What’s in My Travel Bag?

The past month has been an exciting time of change and new opportunities. As you may know, I retired from my day job of eight years in order to focus my efforts on my nutrition business. The good news for you is that I will have much more time to devote towards blogging and delivering more consistent content and posts. I’m very much looking forward to writing more often and sharing my knowledge and passion for healthy eating and living through this medium and others.

Confession: I love to travel. Any chance I get I will jump at it, and I am grateful for the many places I have visited thus far in my life — truly an enriching way to spend one’s time in my opinion. For this reason, when a travel opportunity presented recently, and it happened to coincide with the fact that I no longer worked for someone else, I embraced this chance to explore, learn, and throw myself into other cultures more than willfully.

What to expect: I’ll be sharing stories about my many adventures with food and health and other discoveries during my few months journey throughout Europe, but in this post today, I’ll be sharing what’s in my travel bag. Be sure to stay tuned for other types of posts during my travels in the near future.

So, What’s in My Travel Bag?

First of all, I like to pack light. I have learned from previous trips that more times than not, I have packed too many belongings. This post will not serve to show you which clothing items I have packed for my travels, however it will highlight some of the healthy snacks, supplements, and natural body care items which I consider necessities while away from my home for some period of time.

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Healthy Snacks

Don’t be stranded during your time spent at airports (which sometimes can be pricy and not offer many healthy options), on the road, or elsewhere with no snacks on hand. Being hungry is the worst and having to settle for food that’s unhealthy and expensive makes the situation even worse.

Here are some packaged snacks/food items that I packed in my travel bag.

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on any one of the product links below and purchase, I will receive a small compensation for the referral. I only promote products on this blog which I fully can stand behind and use myself. 

Epic Bars — high-quality meat based bars if you need a break from all the other protein bars out there. Bison and chicken flavors are the ones I packed this time around.
Epic – Epic Bars Variety Pack, 9 Flavors (9 Pack)

Lara Bars — many flavors to choose from (these have few ingredients that’s why I prefer these to many other nutrition bars on the market).
Larabar Organic Superfoods Bars Variety Pack of 12

SeaSnax — dried seaweed sheets that are rich in minerals. Crunchy, slightly salty and super light to pack — an added bonus!
SeaSnax Grab and Go Variety Pack – Classic, Toasty Onion, Spicy Chipotle and Wasabi – 1 each

Macadamia nuts — I find these nuts a bit more filling than other nuts and can’t seem to stomach too many in one sitting. Keeps me full and does the trick in a bind.

Tea assortment — I like to bring tea bags with me while traveling so that I can enjoy a cup when desired while I rent apartments or even stay at hotels. Often times the tea selection where I travel is not high-quality tea or may just lack variety (black tea doesn’t suffice for me). I packed Hibiscus, Tulsi with Ginger, and Cinnamon Lemongrass Guayasa tea for this trip.

Traditional Medicinals Organic Hibiscus Tea, 16 Tea Bags

Traditional Medicinals Tea,Og2,Tulsi W/Ginger 16 Count (Pack Of 6)

RUNA Focused Energy Cinnamon Lemongrass Guayusa Tea, 16-Count Tea Bags

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Supplements

When I travel, especially to places like Europe I have often allowed myself to experience and taste foods which I usually would not eat while at home….such as dairy and gluten. I am not allergic to these foods but do not feel my best when consuming them regularly. An occasional cheat here and there won’t kill me and when I do, having gluten and dairy digestive enzymes on hand helps provide the necessary enzymes to be able to digest these foods therefore not wreaking as much havoc on my digestive tract. Here is the brand that I use:

Enzymatic Therapy Gluten Defense, 120 Ultracaps

Umcka ColdCare
I’ve written about this natural plant for supporting the body during a time of a common cold before in more detail. http://wp.me/p5E8l7-cf Just in the event I start to get sick while traveling, I like to have this handy.

Probiotics
While in a variety of places, eating foods I usually would not eat, and exposing myself to foreign bacteria it can’t hurt to support optimal digestion by taking probiotics preventatively. For this reason, I never leave home without probiotics. These shelf-stable ones are the ones I packed and have used in the past with good results. 
Nature’s Way 30 Piece Primadophilus Optima Digestive Balance Capsules, 30 Count

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Body Care Products

My favorite deodorant  — JK Naturals, Clary Sage and Lemon Natural Cream Deodorant. I can’t leave home without this! While I’m traveling and exploring there will sure be lots of activity and this natural deodorant leaves me smelling fresh while on the go. Check out this recent Instagram post for more info: https://www.instagram.com/p/BIZQx1HDArV/?taken-by=chewgoodstuff and learn more or purchase here: http://jknaturals.com/collections/deodorants/products/natural-deodorant-clary-sage-lemon

Calendula Gel

This homeopathic gel of calendula is great to have on hand in the event of sunburn, any burns, or irritated skin. I even use it when I’m about to break out and it helps to bring down swelling with an about-to-erupt zit (the company does not make this claim, but is anecdotal and a personal testimonial).

BOERICKE & TAFEL CALIFLORA CALENDULA GEL, 2.75 OZ

Hair Pomade

This stuff is awesome, enough said. It works very well and is very clean as far as ingredients go. They also make an effective and pleasant smelling natural bug spray if you need that for your travels to bug-infested places.
Navigator Class Man Care Hair Pomade Badger 2 oz Tin

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Well, there you have it…What’s in My Travel Bag. If you found this post informative or helpful, please consider sharing with a friend. Thanks!

To read about tips on how to maintain healthy eating habits while traveling click here: http://wp.me/p5E8l7-1V

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Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on any one of the product links and purchase, I will receive a small compensation for the referral. I only promote products on this blog which I fully can stand behind and use myself.