Business Travel Survival Pack

Business Travel Survival Pack
By Lance Breger, Executive Wellness Coach &
CEO of Infinity Wellness Partners 

No matter how much you love your job, business travel can be straight up grueling. Personally I have experienced this harsh reality over the years while speaking and training clients around the country. Most recently, I had back to back cross country trips in a span of just a few days that left me feeling fried - extra crispy even! Fortunately, I know how to restore myself effectively and efficiently through balancing and managing my lifestyle, but most professionals don't! I commonly see executives who experience emotional, mental, and physical burnout due to the high volume and frequency of their long-term national and international travel.

If you travel for work and feel a lot less than your personal and professional best, you are falling prey to the many health and vitality leeches out there on the road.  These common business travel pitfalls are draining your life force with every trip:

• Lack of sleep quality and quantity
• Dehydration
• Excess alcohol, caffeine, calories, and sugar
• Extra hours sitting
• Time zone changes
• Longer days (early AMs and late PMs)
• Greater daily working hours
• Busier schedules with minimal downtime and breaks
• Disconnection from your tribe (friends, family, pets, loved ones)
• Loss of a daily routine and rhythm
• Reduced exposure to natural air, light, and nature
• Lack of nutritious, raw, and real food
• Greater electromagnetic stress (airports, planes, hotels, electronics)
• Minimal physical activity and exercise
• Doubled stress from combining work and travel

To ensure my clients not only survive, but thrive during business travel I have put together simple yet amazing tools and techniques to combat these health and vitality leeches that I use while on the road in the following seven categories:

#1. Hydration - Dehydration worsens jet lag, energy, mental function, and stress symptoms.

• The best water brands on the road are Evian, Fiji, Eternal, and any locally sourced Spring water.
• Get the biggest bottle available (1 or 1.5 liters and glass whenever possible) or buy multiple small bottles and drink at least 2 Liters of water per day.
• Carry Celtic sea salt to sprinkle into your water and onto your food for increased absorption and essential minerals.
• Have 1 cup of water for every hour you are on the plane rather juices, coffee, and soda.
• Every molecule of alcohol removes 3 molecules of water, so minimize alcohol and caffeine during travel to avoid dehydration and symptoms of stress and jet lag.

#2. Immunity - All of the leeches (stressors) listed above also suppress the immune system making you much more susceptible to catching a cold from airports, hotels, shaking hands, and plane passengers.

• Put 1-2 drops of Thieves essential oil in your water bottle for knocking out bacteria and viruses on the go.
• Inhale or diffuse Immupower essential oil for extra immune support in your hotel room.
• Place a few drops of Oreganol P72 under your tongue when sitting next to a serial cougher or sneezer and when feeling like you are coming down with something.

#3. Digestion - When you are traveling for business healthy eating takes a real beating! You'll be more likely too skip meals, overeat, order dessert, drink alcohol, eat big portions, and chow down on appetizers which leads to weight gain and digestive distress in the form of bloating, constipation, diarrhea, and gas. Gut health is also one of the most important factors in both immunity and mood, so maintaining optimal digestion is critical.

• Carry a digestive enzyme that helps breaks down carbohydrates, fat, and protein.
• Pick up a Kombucha (fermented, probiotic tea) at a grocery store to sip on every day while traveling.
• Pick up some fermented, probiotic vegetables to put in your hotel mini-fridge to nibble on before meals.
• Include raw foods in all your meals and snacks for more live enzymes.
• Caffeine may be used to help clear the bowel. Consider black and green tea first and second an espresso with a pad of butter to stabilize blood sugar as well as caffeine and hormonal release.

#4. Relax - Business travel is anything, but relaxing. The added stress suppresses your immune system, wrecks your digestion, ruins sleep, extinguishes energy, cramps creativity, and fogs up focus. 

• Use Legs-Up-The-Wall yoga pose to calm the nervous system, still the mind, reduce blood pooling from the flight, and loosen lower back and hamstring muscles.
• Roll a tennis ball on the sore trigger points along your neck, upper back, chest, hips, and feet to decrease stress.
• Turn on the mobile phone apps Headspace and Calm for guided meditation or nature sounds to help you decompress and rest.

#5. Bar - On the road, meals are usually out of your control which means there's a high likelihood you will get caught without food when hungry, if food is available you'll be cornered by only carbohydrates, and what everyone is eating isn't congruent to your goals.

• Two of the best nutrition bars in airports are KIND bars (4 grams of sugar version) and Lara bars.
• The best bars have less than 5 pronounceable and whole-food ingredients.
• Tanka bars and organic, hormone-free, low-sugar jerky are excellent protein and fat sources.
• Always choose whole, real un-dehydrated food before going for bars.

#6. Tea - Besides water, Yogi brand organic teas can be excellent travel companions delivering whatever you need, whenever you need it.

• Healthy Fasting - I use this for early morning flights when I'm getting up much earlier than my usual breakfast time. It is perfect any time you have to wait longer than 4 hours between meals and need to stabilize your blood sugar.
• Ginger - I use this hot or iced as an excellent digestion aid for airport and restaurant food.
• Peppermint - I use this to curb sugar cravings after meals, improve digestion, and provide an energizing effect. This tea is also excellent served hot or iced.
• Green - I don't use caffeine too often, but when I do I will opt for this tea over coffee when landing in a new time zone. It can be valuable for getting your mind and body alert until an early bedtime at your destination.

#7. Sleep -  The most powerful repairing and revitalizing thing we can do as human beings is often sacrificed and suffering when traveling for business.

• Block out bright hotel alarm clocks and neighborly noises with an eye mask and ear plugs.
• Put a few drops of Lavender essential oil on your pillow as well as along your neck, under arms, inner thighs, and back of your knees.
• Sip on a Bedtime tea to aid in an easier transition to slumber.

Lance Breger is an Executive Wellness Coach and the Founder of Infinity Wellness Partners, a comprehensive corporate wellness company that prepares executives and organizations for the most productive and healthy work-life. Lance has led online/on-site training programs for over one thousand professionals through his company’s four pillars of wellness: fitness, nutrition, mind/body and ergonomics.

Lance is also a Master Instructor for the American Council on Exercise and the recipient of the IDEA Health & Fitness Association Program Director of the Year award. Contact Lance for coaching, consulting and speaking at: lbreger@infinitywellnesspartners.com