time for the countless hours spent walking around a new city. While many wouldn’t initially think proper footwear accessories are wellness travel essentials – they truly are.
If you find yourself in this position, you’ll want to bring along a blister blocker. A blister can turn an all day exciting excursion into a short-lived nightmare. Avoid this by investing in a product to prevent the onset of blisters (if you don’t have time to properly break-in your shoes). Companies like Solemates, make blister blocker gel or heel guards to prevent painful blisters and uncomfortable rubbing.
7. A Small Journal
Including practices to help your mental health, especially while on vacation, is a great way to insure a great trip.
For one of our healthy travel tips, we recommend incorporating journalling at least fifteen minutes everyday while on vacation. It can not only relieve any tension or stress induced my traveling, but inspire and spark creativity as well.
8. Probiotic Supplements
Finishing our list of wellness travel essentials, are probiotic supplements. As disease starts in the gut, we want to avoid any onset sickness by loading our bellies full of good gut flora.
By taking one capsule or gummy a day, you can help strengthen your stomach to take on the unknown and foreign elements you may be ingesting both in the air and in your food.
Elizabeth Blasi
Having ventured to 53 countries (and counting), Elizabeth’s work can be seen in publications like: Fodors Travel, We Are Travel Girls, and YourTango (among others). Making it her life’s goal to explore unique and desired destinations, she makes it a priority to share her findings with her readers.