Take Flight without Losing Your Fight: The Top 3 Travel Tips

This is episode 279 of the Empowered Team Podcast. Welcome to the Empowered Team Podcast where we explore how to optimize your performance in career, sport and life. And now your host, executive coach and life strategist, Kari Schneider. Welcome. Welcome to the Empowered Team Podcast. This is our podcast. I am your host, Kari Schneider and it is all about self mastery so that you can be more empowered in your team environments. You can contribute and help empower those around you, whether it's your work, your family or wherever you are looking for your best performance. So today we are talking about the flight travel tips. I'm going to give you three top flight travel tips. And the reason I'm doing this is because my travel has been beyond what I expected. Let's put it this way, I have, I did not travel very much at all for quite some time because I've had this diagnosis of an autoimmune illness passing through my body called Graves disease. And I have been endeavoring for the last year to put it into remission, naturally, without surgery and without some of the very challenging meds. Now that is an entirely different podcast episode and I will go into that at some point. At this point right now though, I'm going to tell you how I've had to adjust my travel because the tips I'm going to give you will be so valuable for anybody traveling on an airplane. And to give you context, in November I traveled for a client to support a client at an event. In December, I traveled for Date with Destiny, a massive impactful Tony Robbins event in Florida. That was December. In January, I went on an unexpected almost two week travel to support my father. And then I went to a financial seminar in the end of January, beginning of February. Then I visited my daughter in B.C. and then I came home and now I'm off to California to support a client for another event. So you can, I imagine see the amount of airplanes I've been on again, off again, on again, off again. I've been on all sorts of airlines from air Canada to WestJet to Flare, to Swoop, to Porter, all these different airlines and airports and experiencing all the things, however, traveling with this illness that I mentioned, this Graves disease, means that for me, I've chosen to be on a very restricted autoimmune eating plan. And in order to maintain that when I'm traveling, it takes a fair bit of planning. But that's not the point because I don't expect all of you to be on some very restrictive autoimmune eating plan. However, the things I'm going to share with you are very, very consistent and critical for me to be able to perform from travel. Because my energy is lower, I can't afford. I feel I'm choosing not to do. I'm choosing to have the greatest performance I possibly can. I want the benefit of coming off a flight not feeling so drained from the dehydration, the radiation, the being on the flight, sitting for however long. I want to feel the best I can possibly feel. While I know that travel does tend to fatigue me at the best of times, however, with Graves disease, it. I'm already fatigued going into it, so it fatigues me even more. So I want to come out of the travel feeling the best I possibly can. So here are three of the things that I do. This is not all of what I do, but there are three of the things and the details. We're going to get granular. We're going to start slice it pretty thin so that you understand the details of what I do and why those details matter. So number one is water. Now, I could easily just label this number one water. Drink lots of it. When you travel, drink more than you think you need to done. But I'm going to give you some of the details that I do so that you can understand how dialed in I have it so that that can potentially be something that you take a look at as well. So before I go to an airport, I typically have some sort of daytime or some sort of travel that I have to do to get to the airport. So for instance, for instance, for the finance seminar I was in Whistler, there had to be a shuttle to get to Vancouver. Then getting onto the plane in Vancouver and flying to Kelowna. And in that space, when I'm having water, I'm going to drink water. As soon as I get up every day I drink water. As soon as I get up, I drink a glass. That's about a cup and a half worth of water. Now that doesn't mean that that's enough and that doesn't mean that it's too much. It means that that's what my habit is. So I know I'm going to drink that as a minimum. But here's what happens when I travel and when you travel as well, you will dehydrate so so much faster. Airports are extremely dry. Airplanes are extremely dry. If you're traveling in the winter, you're going to have a lot of dryness. And even if you're going somewhere warm and tropical, then you're going to be In a humid environment, you might be dehydrating fast because you're sweating. The point is, is that I need more water when I travel than I ordinarily do. So what it means is that I'm going to have my cup and a half of water before I even leave to go wherever I'm going to go. And then I'm doing the duration of transition or commuting to the airport. And when I'm in that transition, let's say even it's an hour or it's two hours, I have another cup and a half of water on the way there. So we're looking at, by the time I've gotten to the airport, I've already drinking because I finished that water before I go through security. So I've got my container of water and that container of water has another cup and a half to two cups of water. And I've, I have to down that water before I go through security. Now here's the thing. In that point right before security and you discover you have water, you discover you can't bring it through. And a lot of people will dump their water out. And I have the urge to dump that water out too, because I don't want to pound that water. But I pound that water. I drink it even though I don't feel like I want to drink it. And the reason I do that is because I know how dehydrated I will be when I, I get in through that airport and into that airplane. So I try to over hydrate, knowing I'm going to under or dehydrate because of the airplane. It's hard to drink enough water on the airplane. So I've downed this water right before security, my water bottle is empty. As soon as I get through security, I find my gate. When I find my gate, I look for the bathroom and I look for a water filling station. I, I want to fill that water, I want it to be hasty and cool. And in my water bottle that's going to keep it cool and I'm going to go forward from there. However, I find the bathroom, I find the water filling station, I find my gate, and then depending on how much I time I have before we board, I make sure I go to the bathroom and fill my water and drink some more when I'm filling my water. So I'm going to get another half a cup of water from filling my water bottle and then fill my water bottle. So now I'm probably, I'm anywhere between, I'm probably about a liter plus in on water, and this is likely early in the morning, depending on what time I'm flying. Now I've got my water full, I'm getting on the flight, I've gone to the bathroom, water is full, away I go. I'm on the flight now, and on the flight I'm that person who takes the window seat and then has to get up to go to the bathroom and move two people or one person to get out of that window seat to go to the bathroom. But it's typically just once, because a lot of the flights that I'm on are anywhere between one hour and four hours. And so typically just once I'm going to the bathroom on the flight, and then I'll go to the bathroom when I get off the flight. The reason I'm telling you that is because the going to the bathroom part, it's not because I want to share my bathroom habits. It's because the going the bathroom part is the most important part. You might be believing that the quantity that I've been sharing, the 1 1/2 cups, the 1 1/2 cups and the other half a cup, the filling my water bottle again, the calculating how many cups I've had, you might be thinking that that's the most important part, but it's not. The most important part about this hydration story is the going to the bathroom part. And if you've list, you know that I've probably gone to the bathroom first thing in the morning before I've left, I've gone to the bathroom. Maybe when I got to the airport, if I had to drive for a couple hours, and when I've gotten through security or when I'm at the gate, and then I'm going to the bathroom again, when I'm on that flight one time, usually, sometimes two times if it's a longer flight. That's the most important part about this hydration story, because that's the indication of hydration. It's not how much water you drank. For instance, to give you an example, because I'm recording podcasts this morning and I'm speaking a lot continuously, I am going to get more dehydrated because of all of the molecules of vapor coming out of my mouth, because I'm talking continuously, even though I'm sitting, even though I'm not working out, even though I drank earlier, I'm still going to dehydrate more because I'm talking a lot. So the environment, the humidity, the temperature, the activity, it's not the number or amount or quantity that you consume throughout the day. Everyone speaks in terms of make sure you have 2 liters of water, 4 liters of water, not taking into account the size of the human, the humidity, the environment, all of those factors play just as much of a role, if not more so, than the amount of water. That's why the most important bit of information is that frequency of me going to the bathroom and that frequency. And if you could see if it wasn't an airplane toilet, if you could see it in an airport toilet, you want to be peeing a decent volume and you want it to be clear or pale yellow. That is your best indication of hydration. And when you travel, I promise you, you will get dehydrated so much faster than any environment. Well, not any other environment. A human, sorry, a humid sport or hard training environment will dehydrate you faster. Yes, but I mean compared to your regular non training environments. So make sure that you are taking a look at the frequency of going to the bathroom, not just the qu. Quantity of what you're drinking. And then lastly, when I'm on that plane, what I do, I don't want to take their plastic cups. And they've. The airplane's policies have transitioned into. For a while they wouldn't fill your cup, especially during COVID and now they will pour into your cup. So I don't take the plastic cups. I drink what's in my water bottle on the plane when they come around with beverages, I do not have juice, I do not have coffee. I may have a hot water in a paper cup. And other than that, I will have them fill my water bottle. This one habit, this one practice has been so incredible for my energy and being able to maintain my energy in a space of having lower energy because of this graves illness. So I really encourage you to practice something like that and get granular about it so you really understand that you're hydrated. You haven't just drinking your normal amount. You've drink because of the environment you've been. You're double checking it based on the frequency and how you're using the washroom. Are you peeing pale yellow? Are you peeing clear? Is there volume and is there frequency? That's how you're going to know if you're rehydrated. So that is the first one. So now that you're so excited because we've talked about my bathroom habits and how much water I'm drinking, let's go on to number two because the main outcome, here's the outcome. I'm going for. It's you coming off of that travel with energy. You coming off of that airplane feeling like you can hit your next thing in stride and not feel like you have to recover from the flight or feel like you've been knocked on your butt the day later because of flying. I want you to have a seamless transition and be able to perform with your energy. Please, if you have any expectation of some sort of energy or performance output when you get off that plane, do not drink alcohol on that plane. It's going to be a double whammy for you. I sat next to a man on a flight yesterday and he, he had alcohol in his water bottle. And I know it because I could smell it. And, and then when he actually took water from, when they came around with the, the beverages, he was trying to rehydrate some of what he was losing from drinking alcohol in his water bottle. So. And I know that he would feel just the effects of the alcohol. However he's going to feel from that, he's going to feel doubly worse because of the alcohol and the airplane. So you've got the, you've got the radiation, you've got the dehydration. All of those things are going to have a double whammy on the alcohol on the airplane. So for me, alcohol on the airplane, big no. No. Even if I'm going on a vacation trip and I'm looking to have some fun and I'm looking to do some other things, I'm not going to drink it on the airplane. I could give a crap about drinking alcohol on an airplane. Now that's just me. You might have a different desire. You might want to feel a certain way on your flight. And I want to have energy when I get off the flight. That's my goal. All right, so the next one is number two and it is our movement. When do I move? What is my practice on moving in order to have the best energy possible? So number two, what I do is if I'm flying on, let's say I have to start traveling by 9am or 10am I'm going to make sure I've got my regular workout that morning. So I, I am a person who works out in the morning, so I will be up at 6am I will do my workout then I'm onto my day. So if I can fit in my normal workout before commuting to the airport or before traveling, I'm going to do it now. Sometimes, like yesterday, for instance, I had a 6am flight, so that means I was up at 4 in the morning, I was at a very close to the airport so I didn't have to. And it was a small airport, so I was up at 4 in the morning, I was on a plane by 6 in the morning. And I was not going to do a workout prior to that flight because I was prioritizing with my sleep. So if that's the case, then what I'm going to do is depending on what day of the week it is, is, is it on a day I would normally lift? Is it a day I'd normally run? What kind of day is it for me? If it's a day I would have normally lifted, Then in the airport I'm going to do some lunges, I'm going to do some core work, I'm not going to lie on the FL of the airport, but I will put my hands down and do some core work in plank type positions. I will lunge, I will do perhaps push ups and I could give a crap of what other people think of me. I will find a quiet corner, I will do my thing, but I will do some weight based exercises that are far less than my normal workout. But at least I'm getting some of the movement, the mobility, the activation and low level strengthening. Depending on the movement I'm able to do, then I will get that on that day. If I had some sort of cardio workout that planned that day, then I'm just going to get as much walking done in the airport as possible. And even if I've done that kind of low level body weight workout movement or movement in the airport, I will still walk as much as possible. So when I'm in the airport, I, I am walking that airport. I know how many steps I get in a day. I usually have 5,000 steps by the time it's noon in a day. So if I'm at the airport waiting to get on a flight, I will go for a walk. If I'm with someone, they can watch my baggage and then I can go for a walk or with someone and walk and talk together or I'll just carry my stuff or my carry on and go for a walk and get a comparable may not be the same, may be a little less or a lot less or a little more than my normal number of steps I would get at that time of day, but at least it'll be comparable. And then when I arrive at whatever my destination is, then I'm on to whatever I'm doing. Because typically if I'm traveling, I am not going to be able to work out. When I get there. I'm usually heading into either traveling to another destination or seeing people or working in some form or another. So, so I'm not able to do the workout once I arrive. I at least I'm not going to count on it. I may be able to get to a hotel gym if I don't arrive too late because I'm going to prioritize with my sleep. But I don't count on it. That's why what I count on is getting whatever that workout of the day was, some modified version of it in the airport, the walking activity and if I've missed it completely, so say that day I get no movement, no weight, body weight exercises and it really is a day where it's turned into not being able to get what I need. Then I make sure that I plan for the next day to double up. So what I will do is if I miss the weight workout, I'll do the light weight workout with my some sort of cardio. And because of this graves illness I've been carefully and slowly building back my strength, building back some of my cardiovascular ability. And so it's even more important to me right now to not miss. I don't want to skip three days of my workout in a given week because I've traveled. Because what it means for my body right now is that I'm going to lose too much ground too fast and it'll be even harder for me to make the progress that I've been trying to make. So that is the movement, the workout, either pre going workout or something at the airport or something comparable depending on what the activity is. And then in the flight, as you've already heard, I get up and I will be going to the bathroom at some point in that flight. So when I go to the bathroom at some point in that flight, I'm going to make sure that when I've gone towards the bathroom, I stretch my hip flexors and, and chest and typically lats as well. So those three areas, stretching my hip flexors, my pecs and my lats are the most important because of that confined seated position for such extended periods of time. So when I head off to the bathroom, away I go, I get a quick stretch. You could do some squats in the bathroom, you could do some lunges at the back of the plane. But and I've done that definitely on long flights I will definitely do those things. But if I'm on any of these one hour to four hour flights, then I will be doing just a stretch and I will have done something in the airport prior to the flight. So that's what the activity looks like when I'm traveling on inflight days. And then lastly is food. So I've picked the top three things that will impact my energy coming off of this flight. So number one was the water, number two is the movement and number three is the food. Food. So here's the thing. I simply have so many restrictions that the likelihood of me being able to get a meal in the airport is very small, very, very slim. So I make sure that I have packed and pre planned my meals if I am on the road or traveling. So I was in a two hour shuttle going from Whistler to Vancouver at probably 5:30 or 6 in the morning. If that's the case, then I've packed my breakfast. I had a piece of fruit and I had, I had some version of meat because those things I can eat. So I had that with me and that was my breakfast. I also had my next meal with me. I will pack a salad. So in that particular case, in that flight, I knew I was getting a salad when I landed because I had a very short flight over to Kelowna. So my daughter had planned a salad for me. She knew exactly what I needed in it and we cooked that up when I got there. However, most flights, when I'm going across the country and it's a two, a one to four hour flights, most times I need to pack one or two meals that I have with me. So I'm going to pack my salad at lunch, I'm going to pack my veggies and meat for dinner and, and it's coming with me in a collapsible container. I've found these containers. You can find them in camping stores or outdoor stores where you can collapse these little containers. So then it makes it really easy to travel with. I am traveling with fruit I'm traveling with, unless I'm going across the border into the U.S. i'm traveling with fruit. I'm traveling with a salad. I'm traveling with beef jerky, that's all natural. I'm traveling with coconut chips I'm traveling with and they're just the natural coconut and usually veggies and, and meat of some sort. And I've had to pre plan those. Now it doesn't take any more time to do that than what you would ordinarily do at home for your meals if you were planning your meals for the next day. So all I've done is put them into containers that I can travel with and then I can collapse them to save space. And. And they are with me. So between that and if I'm stuck, there's this fantastic bone broth. It's organic. It's in these little boxes in the organic section. And I just take these packets of bone broth. If I haven't been able to get some clean organic meat or I haven't been able to get a meal somewhere, and I'm running out of my meals, I have that on hand with me at all times. So I can have something just with hot water and that will give me some protein, some sustenance so that I can carry on. So I am not eating in an airport at all. Now, to give you some context here, in the past I would have taken a. I would have had different rules around my eating in airports. I would have loved to go through and find some snacks and find some gummies of some sort and, and some chocolate of some sort. And that would have been my extra snacks that I had on the flight. I can't eat those things right now. I can have very, very dark chocolate. So maybe I could buy something like that in the airport. But other than that, it's the only thing I would be able to eat in an airport kiosk typically is, is like a beef jerky, maybe a very dark chocolate. And then in any of the restaurants, most of them don't have a high quality of food anyway. So I'd rather pack some. Something that I can bring that I can really nourish myself instead of just feed myself something that may typically SAP my energy. So those are the top three. There are so many more. There are options, there are hacks, there are so many things, but these are foundational. I have my supplements with me, I have other little tips and tricks and you can go in for biohacks till the cows come home. But if you skip these main three, then you literally will be doing yourself an energy hit. You're going to be knocking yourself out from your energy instead of boosting yourself up in your energy. Ah, I think that's about it. Food ones. And I also have planned when I arrive to wherever I'm going, the first thing I do is scout out food. The first thing I do is scout out food. And typically what that means is that I'm going to a grocery store buying what I need so that I can make whatever I need where I'm at. Because oftentimes if I'm in environments of restaurants or hotels, then I need to make what I'm going to eat or I need to request what I'm going to eat specifically so that I have what I need. So that's it. Travel, plane, airplane tips. That's what I do. And I thought I would share that with you because sometimes we make it mean that it's going to be really hard to do or we can't, or we don't have time. And the truth is it really doesn't take any more time. And I wanted to give you the details of how I do it so you can visualize it for yourself. You could see yourself doing the same type of thing. If you want to use these for energy boosters for your travel, don't let flying in an airplane or changing time zones turn you into a puddle of fatigue. Allow yourself to be the best you can possibly be in those environments by doing these three practices that I shared with you. All right. You are empowered. You're doing the things you're up to. Big things. I know you are. So keep going. You've got this. We will see you next time. Have a fantastic day. If you enjoy listening to the Empowered Team Podcast, you'll love being on the Empowered Team. The Empowered Team is our group coaching and accountability program where we provide the tools, skills and community for you to grow your self mastery as a leader and optimize your results alongside other leaders. The Empowered Team runs year round to learn more about our leadership consulting for business and our Empowered Team Group coaching. Head to www.theempowered CA empoweredlearnmore. That's www.thempowered. cA empowered. Learn more. We can't wait for you to join us. Let's go.