Your Travel (Recovery) Guide

Many times when we go on vacation, our meal plans, workouts and meticulous scheduling go out the window. The bloating and water retention that await us afterward are the unintended consequences many of us brace ourselves for.

Sure, there are many ways to prevent this through bing intentional and planning your vacation around your health goals, but if you are like me, my planning and prep went on vacation too! I came home to swollen ankles from remaining stationary on the plane for hours, dry skin and ridiculous bloating. Combing the internet, I found several guides on how to plan and prepare for your trip, but very few on how to recover and heal from all of the oxidative stress that a stress-free environment unintentionally reeks on our bodies.What guides exist to help you transition from the pastries, drinks, and partying back into your daily life? No worries! I got you covered! Here is my how-to-guide on how I accelerate my post-vacay recovery with a few tips on how to prevent it in the first place!

Your Gut 

Prevention

Try adding lemon or apple cider vinegar to your water to help minimize the effects of bloating. Drinking a tall glass of water before you eat is also a great tip for taking up space before a meal so that you don’t eat as much. Also incorporate a probiotic to your morning routine to provide your digestive system with a little assistance. Hydration is key! Staying hydrated is at the base of all of your body care needs. Fueling up on plenty of water and eating fruits and veggies like watermelon and cucumber are easy ways to hydrate your body. Making sure to consume plenty of fibrous plants will help keep you regular as well.

Treatment

Try a juice cleanse! Come in to your closest Daily Juice location and go for a three day juice cleanse. It is a great way to reset while rebooting your immunity. It is also incredibly hydrating and can help your digestive regularity and help your body recover from all the food you enjoyed.

Skin Care

Vacation time often means dry airplane air and plenty of direct sunlight. This in turn translates to tired skin, and sunburn.

Prevention

On the plane, try bringing a light skin mist in your carry-on. Try adding rose water to a small reusable spray bottle. Before you board, apply a thin layer of your favorite moisturizer to a clean face, and lightly mist with rose water. Rose water is a great moisturizer with less ingredients than your traditional toner. You can apply it as needed during your flight as it is light enough to not be offensive to other passengers, but it can also be applied on a mid-flight restroom break. To guard against the sun, try using a mineral-based, broad spectrum sunscreen to protect your skin instead of a chemical one.

Treatment

When you return from your outdoor adventure, wash off with a gentle soap and cool shower and follow with a soothing oil, like avocado oil. If you sustained any sunburns, try healing them with aloe vera, mashed cucumber paste and vitamin E oil.

Hair Care

Swimming and sunlight can make a bad hair day a bad hair season without the right care.

Prevention

Protecting your scalp is one step many of us neglect when it comes to hair care, even though scalp health is literally at the root of it all! Before you take the plunge into the salt water, start with a light cleansing of your hair in the shower. On towel-dry hair, apply a light oil to your hair from root to tip. You can try anything from raspberry seed oil, to avocado or even olive oil. Apply an additional layer of a light conditioner to your hair and braid it up to seal in the moisture. Apply a light layer of sunscreen to your scalp (a mineral-based sunscreen with zinc oxide perhaps) to protect your scalp from the direct sunlight. The simplest way you can prevent sunburn of course is to style a hat into your outfit for the day!

Treatment

If you missed this don’t worry- there is still time to recover! For dry, damaged hair, try making a simple at-home mask with your pantry items! Avocado, honey, banana, coconut milk and olive oil are all easily-accessible ingredients that can help you and your curls bounce back from heat, salt and chlorine damage. Mix your favorite ingredient combo, apply to clean hair and allow it to sit for 15-30 minutes. You can add a shower cap and a towel around your hair to lock in the heat to allow the ingredients to penetrate your follicles even more. You can use this mask 1-2 times a week until your hair begins to feel like itself again. You can also add an apple cider vinegar rinse to your routine to help balance your scalp’s pH and restore its natural bounce and vibrance.

Lolade is a health enthusiast with a passion for empowering her communit(ies) to lead their best lives. She is a certifying doula and Health Coach on a mission to transform the standard of care in women’s health. You can follow her journey on Instagram: @lolvde.