I recently flew to Hawaii for a family reunion. I was travelling with my husband and our two small children. If you’re an anxious traveller, this sounds overwhelming, right? And as we explored earlier, stress can be detrimental to the health of your skin.

The only relaxing word in that first paragraph is “Hawaii,” but first I had to get there. It takes more than 12 hours to fly to Hawaii from Toronto, Ontario, and there is only one stopover. Now add two kids to the mix and the fact that I was helping plan a family reunion at the same time!  

For the sake of my skin (and my mental health), I took some necessary steps to limit my amount of stress and anxiety throughout this entire process of planning and travelling.   

My capsule wardrobe

A capsule wardrobe is a wardrobe that consists of only essentials that never go out of style and work together to meet your needs for a given period of time.  I’d be lying if I said my closet at home is only full of essentials, but when packing for the trip, I tried to pack as lightly as possible.

I only brought the essentials — making sure my outfits could easily be mixed and matched, dressed up or down. For example, I made sure I packed numerous shirts that matched a single pair of shorts.

Having a regular skincare routine is great until it comes time to fly. Sticking to the essentials and packing only three skincare products also helped keep my toiletry bag light. I brought Iremia’sSoothing Lotion,Restorative Facial Oil, and theProtective Cream.

Luckily the weather was beautiful while we were there and it really humid, so I didn’t have to use too much product for hydration. We did spend a lot of time outside though, so 3 drops of the Facial Oil with the Protective Cream layered on in the evenings as a mask really helped to restore my skin during the trip.

Remember you can’t control everything

You can pack everything you need, book your flights and accommodations, and plan the perfect vacation but you can’t control everything. Once you let go of the things you can’t control, your stress level will tend to lower.  

When you’re on the plane, there’s nothing you can do to get you to your destination quicker. If there’s turbulence, only the pilot has the power to manage it. Use this extra time to turn off your phone, watch a movie, read your book, and get some rest - you'll need it after all the planning and packing you just did!

Stay hydrated

I can’t stress this enough - always have water with you and make sure you drink it! If travelling with family, make sure everyone has easy access to water. Dehydration is bad for your skin, but it can also cause fatigue, headaches, dizziness, and muscle cramps. All of these things will hinder your travel experience and cause even more unwanted stress.

Ultimately, travelling shouldn’t mean sacrificing your skin. In fact, travelling is one of the most stressful times for your skin, so it’s even more important to have a good routine with you — a vacation is for relaxing, after all.

I hope these tips help reduce your travel stress and anxiety so you can keep your skin healthy and actually enjoy your vacation!

xo,

Elaine