Have you heard the saying “I need a vacation from my vacation?” Sounds counter intuitive to need recovery from laying on the beach. But the truth is our bodies undergo an enormous amount of *LOW KEY* stress when we travel.

Everything from airplane cabin air pressure, changing time zones, to indulging in new or less than healthy cuisine can do a number on our body. It’s not usually one factor that puts us over the edge as far as toxic load or stress on our bodies, but the *culmination* of these factors. And looking at it from a evolutionary standpoint, our bodies were not created to thrive in a completely new geographical location from one day to the next. It took our ancestors MONTHS to get somewhere with a new climate, AKA time to acclimate.

But fear not, you CAN come out on the other side of travel feeling your best. After spending close to three years on the road for work, traveling everywhere from Australia to Dubai, I’ve learned (through trial and error) some of the BEST travel detox tactics.

Here are 10 ways to detox from travel:

 

1 Follow this workout rule, PLEASE!

No really, don’t just go crazy running a marathon or doing high intensity workouts post travel, especially after a long haul flight. The air cabin pressure of planes actually decreases the amount of oxygen in your body. In addition you’ve been sitting, most likely cramped and uncomfortable (your body possibly contorted in unnatural ways in an effort to sleep in the misery that is coach class on an international flight). Your risk for injury is greater because of this.

BUT exercise can be an amazing way to both detox and beat jet lag. So what’s a girl to do? Follow this simple rule: If your flight is less than 6 hours, hit the gym as you normally would. Anything longer, opt for something more gentle like yoga or a calming walk.

2 Cleanse Your System (the right way)

Have you heard the term “out of town lockdown?” I HAVE to giggle when I say this because our good family friends used this term for not being regular while on vacation. It’s true, a foreign environment coupled with less movement due to plane or car travel can slow things down in your digestion.

It’s important to get things moving again. A little hot lemon water in the AM can do the trick! Hydrating with tons of water can assist as well or CELERY juice (personal fave). But be careful, it’s very effective LOL. In addition movement will help get things erm…MOVING again in your bowels.

One of the reasons people feel so puffy and bloated after travel is due to the toxins they’re holding on to. Get that sh*t out! Literally. You’ll likely see a swift shift in your face (less puffy!) and energy levels shortly after.

3 Don’t Jump Straight Back Into Normal Life

Sounds like a no-brainer but a lot of people get home from a trip and don’t give themselves proper rest. They’re busy grabbing their pup from the kennel, organizing the house, doing laundry, etc. Make sure in all your re-acclimation to civilian life that you let your body decompress from the travel. Sleep is BEST, and a minimum of 8 hours.

Some time spent alone, a meditative yoga class, or listening to your favorite music can be a wonderful way to let go of the travel and reconnect to yourself.

4 Eat Foods That Heal, Not Harm

Everyone likes to indulge in yummy, sometimes less than healthy foods while on vacation. When you get home it’s important to heal your body, rather than harm with what you put in your mouth.

Foods containing dairy and gluten are inflammatory, opt for snacking on anti-inflammatory foods in the days after your travel. Do your bod another favor and cut out the alcohol. Your body is most likely already fighting off potential illness from the germs accumulated on planes and other public areas. Don’t make it even harder on your immune system by incorporating inflammatory foods.

Dark green vegetables, green smoothies (not full of just fruit, but actual vegetables), cinnamon, almonds, salmon, and olive oil are all great anti-inflammatory foods to incorporate.

Food truly has the power to heal or harm. See how energized you can feel by nourishing your body with whole, organic foods!

5 Sweat, Baby, Sweat

The epidermis offers one of the biggest detox pathways in the human body. Sweat is an AMAZING way to rid the body of toxins. Hop in the sauna (or even better find a local infrared sauna for increased benefits) or get your workout in. There are so so many benefits to sweating. Yes, you’ll excrete toxins from your trip, but you’ll also get the blood and lymph of the body moving from heating up the body.

It will also help make your skin clear and glowy!

6 Restore Your Skin

SPEAKING OF SKIN: Dry airplane air, varying climates, stress, and allll the food and drink indulgence travel has to offer can really do a number on your skin, specifically the skin on your face. The moneymaker always tells a story regarding what’s going on inside the body. Digestion or hormone issues? It will show up along the chin and jawline.

I tend to see more breakouts during and after travel. I also tend to see a general dullness crop up on my normally bright face.

How do I deal? It depends.

If I can swing it I book a facial so an expert can get in close and see what’s really going on with my face. And I stick to seeing a holistic esthetician (here’s my favorite if you’re local to San Diego) who uses only natural, organic ingredients. Just my personal preference.

I’ve got enough fake sh*t in my body already from the Red 40 dye in M&M’s LOL.

If I can’t see an esthetician I stick to this hard to follow rule and leave my face ALONE.

What? Yes, leave it alone.

Before I would apply masks, creams, pinch zits, stress, and spend too much time in front of the mirror, and my skin would further freak out. Sometimes the best thing to do is to let the skin balance itself. It’s made to! Trust me! (I got this tip from Mo, my holistic esthetician).

Sticking to your normal skin routine (cleansing AM and PM) and applying a little rosehip oil at night is usually all I need to get my skin back on track. Now for those moon craters that are actually my pores, I see Mo.

For the body, I love a good organic coffee scrub to exfoliate dry, dead skin away. I always follow up with lotion post shower to restore moisture.

 

I hope these detox tips were helpful! Did I miss any? Let me know below in the comments 🙂