Ten Ways to Easily Pamper Yourself, Stay Healthy, & Have Fun While Traveling

Here are my Ten Tips to Pamper Yourself, Stay Healthy, & Have Fun While Traveling. Traveling can be hard on your mind, body, and skin. If you want to stay healthy, minimize anxiety, and embrace the experience, there are some easy ways to accomplish these necessary goals.

1. Choose your seat, room, and/or cabin carefully. Upgrade whenever possible. There are many options on planes, hotels, and cruise ships these days. Some upgrades are quite cheap or even free if you ask nicely and they’re not full up. If you’re in a loyalty program, you are often upgraded automatically. Be sure to check out the online maps to see the layout of the plane or ship so as to choose the best seats possible. For long flights, it is worth cashing in miles to upgrade to first class. Or you can participate in auctions to score super cheap upgrades. Or you can upgrade to premium economy or business class. Shop around and you can find some good deals on these seats or sign up for alerts and upgrade when the right deal comes along. Did you know that there are nineteen different types of seats on a standard aircraft, such as a skycouch, recliner, cradle sleeper, fully flat, sofa seat, and full suites?

2. If you’re be spending much time in airports, you should consider buying a first class lounge day pass. They start as low as $25 and are well worth the money if you have long layovers or a delayed/cancelled flight. Many have showers, televisions, newspapers, food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and other useful services and resources. All of this is included in the cost of the pass so if you consider that a soda or beer and a slice of pizza will cost you $15-20 in many airports, well, you do the math…Oh, and some credit cards can be used to waive the day pass fee so the lounge is FREE, such as Chase Ink Bold Card, United Mileage Plus Explorer, and American Express Platinum Card. If you are traveling with someone who has access, he/she is allowed a guest so you get in FREE too! Also, if you have elite status with an airline, you are entitled to complimentary lounge access. Just ask the concierge when you enter.

3. Splurge on a spa treatment. Many airport hotels have day spas and so do cruise ships. Some airports now have their own spas (see below). Resorts always have spas. The most popular treatment is a massage, which makes sense since our muscles do get stiff and sore while traveling. My favorite spa picks are Jetsetter Spa in Boston Logan Airport, OraOxygen Wellness Spa in Detroit Airport, Passport Travel Spa in Indianapolis Airport, D-partures Spa in Newark Liberty Airport, and XpresSpa in NY’s JKF Airport.

4. Eat a good meal. One of the best ways to pamper yourself and stay healthy is to eat well. If you’re traveling first class on a plane, they will give you a menu to choose from and the options are usually excellent. On cruise ships, there are almost too many choices and most are free. Meals are typically included with resort stays. Hotels offer the least, as far as free options. But good hotels hire renowned chefs, so treat yourself, at least on your first or second night.

5. Bring a good travel pillow for long flights. You can buy an inflatable travel pillow, but I like Tielle Love Luxury travel pillow. It is filled with duck down and feathers and encased in a silk wrapper.

6. Use a scented eye mask. Lavender is very popular as it is for relaxing and keeping calm, but I prefer peppermint. It calms me and keeps me anxiety free.

7. Pack gourmet snacks for your journey and in case of emergencies during your trip. I like small bags of gourmet nuts, trail mix, and tea bags (herbal for helping me sleep and Assam for getting me going). But you can also pack jerky, protein bars, and snack packs.

8. Single use toiletries are great for short trips. Why bother with travel size bottles of toiletries when you can buy individual packets of everything, such as body wash, shampoo, mouthwash, deodorant, insect repellent, sunscreen, laundry soap, etc. What I like is that there is no risk or spill and you can put what you need in baggies and have everything you need each day–just open the baggie and discard the empty packs after use. No muss, no fuss! Oh, and you can buy multi-packs so everthing you need in one pack, such as New Revolutionary’s On-the-Go Toiletry Kit.

9. A quick fix when traveling is dry shampoo and this one has a wonderfully, refreshing tropical scent. You can get a small bottle and carry it with you to make it look like you just washed your hair without having to wash your hair! Also, always use items for dual purposes when possible so you can pack less and still have everything you need. For example, I use a shampoo and conditioner combo in travel size and I use Vaseline as a moisturizer and lip gloss (and it has lots of other purposes too!)

10. Here’s five things I never travel without and I don’t take anything else in my cosmetic bag: Cetaphil Cleanser (and I also like Micellar Cleansing Water) because neither product requires water to use and is so gentle which is important for my sensitive skin; Cetaphil Daily Moisturizer SPF 50 (and I also like Nivea Firming Hydration Lotion); Covergirl BB Cream (SPF 20, Medium), Loreal Metallic Duo Eyeshadow (two colors in small case); Maybelline long-lasting and waterproof mascara; coconut scented Vaseline; Clinique Moisture Surge Face Spray (a must when traveling especially for my normal-dry skin); and NYX Dewy Finish Setting Spray (my make up lasts all day even in tough conditions when I spray this on after I finish applying these products). Optional: Green Tea Hydrogel Under Eye Patch (reduces the appearance of fine lines and dark circles in 20-30 minutes, so you can use before you land or while you’re having your morning cup of coffee). You will look and feel fresh as a daisy afterwards!

I am a firm believer that if you take care of your body and mind when traveling, they will take care of you! So print out this helpful list and get ready to enjoy your next trip to the max!