Editor’s Note: This article is the companion piece to Episode 23 of Unstuck to Finding Your Edge, my weekly Live series with Robyn Levin and our personal travel experiences. It’s for general education, not individualized medical advice.
If you have a medical condition, take prescription medications, or have questions about compression socks, fasting, hydration, or travel-related health risks, talk with your healthcare professional before your trip!
Travel will mess with your routine.
Different food, different sleep, hours sitting on a plane, more walking, and less water and somehow a bottle of water at the airport costs approximately your firstborn child.
I’ve also spent enough time on airplanes to know how quickly a small problem becomes a BIG annoyance when you’re unprepared.
I worked as a flight nurse for four years. Robyn Levin travels constantly and has turned packing light into practically a competitive sport.
So when she told me she was packing for a trip from warm, rainy Florida into much colder weather, we had opinions.
A lot of them, but underneath the compression bags, thermal underwear, airport snacks, and my lecture about when Robyn should put on her compression socks was a bigger point:
Taking care of yourself while traveling starts before you leave.
Robyn packs light. I pack prepared.
Robyn doesn’t want to haul a monster suitcase through train stations, up staircases, or across Europe.
Fair.
→ Her rule when choosing between two pieces of clothing? Pick up both and take the lighter one.
She’ll even start removing things once she’s packing instead of throwing in another five outfits “just in case.”
I’m a little different.
I’d rather be overprepared than underprepared any day; however, prepared doesn’t mean bringing your entire house.
I’ve traveled so much that I have a system. I know what I wear. I know what I need.
I basically have an airport uniform: comfortable, dry-fit clothing that works whether I’m sitting on a plane or moving through an airport.
If I’m heading somewhere cold, thermal wear is coming with me. I’ve even left Miami wearing thermal pants underneath my clothes when I knew I’d be landing in a snowstorm.
Was I hot leaving Florida? Yep.
Did I care once I landed in Montreal? Nope.
Compress the clothes. Keep the essentials close.
Winter clothes eat suitcase space for breakfast.
That’s where compression bags or cubes come in. Robyn uses compression cubes; I’ve traveled with bags that remove the air.
Same goal: stop packing half a suitcase full of AIR, but there’s something I’m much more opinionated about.
→ If you can’t be without it, don’t put it in your checked luggage.
Medication and other medical necessities stay with you. So do the things you’ll genuinely need if your suitcase doesn’t arrive when you do.
Robyn learned that lesson the hard way when her luggage was lost for eight days on a previous trip and don’t assume your carry-on suitcase will definitely stay with you either. It can still get gate-checked.
Your personal bag is where the truly important stuff belongs.
Airport food doesn’t need to become a health crisis.
You know the options.
Pretzels. Cookies. Fast food. Something vaguely pretending to be a meal and the $6 water.
→ Bring an empty reusable bottle through security and fill it once you’re inside. Electrolyte packets can also be easy to pack if they’re something you normally use.
→ Bring a snack instead of waiting until you’re starving and buying whatever happens to be closest to your gate.
Robyn likes protein bars. I’m fine working with what’s available.
If the airport lounge has pasta and salty vegetables?
Okay. Eat.
→ You don’t need three plates just because it’s free, and you don’t need to turn one imperfect meal into a health emergency either.
Work with what you’ve got.
Ate the pasta? WALK.
This may be my favorite travel-health strategy because it’s ridiculously simple.
→ Go for a walk.
Walk around the airport instead of sitting at the gate for another hour.
Walk after dinner.
Take the stairs at the hotel.
Skip the elevator sometimes on a cruise.
Explore wherever you are.
You don’t need to recreate your entire home workout routine on vacation.
→ Robyn sometimes gets 12,000 to 20,000 steps a day while traveling simply because she’s out exploring.
That’s movement. It counts.
ROBYN. Put the compression socks on at home.
We need to discuss this.
I swear by compression socks.
I wore them during hospital shifts. I wore them working as a flight nurse. I still use them during long periods on my feet.
So Robyn tells me she’s bringing compression socks for her flight.
Excellent.
Then she tells me she puts them on AFTER she gets on the plane.
Excuse me?
Don’t pack them. WEAR THEM.
Why are we changing socks on an airplane?
Put them on at home.
Robyn tried to negotiate this with me during the Live.
I remain unmoved. 😂
Compression socks aren’t right for everyone, particularly with certain circulation or medical conditions, so talk with your healthcare professional if you’re unsure whether you should use them.
But Robyn already wears them.
So Robyn?
BEFORE the airport.
I also travel with my own little health kit.
This is probably the nurse in me.
If I know there are basic over-the-counter items I occasionally use, I’d rather bring a small amount than find myself in an unfamiliar place trying to hunt them down.
However, prescription medications are different.
Keep necessary medications with you, properly labeled, and check the rules for your destination if you’re traveling internationally.
Don’t discover at the airport that something you’re carrying has restrictions where you’re going.
A few minutes of preparation at home can save you a much bigger headache later.
Your health has to make the trip too.
You don’t need to eat perfectly.
You don’t need to work out every morning and you definitely don’t need to pack your entire kitchen, medicine cabinet, gym, and closet so you can reproduce your life at home from a hotel room.
You need to know what tends to throw you off—and prepare for it.
For me, that means keeping the important stuff with me, staying hydrated, moving whenever I can, and apparently making sure my cohost puts her compression socks on at an appropriate time.
→ That’s part of Becoming the CEO of Your Health.
You know your body, you know your habits, and you make a few smart decisions BEFORE you’re standing in an airport hungry, thirsty, and wondering why you packed six shirts but forgot the one thing you actually needed.
Now THAT’S traveling prepared.
🎥 Watch Episode 022 of Unstuck to Finding Your Edge
Robyn and I talk about packing lighter, traveling between climates, airport food, hydration, movement, compression socks, what belongs in your carry-on, and the travel habits we’ve picked up after spending a LOT of time on planes.
And yes, I give Robyn a hard time about changing her socks on the plane.
She deserved it.😂😇
↑ Watch Episode 022 above
Resources From This Conversation
Follow Jess at NP Fellow Become The CEO of Your Health →
Follow Jess at Unstuck to Published →
Follow Jess at Nurse in the Market →
Follow Robyn at Finding Your Edge →
Follow Robyn at Rare Finds - Luxury Travel →
Scan Robyn’s QR code to access her Youtube channel →
Thank You
Thank you so much for everyone who tuned into this live, your presence is truly appreciated, and to the people who are watching the replay, thank you!
See you next Friday at 12pm ET for our weekly show, stay tuned!
-Jess, The Creator & Robyn Levin
