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It seems like peppermint and pumpkin, the two tasty P’s in holiday parties, are making their grand entrance for the holiday season. Let’s not forget mulled wine from Christmas markets, comfy sweaters for staying warm, sweet aromas from essential oils and scrumptious baked cookies. Besides the tasty holiday food, there are parties to attend, gatherings to host, and planning out your holiday travel (including those tips for wellness) for the holiday season.
*Make sure to stay safe during the holidays. Always check the local regulations and with a healthcare provider before making any travel plans or hosting events, as information regarding COVID is constantly changing.
With health and wellness at the forefront of your mind, traveling during the holiday season can sometimes be overwhelming. While I absolutely love the Christmas season and visiting the beautiful Christmas markets in Europe, there can be multiple things to juggle.
Between finding time to work out, planning a trip (here’s a simple travel checklist), and attending parties, sometimes it’s easy to throw your wellness and health goals out the window.
Although your normal routine may get switched up during the holiday season, establishing routines you want to keep during the holiday will come in handy. One thing I’ve learned from holiday travel is whenever I maintain certain wellness habits while traveling; my holiday vacations turn out better than expected.
In fact, I have more energy for Christmas festivities, feel less bloated and more rested, all while still enjoying my favorite delectable seasonal foods – pumpkin pie, stuffing and cranberry sauce, Christmas cookies. It is the holidays after all!
Gluten-free pumpkin pie here I come!
Here are some simple holiday travel tips for wellness.
Winter wellness tip: Looking for some Christmas vacation travel inspiration? Read these guide — the best Christmas markets around the globe, fall guide to California, and a list of the best National Parks to visit in winter.
Eat mindfully during the holidays
Since it’s the holidays, make sure you enjoy all your favorite foods! Eating mindfully doesn’t mean to avoid the foods that bring you joy, it’s about moderation. Instead of avoiding some foods, try to eat your food slower, savoring every bite and giving yourself time to relax while eating your meal.
Whenever I practice eating more mindfully during the holidays, I’m always shocked at what amount of food fills me up. Instead of piling the plate high with food, I opt for leveling the food evenly on the plate. Besides, you can always go back for more!
Food travel tip: If you’re staying at an Airbnb (here’s a coupon up to $65) during your holiday travel, consider making some easy recipes at home (aka your Airbnb, vacation home, etc.). For instance, here is my go-to list of easy vegan recipes for dinners.
The “All or Nothing” mindset, DITCH IT
Have you ever felt this way? You splurged on a bag of Doritos, or ate an entire box of cookies during the holiday. Tell yourself, “I am okay. I allow myself to enjoy my food.” I’ve definitely felt this way before and thought, “Oh no, I messed up now I have to be extra good”.
However, what I realized is when I ditched this mental mindset and started enveloping positive health and wellness quotes or affirmations, I saw a shift in how I enjoyed my food. Instead of thinking I fell off the wagon, I realized that you could hop back on whenever you’re ready.
To tell the truth, this imaginary wagon never existed! After all, there is no race for achieving personal wellness within.
If you choose what makes your body feel good, the wellness connection will come. You don’t have to choose all or none, only a happy medium because balance is the key.
Drink your greens
Drinking your greens while you’re traveling for the holidays is one of my personal favorite travel tips for wellness and healthy holiday eating. This is vital because it allows you to get you fruits, vegetables, and greens in for the day without trying too hard.
For instance, every day when I wake up, I grab my favorite daily greens mix and mix it with a glass of orange or apple juice. As a wellness traveler, it’s the easiest way to ensure I get my daily intake of vegetables. Plus it can help keep your health goals on track during the holidays.
One brand I highly recommend trying is Arbonne Essentials Green Balance. It’s a vegan and gluten-free green powder that’s packed with fiber, vegetable and fruit concentrates, antioxidants, and some phytonutrients. Plus, since it’s a powder, it’s easy to travel with!
You can take the whole container or transfer the amount you need to a smaller reusable container. Here’s a 20-40% discount off Green Balance and free shipping if you join as member, or you can only purchase the Green Balance with no membership here.
Wash your hands often
One safety tip for holiday travel is to wash your hands often. This can help ensure you’ll have a healthy holiday by making sure germs don’t spread to you or from you. If you don’t have access to water and soap, consider using hand sanitizer, and wash your hands once you have access to water and soap again.
Health and wellness tips: Consider packing a bottle of hand sanitizer or baby wipes in your luggage. That way if you don’t have access to water and soap, you’re still able to clean you’re hands.
Pack healthy snacks for your trip
Flying during the holidays can sometimes come with unexpected delays and layovers (especially now during COVID). If you’re like Evan and I, flying to the fairytale Advent in Zagreb Christmas markets via a ten plus hour flight, snacks are essential.
One of the best travel tips for wellness to prepare for the season is packing healthy holiday snacks. That way, regardless of the circumstances, you’ll have the ideal snack to keep you on track for your health goals during the holiday season.
Just add your favorite healthy snacks to your luggage, maybe a lunch depending on how long your road trip or flight is. Try to aim for whole foods when packing snacks, but if you need some inspiration–here’s a travel snack list.
If you don’t have time to pack snacks, consider downloading the app GateGuru – a free app that locates where the health restaurants are throughout the terminal.
Move your body during holiday travel
Before you arrive at your travel destination, consider coming up with a workout plan you want to keep during the holidays. While the holidays can throw a wrench in exercise plans, try to find a new plan you can stick to.
Consider moving your body as much as possible while you’re traveling to get in some active wellness. If you have a long layover, go on a leisurely stroll around the airport, do some lunges, a quick body weight workout or some light stretches.
Typically I work out in the morning for 30 minutes to a 1 hour depending on the day, but during the holidays my schedule changes. Instead, I opt for taking evening walks with my family, watching yoga on YouTube with my husband (here’s some excellent yoga channels on Youtube and vinyasa flows to get you started), or I split the workout into two or three spurts so it’s more manageable.
Working out can help boost your mood and energy, so don’t let the holidays or holiday travel stop you from boosting your health!
Here’s some more info on exercise and some at-home workouts to get you started.
Manage your stress
Find time to relax during your trip. Once you’ve arrived to the airport, or you’ve started the road trip to your destination, be sure to set yourself up for success. One way to relax could be investing in some good movies or books beforehand. Another option could be reminding yourself of a positive mantra or an affirmation you enjoy.
One mantra or positive inspirational quotes I like to remind myself is:
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”
Oprah Winfrey
Indulge in sleep before holiday travel
With the abundance of prep work for holiday travels, sleep can sometimes take a back seat. I’ve often found myself packing till 1:00 am before a flight, which throws off routines and leaves me feeling exhausted. One simple wellness tip for the holidays is to indulge in sleep before your trip, both during and after.
Sleeping well leading up to your trip can do wonders! You won’t be tired from staying up all night, you’ll be more alert when you reach your destination, and your routine won’t have been hijacked from the excitement of Christmas festivities.
Wellness tips: There are several more tips on wellness to include during the holidays that can help you feel more balanced and well during your travels – here are ten more wellness habits for traveling.
Prioritize self-care
Face mask, cozy nights in, romantic getaways with your partner, or sweating it out on a run, don’t forget about self-care over the holidays. While I love the Christmas season, sometimes it can be easy to get overwhelmed by the never-ending list of events to do that seems to meticulously grow.
As a matter of fact, I’ve found when I prioritize self-care during holiday travel, the vacations runs even smoother. Finding down time and sometimes unplugging from digital devices helps me feel more rejuvenated once I return back to the normalcy of life post-holiday travel.
Some ideas for self-care to practice at your destination could be:
- Sleeping in
- Watching a movie
- Cooking a healthy dinner (click here for travel-friendly, easy meals for dinner)
- Calling a loved one to wish them a happy holiday
- Practicing yoga
Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate
Holiday travel, traveling abroad, road tripping cross country, or any type of travel; it’s important to add hydration to your travel plan. One easy holiday travel tip for wellness is to carry a water bottle with you.
I’ve found that it encourages me to drink more water, it helps with bloating, and I have more energy at the winter travel destination.
Plus, using a reusable water bottle is an easy way to be more sustainable while traveling.
Additional travel tips for wellness
What are your favorite travel tips for wellness or routine you enjoy doing over the holidays?
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Hi! My name is Ciara and I love to travel. I also know how difficult it can be to maintain your routine and live a healthy lifestyle, that’s why it’s my passion to help women stay in shape while having busy schedules and traveling!
If you’re feeling overwhelmed and don’t have a plan to follow that ensures you stay on track even while traveling, click below to schedule a quick call so we can strategize a plan perfect for you!
How To Explore The Beautiful Advent In Zagreb
Nice article…. thanks for the pointers!
So glad you enjoy it!
Hello There,
I read the entire blog and you have explained every point very nicely. I really loved your tips to stay fit and healthy during the travel.
Thanks Chris, hope you enjoyed your holidays!
Thanks for such great tips! I’ve never really considered drinking my greens so this is a great suggestion. I’ve realised that if we have healthy snacks available, we’re more likely to eat those rather than go to unhealthy options.
That’s such a good observation! I’m the same way. Do you have a favorite healthy snack you like to travel with?
These are so useful! I am struggling with moderation and holiday eating and love your advice, to indulged in every bite and enjoy it. Something I will definitely try to implement more from now on! I never thought about mixing greens and fruits like that and drinking it while traveling but always feel slacking with main healthy things. Will defo try this to make sure I get everything I need 😀 Thanks for sharing!
I’m glad you enjoyed this post Nidia, and thanks for sharing where you’re at. Is there a specific greens or fruit you’d like to try first in your water?
These are all amazing tips to stay healthy during the holidays. I definitely needed to read this list. I am hoping to squeeze a hike in sometime after Christmas if the weather cooperates. 🙂
OOO that sounds lovely, a Christmas hike! 🙂 I hope the weather cooperates for you too. Also, thank you so much.
Love this post – especially how you kicked it off with eating mindfully during the holidays! Growing up, I used to go crazy around the holiday season eating. It is what my family “did.” But, obviously changed that habit as I got older and feel much better controlling the holiday intake. Haha.
Haha I feel you on that, the holiday food is just TOO good :). Glad mindful eating has helped you during the holidays!
I love these tips! My all or nothing mindset is such a problem. I like can’t get out of that bad habit. I need to be more mindful.
You can do it Lita! I’m happy you loved the tips.
Sending you positive and happy vibes!
Some simple yet effective tips here! I really like the tip Indulge in sleep before holiday, which I often end up missing due to being anxious and last minute packing, and end up being tired during the trip sometimes. However, when I follow this tip, my travel time is very effective and add value to my experience too!
Thanks, I’m happy you enjoyed the tips! Sleep is soooo important – so I’m glad it helps improve your travel time and travel experience. All good and happy things 🙂