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Stress free travel
It’s always helpful to learn from a master. Dr. Nobu Asano has studied philosophy in India, practiced Acupuncture in Japan and has been running a holistic clinic in Southern California for over 30 years. He travels often, most recently trekking in the Himalayas and is planning an extended trip to visit Snow Leopard habitats in Mongolia.
Dr. Nobu Asano
How does such a master traveler and health practitioner take care of himself on the road?
Travel is stressful but not always for the reasons we imagine. According to Dr. Asano, our bodies are subject to a range of challenges we might not even be aware of – from traversing time zones, fluctuations in oxygen levels, altitude stress, speed and dehydration.
Hear the full interview on The Gathering Road podcast or download the MP3 version here:
Hear more travel interviews and stories on The Gathering Road Podcast.
His travel tips for long distance flights include:
- Drink water often on long flights.
- Relax – read, sleep, or watch movies to help the body handle unseen stressors.
- Crossing time zones rattles natural circadian rhythms. Dr. Asano uses small doses of Melatonin, a naturally occurring hormone to help with jet lag. Carry it on flights and use as directed.
- Once you land, have a big bowl of soup to warm yourself.
- At your hotel or destination – take a long bath to warm up.
- If you can’t take a bath, soak your feet in warm water. (I’ve perched on bathroom counters to soak my feet in the sink! Whatever works.)
- Take a walk and bare foot is better. Walking barefoot on a lawn or ground is part of the process of ‘earthing,’ which helps to eliminate free radicals, negative ions, to discharge accumulated stress.
- Keep your medicines close in your carry on. Dr. Asano also uses tinctures and dry herbs to help keep in balance. A certified holistic or Oriental Medicine physician can help you discover which might work best for you.
Find out more about Dr. Asano and the holistic practice he and his wife, Celine, run in Encinitas, California, at Asanoacupunctureclinic.com
Elaine at Shibu Onsen Temple, Japan
What other travel tips for long distance flights do you have?
I’m a proud Member of the travel blog traffic exchange and this post is networked with the Sunday Traveler blogs, read and share! One of my favorites is about Croatia – land of my maternal relatives.
The longest flight I have taken is just to Europe, and I don’t have a problem with that. But, I am headed to India soon and I am a little nervous about staying healthy during that long flight! These tips are great, and I fill definitely try the soup, the foot bath, and the earthing along with drinking lots of water as I already do. Great post thanks!
Katie
Hi Katie and I hope your flight goes smoothly. Envy you heading out to India!
This is fascinating! I have now officially picked up the tip re. have a hot bowl of soup and a bath when you land. It sounds so soothing.
Thanks, Carole, I usually forget about self-nurturing in the adrenaline rush of finally arriving after a long flight but how much better my trip might go with a little me time and a hot bath before beginning the adventure. Glad you liked it!
i like learning from the Masters, too! I’m a fan of soaking feet. Glad to see my fetish reinforced.
If feet soaking is your fetish, I’m all for it! Thanks, Kristin.
A long hot bath after a particularly long flight is always welcome! I usually flop into bed after that.
Hot baths knock me out too. Sweet sleep! Thanks for writing, Andy.
I will write down your tips for long distance flights, Elaine. They seem pretty useful and surely if all of us followed them our trips would be more relaxing and less exhausting! 🙂
Thanks, Lily, I hope your next long flight goes smoothly and on time.
A hot bath and a warm bowl of soup can’t hurt, right? I think these are interesting tips that are simply compassionate to your body after a long day of travel. I find it helpful to take breaks to stretch in my airline seat or even for a few minutes standing up by the bathroom, if it’s an especially long trip (My trip from Perth, Australia to Baltimore, MD was 33 hours!). And it’s best to take the next day off if possible to re-ground yourself and catch up on sleep.
I’ve flown to Australia from Los Angeles and that was brutal enough. 33 hours! You’ve got it right about getting up to move often and stretching. I don’t know how some people are able to step off a long flight and into meetings, so a day off sounds perfect. Thanks for writing.
We’ve been flying a lot in the last four months with more flights booked in the near future so your tips were very welcoming. I especially liked the idea of a bowl of soup (a little bit of comfort cooking!) as well as the barefoot walking and I’ll try it out after our next flight this weekend from Lima, Peru to Manta, Ecuador.
Sounds like a wonderful trip and no jet lag! You’ll be in the perfect place for a little bit of earthing too.
Great tips! I have tried several of these, and feel that they help, especially no. 5 (having a bath at the hotel). Have never heard of the soup, but it sounds great! Will definitely try it out on my next long distance flight.
It’s been interesting that Dr. Asano’s suggestion for soup is generating the most replies. I think it matches the Chinese notion of needing to replenish heat in the body, but he’s the expert. A bowl of soup is just plain comforting, I think!
I like the sounds of the hot soup, too. I think it would be very nourishing, and maybe give back to your body some of what was depleted during the flight. To ease my jet lag as quickly as possible I try to get my sleep pattern back in sync as quickly as possible. I try to keep to the same bedtime regardless of where I am. That means I am often very tired before I get my first sleep in a new place, but I find it really does help conquer the jet lag quickly.
I think you’ve got jetlag licked. Dr. Asano says it takes ten days to get your body’s clock in sync. If I can make it through the first three I usually feel much better.
Good tips, will keep them in mind.
Thanks. It’s a different take on an enduring problem – comfort on and after long distance flights.
These are great tips. We live our life in a holistic manner. I really appreciate reading such an informative, as well as easy to follow, piece. These are tips that everyone can do. We are also big fans of earthing. My kids have grown up barely wearing shoes. Hahaha.
Thanks and living holistically puts you ahead of the curve as I think many more will be joining in the coming years. Your kids are lucky to be where they don’t need shoes, socks, boots & all!
I love the tip about eating a bowl of warm soup on arrival! It was so unexpected, yet it sounds like just the nurturing thing to do after subjecting one’s body to the long flight ordeal! Interesting about the barefoot walking, too. My kids have been telling me for the past two weeks that walking barefoot on grass helps you sleep better at night. I told them only if you wash your feet before climbing into your bed! 😉
Thanks, Shelly,That’s sweet about your kids telling you that going barefoot helps you sleep. Intuitive little ones. In the summer I usually wash my feet before bed and rub in a bit of coconut oil. Very soothing. Thanks for writing.
I actually prefer cold water for my feet after a long flight – and even a few hours in bed where I find sleep takes on a deep dreamy quality that I don’t get on a day to day basis. I have tried melatonin but it’s never done a thing for me. I do like the sound of walking barefoot.
I love hearing about these personal travel rituals. Melatonin is subtle and naturally produced but lessens as we get older. Many of us boomers use it daily!
Interesting tips. I often find it hard to relax. It is a good idea to be well rested before starting out. Getting over-tired makes it hard to relax. I’d not heard before that taking a warm bath helped, but even if a bath wasn’t available, I know soaking my feet would feel good. I will try that next time.
Thanks, Donna, You’re so right about being well rested at the start of the trip. Fatigue makes it much harder to deal with the many decisions and challenges of beginning a trip. Soaking your feet will feel wonderful.