How to Recover After Traveling

Raise your hand if you’ve ever returned from vacation and thought to yourself, “I need a vacation from my vacation!”.

Whether it be a weekend getaway or a 1-month backpacking trip, traveling can take a toll on your body, and knowing how to recover after traveling is key.

Airports, buses, and trains with thousands of people and all of their germs.

Timezone changes. Jet lag. Lack of sleep.

Trying new foods or eating on a completely different schedule than your digestive system is used to.

Laying on a beach and doing zero exercises or hiking, catching trains, and sightseeing your way to 30k steps in a day.

Whatever your style of travel is, here are 6 ways to recover after traveling.

#1 Smoothie Cleanse

I typically try to give my body a break with a detox smoothie cleanse every 3 months between seasons but it’s also an essential part of my post-travel recovery routine. Anywhere from a 3-5 day cleanse gets me back on track.

Smoothie cleanses flush out all the toxins (aka all the remnants of the delicious foods consumed while traveling) while promoting good digestion. Your digestive system is likely out of sorts from eating at different hours due to time changes, eating unique foods to your regular diet, and likely not staying hydrated. A smoothie cleanse will provide antioxidants, probiotics, and various other ingredients to boost your immune system giving you energy and a better night’s sleep.

#2 Massage

While I hope you’re getting massages on your travels, you should also be including them in your routine to recover after traveling. Besides being relaxing and releasing pinched nerves and knots, massages are perfect post-long flights because they improve circulation of the blood and lymphatic fluids. By improving the circulation and draining your lymphatic fluids, a massage helps to remove toxins from the skin and tissue while promoting the uptake of nutrients.

(Facials are also a must for my skin to recover after traveling.)

#3 Essential Oils

I used to think essential oils were a fad that would pass, now here I am rubbing oils all over my body, dropping them in my diffuser, and adding them to my water every damn day.

No matter the symptom, there is an essential oil or blend to help but these are my top choices to recover after traveling as well as during a trip.

Lemon is the perfect cleanser. It’s high in vitamins making it incredible for boosting the immune system. A few drops in your water first thing in the morning will cleanse your liver, kidneys and digestive system while improving circulation throughout your body.

Peppermint soothes your stomach so any digestive issues will soon be gone with a few drops in a glass of water. (Also serves as a great breath refresher on your travels with one drop on your fingertip rubbed on your gums and a deep inhale.)

Frankincense is honestly great for EVERYTHING but for post-travel purposes, it’s great immunity support. It helps to discard toxins from your liver and kidneys.

Teatree is key for sunburns (for sensitive skin dilute with coconut oil and add lavender). During your travels, Teatree also serves as a good hand sanitizer, natural insect repellent, and antiseptic for cuts to boost healing wounds (I always seem to come back with minor injuries).

Lavender is calming and can improve sleep. A few drops on the pillow or on your sleeping eye mask or a few drops in a diffuser with Vetiver will turn your room into a relaxing spa to put you fast asleep.

On-Guard is an anti-bacterial immune system supporting powerhouse. An on-guard shot with honey and warm water will boost your immune system instantly!

#4 Vitamins

Before traveling I highly recommend loading up on Vitamin C and staying hydrated with water and coconut water for electrolytes (this one is my favorite PS- I used to work for them!) to boost your immune system.

Often while traveling, we lose a sense of our routine and forget to take our daily vitamins, sometimes because we don’t even bring them. Do yourself a favor and pick up a portable pill case like this one, mine is no bigger than my passport. Pop your essential vitamins in each cube and throw it in your carry-on, boom! Take your vitamins every morning and when you return from your travels, boost your doses of vitamins such as vitamin C. (It goes without saying buutttt… consult your doctor or use common sense of what your body needs for taking extra vitamins.)

My go-to daily vitamins and boosts when my immune system is low after traveling are a Women’s One-A-Day Multi-vitamin, Garden of Life B-12 and Vitamin-C spray, Nature Made Omega-3 Fish Oil, Garden of Life Fitbiotic Probiotic, ACV (Apple Cider Vinegar) shots (or these ACV gummies), Nature’s Bounty Green Tea extract, and a shot of hot water, honey and 2 drops of On-Guard essential oil.

#5 Exercise

Whether it’s a long run, yoga, boxing, heavy lifting, or pilates that you fancy…getting up bright and early to get a sweat in before starting the day is a sure-fire way to get back into a routine and beat those jetlag vacation blues.

#6 Sleep

Most importantly, and by far the hardest one for me, sleep! Especially when jetlag, this is extremely key in allowing your body and mind to recover.

Our bodies sync with the sun so as soon as arriving to your destination, try to quickly sync up your sleep schedule with local time. If sleep is as difficult for you as it is for me, try this melatonin an hour before bed to generate the hormone that regulates our sleep-wake cycle.

I also NEVER sleep without my sleep eye mask! This is the one I use because it has contoured sleeping cups and is blackout! I have one in my carry-on, one in my suitcase, and one at home. That is how much I love it!

Check out more travel tips below or leave a comment!

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