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Dr. Setare Taabodi DNP, FNP-BC

Traveling on a Medical Medium Lifestyle

Updated: Jan 23


Traveling while on healing lifestyle can feel so difficult. I’m going to share some tips I have used over the years to help you have an enjoyable experience while maintaining a healing lifestyle.


For those of you who don’t know, I am a big traveler. When I got sick one of my biggest fears was never being able to travel again. While I was deep in my healing journey, I avoided travel because I was dealing with a lot of symptoms and it was too difficult to maintain my diet. Once my symptoms improved and I could be more flexible, I started to travel more. 


Don’t get me wrong, it was very stressful at first! I was constantly stressed about where I could find healthy food and what restaurants I could eat at. I hope these travel tips help get you back out there and experience all the beauties this world has to offer.


Road Trips:


If you want to ease yourself back out there, road trips are a great place to start. This way you can take your juicer, blender and whatever kitchen tools you use. I love booking at Airbnbs and VRBO’s because they usually come with a kitchen. You can stop at a grocery store and stock up on your favorite healing foods. I also recommend taking some storage containers with you, and that way you can take your healthy food with you on the go.


When it comes to staying at Airbnb’s or VRBO’s, it is important to take into account fragrance and chemical exposures. Most homes use chemical and fragranced detergents to wash their towels and sheets. If this is the case, feel free to take your own towels and sheets for peace of mind. It’s also very common for these homes to use air fresheners. You can contact the host and see if they can avoid using these chemicals in the home prior to your arrival.


Air Travel:


If you are traveling via airplane, things can get a little more complicated.


For starters, it is best to avoid going through the radiation scanner. You can opt out of the scanner and ask for a pat down. Please keep in mind this will take extra time, so make sure to plan accordingly. For an even better experience, I recommend signing up for TSA precheck. Not only are the lines shorter, but it will allow you to go through a metal detector instead of a radiation machine.


To further protect yourself from radiation exposure while traveling, you can look into radiation shielding blankets and orgone pendants from @alysbaca, @organic.vegan.living and @katwb444.


What a lot of people don’t know is that you can take food with you through airport security. You can easily pack fruit, vegetables, hummus, guacamole, and more hearty meals in storage containers. You can ask that your food not go through the radiation scanner. I love taking dates, lemons/limes, honey sticks, Lara Bars and That’s it bars with me. Fortunately there are clean snacks available from brands like Simple Mills, Mary’s Gone, and Siete Foods. If you are traveling internationally make sure to consume your fresh produce prior to landing so that it is not taken away at customs (this depends on your destination).


To ensure that you have clean water on your travels, I recommend using a Berkey water bottle or these ones from Clearly Filtered.



 
“When you’re packing for a trip that involves uncertainty about when, where, or how you’ll find food along the way, seal one date in plastic wrap and stow it in your pocket or baggage. You don’t have to actually eat the date on your journey (although it’s great for an emergency)--rather, this traveling date will be your good luck charm to help ensure you never go hungry.”--Anthony William
 

As far as supplements, you can pack your capsules and tinctures in your carry-on or checked bags. Please know there is always a chance that they can lose your checked luggage, so take that into account. I strongly recommend a pill organizer to make things easier. For liquid tinctures, I take my liquid supplements in my carry-on bag, but only the amount that I will need for the trip as I don’t want the full bottle to go through radiation. When it comes to tinctures, I usually travel with the bottles half full and I have never had any issues. Sometimes I will mix the liquid supplements in one vial to make things easier.


I have packed my juicer in a checked bag and taken it with me on international trips, but please make sure to have the appropriate adapters and converters for your destination country. Not all countries have the same vegetables, so it’s important to be flexible! For example, in some places it can be very difficult to find celery. If this is the case, cucumber juice is a great alternative.


Cruises


When it comes to traveling on cruises, this can be much more difficult since the food options are quite limited. Unfortunately, cruise ships often spray their food down with chemical agents to preserve it. At the end of the day, you have to eat! Oftentimes cruise ships will make you a special meal if you ask 24 hours in advance.


Restaurants


When it comes to eating at restaurants, I recommend looking up the restaurant's menu online to see what they serve prior to arriving. You can also call them in advance to see if they can make you a customized meal. 


It is best to eat at vegetarian or vegan restaurants to avoid cross contamination with meat-based pathogens. As you can imagine, restaurant workers can touch raw meat and not wash their hands prior to making your salad. A simple search on Google Maps, Yelp, or Happy Cow can help you find vegetarian or vegan restaurants near you. Vegan and vegetarian restaurants tend to be more health conscious and are familiar with food sensitivities and intolerances.


If these restaurants are not available, it is best to eat cooked meals at non-vegetarian restaurants to ensure that the pathogens have been killed. Ask the waitstaff to ensure your meal is served piping hot. If you do eat meat, avoid raw meat and fish and if you do have beef, ask for it to be cooked well done.


Unfortunately a lot of restaurants use inflammatory oils like canola oil, soybean oil, and corn oil. You can ask them to cook your food in olive or avocado oil. It helps to call ahead and see what kind of oils are used and to see if they can accommodate you in any way.


To avoid a potential foodborne pathogen, you can add raw onions, lemon/lime juice, raw garlic, or fresh thyme to your dish to prevent a foodborne illness. Other things you can do to arm yourself is to take oregano oil capsules before eating out. You can also drink peppermint or ginger tea before, during and after dinner. 


If there doesn’t seem to be healthy restaurant options available, please don’t be hard on yourself. You have to eat, and it’s better to eat something with unproductive ingredients than starve yourself. You will always have the Medical Medium tools and cleanses to use when you get home.


Pathogen Exposures


I always recommend wearing a mask in airports and airplanes. You don’t need to collect more pathogens or get sick on your travels! Carry hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes to wipe down tray tables and other high touch surfaces. Medical Medium also recommends flushing the toilet in public restrooms BEFORE using them to help prevent contamination from splashing. Adding toilet paper to the water can also help prevent splashing. Use seat covers and squat when possible. 


Perfection Is Not The Goal!


Perfection is not the goal here. Just do your best and have fun! Traveling is a blessing. We work so hard on our healing journeys so that we can have these experiences. We have all of the incredible Medical Medium tools and cleanses to use when we get home.



Wishing you safe and happy travels!


Check out my amazon page for my favorite travel tools.






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