STAYING HEALTHY WHILE YOU TRAVEL: On Board an Airplane Survival ❤

Staying healthy while traveling is a huge hurdle for healthy travellers, and an airplane flight just adds to the challenge.  Many things are out of our control when traveling (why do people travel when they are sick and share their germs with us?) but there are a few things I do that seem to help my kids and I stay healthy.

CLEAN AND SANITIZE

There has been so much info on the news about how many germs are on an airplane when we travel. On the seat, seatbelt, tray, tray lock, headrest....the list goes on and on! There is only so much we can do, but making our seat and area cleaner is a good start!

I always carry a big plastic container of anti-bacterial wipes in my on-board travel bag and use it often and everywhere. Ever since my kids were little (their first airplane flight abroad was at 9 months old. They did great!) I have a routine I stick to when I board a plane and arrive at our seats.  First, I wipe down all the tray tables, arm rests, seat belts, and remote, then use a clean wipe on my own hands. Seventh Generation, a great eco-friendly company, make a nice "natural" wipes that I love for wiping down our seat area. 

 I have read this past winter during flu season, that the only wipes that killed cold and flu viruses are CLOROX wipes (ew, I know) so you may want to try these if you don't mind a bit more of a toxic wipe, but something that really gets those germs. I know I rather have a toxic wipe in my hands a few minutes than risk picking up any viruses, germs, etc. left by previous travellers.

I love the company EO. They are a California Company that make "natural" products, don't animal test, and are eco-friendly. I carry EO wipes and sanitizer on our hands. Watch out for the sanitizer if you are flying as it will count as a liquid and you will have to send it through security separately with your liquids. Make sure you get the smaller bottle that is under 4oz.  To be on the safe side, I love the individually packaged wipes for airplane travel. It does not count as a liquid and I can pack them in my purse too. They are expensive so I usually save them for airplane travel only rather for every day.

EO is a great company and the sanitizer smells
great! 

EO individually wrapped hand wipes are the best thing to
use in carry on luggage.

JUST A NOTE...I saw Gwenyth Paltrow on the Dr. Oz Show today, and she mentioned that, when she travels on an airplane with her kids, she uses a Colloidal Silver spray on all surfaces around her seat (and theirs) as well as sprays some under her tongue. It is supposed to be a good anti-bacterial. I plan to look into the information on Colloidal Silver and perhaps try some of it this June when my kids and I travel to the East Coast.

JUST A LITTLE INFO ON THE AIRPLANE SEAT POCKET...
Can you guess the germiest place on the airplane? Yep, the front seat pocket. Flight attendants and airline staff who clean cabins in between flights who were interviewed mentioned that they have found everything in those pockets from vomit bags, dirty diapers, and used tissues. It makes sense...where else are most people going to put those things if the flight attendant isn't walking by with the trash bag? EW!  The studies don't lie, it's a germy mess. After reading up on the studies done, I no longer store ANYTHING in that front pocket, even on long haul flights.
Read the facts: http://www.livescience.com/45734-airplane-germs-mrsa-ecoli.html and a CNN article: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/12/22/bt.germs.breed.on.plane/

DRINK...HYDRATE (but make sure it's bottled water!)

I buy a big bottle of water for myself and my kids before boarding. I NEVER use plastic bottles (BPAs!) normally, but it is so important to stay hydrated when flying, so I make an exception. What choice do we all have since we can't take liquids through security and we are stuck buying water at a shop near our GATE at the Airport at quadruple the normal price. But it is worth it! Tests show that several bacteria, including E. coli and listeria, is often found in airplane drinking water!

Here's a few articles that mention the findings by the EPA: http://www.nbcdfw.com/investigations/EPA-Tests-Show-High-Percentage-of-Airplanes-Still-Have-Bacteria-in-Water-Served-On-Board-226813491.html
AND
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/airplane-drinking-water-safe_n_4063883.html

So no drinking the water that is handed to you in a cup unless you are lucky enough to get handed a closed, SEALED water bottle from the flight attendant. I have a girlfriend who used to be a flight attendant in the late 1990s, and she said she and the other flight attendants often filled up commercial water bottles with airplane water and serve it to guests in glasses. So beware.

AIR

For some reason, I always point the air nozzle towards my face and blast it as high as I can tolerate for the duration of the flight. It always seemed logical to me that the air would blast away the germs from the coughing and sneezing passengers sitting around me.  Low and behold, it turns out there is some truth to this theory! I've been reading articles on healthy travel tips recently and blowing the air in front of your face seems to often be recommended as a way to help keep germs away. So give it a try! In an NPR interview on Staying Healthy on a Flight, Dr. Mark Genderau said it best, "Set your ventilation at low or medium, he says,  then position it so you can draw an imaginary line of current right in front of your head.  I put my hands on my lap so I can feel the current, so I know it's properly positioned.  Then if something infectious is floating in your personal space, he says, that air from the vent will create enough current to blow it away, and you'll be more likely to go home healthy"

That sounds good to me!

FOOD

If at all possible, don't eat that free meal on your next long distance flight! Or even the pre-made sandwich that you over-paid for on your domestic flight, there is a good chance you may get sick!  

"In 2010 the FDA issued a warning about food-borne illness from airplane food, reporting that cockroaches, ants, flies, and debris had been found during an inspection of the Denver facility of the world's largest airline caterer, LSG Sky Chefs, which provides 405 million meals a year worldwide for more than 300 airlines. The FDA also detected the deadly bacteria listeria in samples taken from a kitchen floor."

San Francisco to London: Dealing with JET LAG....naturally ❤

1. EATING A HEALTHY MEAL:

Having a healthy light meal really gives me a nice boost of energy when I am tired after a long flight. I am often quite hungry since, as I mentioned before,  I don't eat much on an airplane. 

ABOVE: Here, we were greeted with a yummy vegetable pie (courtesy of Sue❤) waiting for us when we arrived in London after a long 19 hour travel day. We are lucky to have wonderful family to take care of us when we visit England every year, but, with a little planning, you can find a nice healthy veg meal at your destination which will revive you a bit after your long and tiring journey.

ABOVE:  Don't forget the greens! The perfect light vegetarian meal to give us a healthy boost of energy.

2. UNPACK AND RELAX A LITTLE

There is nothing better to help you relax and unwind than a warm bath. It is the thing I dream about while sitting uncomfortably on a long flight with my neck stiff from trying to sleep comfortably and my legs aching because the flight attendants need me to stay in my seat. By far the healthiest choice for a relaxing bath is using EPSOM SALTS.  Bubbles are fun but the benefits of the salts are many. The high levels of magnesium and sulfates in EPSOM SALTS increase circulation, help the digestive tract, ease sore muscles and joints by reducing inflammation, and generally detoxify the body. Ideally 2 cups of EPSOM SALTS in the bath is a perfect amount and make sure you soak for 10-15 minutes. I like my bath quite warm for extra added muscle relaxation. Hmmm....so good. The best part about EPSOM SALTS is they are easy to pack. Since I am currently trying to learn to pack "carry-on only" anything that is not a liquid I have to measure out is great to me! Just measure some salts out into a zip lock bag (I double the bag) and you are good to go. I try to take enough for a few baths, especially for that first week when JET LAG is the worst. I take a bath every day for the first 3 days then try to fit 2-3 in a week while I am away. The other great thing about EPSOM SALTS are that they are inexpensive. If you take only enough for a bath or two you can always find some more to purchase in any drug store or pharmacy. Try it you'll love it! ❤

ABOVE: My favorite thing to do after a long flight is relax and soak in a warm bath. Here, our host, kindly drew a lovely bath for me while she prepared our dinner. A nice hot SALT bath, some bubbles if you like, and a glass of wine or sparkling water really helps to pamper, relax, and rejuvenate after a long stressful day of travel.

UPDATE June 2014: Here's a great link to an article on the Dr. Oz website titled: "20 Amazing Uses for Epson Salt". Check it out! http://www.doctoroz.com/slideshow/epsom-salt-uses

 ☼ ☾

3. GET OUT IN THE SUNSHINE AND STAY AWAKE TILL DARK

Although I used to be able to sleep several hours on the 11-hour journey from California to England, I can no longer rest or sleep very easily on a flight anymore, only an hour or two if I am lucky, so I always arrive exhausted. Once we settle into our accommodation, unpack and relax a little, it is usually late afternoon, and we've been up nearly 24 hours straight! Throughout the afternoon there are usually some energy ups and downs and taking a late afternoon nap sounds really good,  but in reality, it just wreaks havoc on your internal clock. I try to do some low key activities like going for a walk or doing a little yoga. I found the best thing to do is stay outside in the sunshine as much as possible. Jet Lag fatigue seems to come and go so when I feel a wave of tiredness, I make sure to have a drink, go outside, or just keep moving a bit until it passes. If I make it until 9:00p.m. that is perfect, and, although that is quite early for me to retire, it's late enough to get me through till dawn (or later if I'm lucky). Occasionally, I sleep 11-12 hours my first night in a new time zone!

♥︎

HOMEOPATHIC REMEDIES

There are lots of homeopathic remedies available at health food stores that claim they aid with Jet Lag, and I've tried many of them, but can't really swear that any have really helped me. "NO JET LAG" is the most popular homeopathic meds sold, and I have bought it several times, but the thing I find most challenging about them, is remembering to take them every 2 hours on an 11-hour flight! My kids often sleep 4-5 hours so they miss several doses of it as well. So it's hard to tell if it really helps since I've never really taken the doses properly. You also can't eat or drink 15 minutes before or after taking the remedy and that is sometimes hard to work around. No taking mints either as this adversely effects homeopathic remedies. Again, this is difficult for me because I eat a lot of mints on flights to keep motion sickness at bay. This summer we will be flying from California to NYC on a short 5-1/2 hour flight, so I will give "NO JET LAG" another try and report back. Our flight is a daytime flight so no naps and that will hopefully keep us on schedule taking the pills every 2 hours.

UNITED AIRLINES in-flight vegan meal REVIEW

Our sad vegan meal on United Airlines

United Airlines
In-flight mealsSummer 2012






A picture is worth a thousand words and it is especially true in this review of vegan dinner service on UNITED AIRLINES INTERNATIONAL flight.

I don't think anyone enjoys airline meals anymore, which is a shame because when I was younger, I used to look forward to the in-flight meal which was never delicious, but 

Notice the drops of food coloring trying to pass for vegetables!

edible and certainly not awful. Now a days, I have to say, that airline food is d-i-s-g-u-s-t-i-n-g! Even though we no longer each much of it, my kids and I always order a special meal when traveling on an airplane that has food service, just in case it turns out to be edible.  We like to order Vegan although not every airline offers it, but we found every airline has a Vegetarian option so that is our second choice. We travel to London almost every summer and the flight is 11 hours from San Francisco to London. and it would be so nice to have a nice meal to look forward to. Sadly, in the last 6 years, we've never had a decent meal, and this time was no exception, if not the WORST MEAL WE HAVE EVER BEEN SERVED. Even though my kids are vegetarian, they order VEGAN meals with me from the airlines just to avoid the potentially hazardous and possibly spoiled dairy options. A good friend of mine who used to be a flight attendant, once told me that after seeing what goes on "behind closed curtains" in the galley of an airplane, she would never, ever let her kids (or herself!) eat what is served on a plane. I listened to what she told me and have not put another bit of uncooked food (salad, fruit, etc.) in my mouth since. Sometimes though, I like to try the entree if it is hot, just to see what the chef thinks would be an appetizing meal for a vegan. This particular United Flight offered us a meal with an Indian...theme, or so it smelled like Indian Food. The entree came in three sections, one section looked like a legume  of some sort, one section was a dark brown, mushy substance I am thinking was vegetables, maybe eggplant or squash of some kind. And in the middle was some sort of grain which I believe was some sort of couscous. But you haven't heard the best part. Inside of, or rather on top of, the couscous, were these brightly colored specks of red and green. It was difficult to tell what they were at first, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be specks of food coloring! Incredible! Instead of spending 5 cents to throw in a few micro bits of red peppers or peas for color, the airline chef decided to add just the color, as in FOOD COLORING to make it look like there were bits of vegetable in the grain! ! I couldn't believe my eyes, I just had to take a photo of it. My sons and I have been laughing about it ever since. How low can you go when pinching pennies preparing a meal. We were wondering who's job it was at the food prep center to drip the spots of food coloring on the food before sending it out as a special meal. My advice? BRING YOUR OWN FOOD ON THE PLANE WITH YOU!

Now that most airlines are allowing solid food to be taken on-board again, we always pack some snacks to take with us because 11 hours is a long time to go without eating.  I have a few favorites that are easy to travel with . Trail Mix: I like to mix some almonds, dried cranberries, walnuts and a few vegan dark chocolate chips in a bag to snack on. That helps with energy and the chocolate chips help with our sweet tooth. Other favorites are almond butter sandwiches, dry cereal, peanut butter krispies (recipe in Kind Diet book by Alicia Silverstein), and Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies found in the Real Food Daily Cookbook. They are made with dried fruit (recipe calls for dates but sometimes I use prunes), and they are healthy and delicious. 

Love these healthy vegan cookies which are also easy to pack!

AND, of course, we always buy a big bottle of water before we board and make sure we sip it throughout the flight. Staying hydrated really helps with headaches and fatigue that gets me when I change so many time zones. Flight attendants do hand out cups of water during the flight, but inevitably they handle the cup by the rim, which is so unappealing since they have just handled a few hundred cups, plates, trash, etc. throughout the flight and then pass you a cup with the same hand. NO thank you!

HEALTHY DINING: San Francisco Airport

I'm going to begin with our trip to England in the Summer 2012. We left from San Francisco Airport and here is my journal entry from that day:

June 10, 2012
San Francisco Airport
International Terminal
United Airlines

Wow! How disappointing SFO was this trip for veggie food options and healthy choices. I thought San Francisco was the utmost in healthy eating /healthy living places, so I had high hopes for healthy food choices at the airport. Our flight to England was on United Airlines and unfortunately  we were at the United Airlines International Terminal 5 hours early (turned out to be over 7 hours since the plane was VERY late). Strolling down the row of food choices next to the gates there were only about 6 choices. There was an Il Forniaio, Italian of course, which served only panini sandwiches, none of which were vegan and I did not even see a "just cheese" sandwich for vegetarians. They offered no hot dishes such as pizza or pasta. Very disappointing .Next was a Japanese restaurant that did not have any vegetarian dishes except a small bowl of edamame. Hard to believe. Finally, we ventured down the row near Gate 94 to a Mexican Restaurant called Andale, which actually offered a tiny Vegetarian menu of 4 items (see photo) but we were thrilled to see it. The prices were expensive (around $10 per entree) and portions were small, but we did find a tofu burrito and taco. Since we had 7 hours to wait before our flight left (see story under United Airlines) I sadly decided to visit the bar at Andele before we ordered food. Big mistake. Not only were the margueritas more expensive than the meal ($13 each for Marguerita rocks, I stupidly didn't ask the price before I ordered) but they were VERY strong. Too strong for someone getting on an 11 hour flight. Alcohol is the enemy on an airplane flight (http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/features/airport-germs-healthy-travel?page=2) causing added dehydration and a general feeling of being unwell. It was unusual for me to drink at all, but I was feeling in "happy travel" mood and we did have several hours to go before we boarded. In the end,  I chose not to finish my drink (good bye $6.00!). We all ordered some veggie tacos, which were fine but bland and were a very meager portion. I think a burrito would have been a better choice. They also had a salsa bar which we did not see until we were leaving. That might of helped with the bland-ness of the meal.

All in all I would rate this place 7 out of 10. Normally probably 5 out of 10, but we were so happy to find a vegetarian/vegan option, it gets a few more points.

Introduction

Ahhhh, trying to stay healthy when traveling! An impossible task you say? Not at all! And that's why I'm here to help!

Following a few healthy ideas when you travel will allow you feel great, enjoy your adventure that much more, and feel good about being yourself and the planet. Just a little bit of planning ahead of time, and you are on your way to good health and happiness on your next journey! ❤