lifestyle

Top Herbs for Travel: Here’s What to Pack in Your Suitcase

Published on June 17, 2021


Do you abide by the mantra: “A life well traveled is a life well lived”? Getting away from home and your familiar routine can certainly change your perspective in truly transformative ways. There are all the new sights and sounds to take in and endless discoveries to be made. But being out of your element can also bring on a host of health challenges: Traveling by bus, train, or plane can expose you to whatever’s going around; unfamiliar foods can cause digestive difficulties; and being more active than usual can lead to sore muscles.

Don’t let these woes, ahem, trip you up. Plan ahead and create an herbal travel kit, including the herbs for travel listed below, so you can glide over any bumps in the road on your journey.

Herbal Support Before You Travel

A healthy, happy adventure actually begins before you’ve even packed your suitcase. For at least two to four weeks prior to your departure, take an everyday immune-support product to ensure your body’s natural defense system will function at its best while you’re away.*

One of our favorite daily immune formulas? Whole Body Defense®, a blend of Echinacea, Astragalus, and Maitake mushroom extracts, which are all known to support a healthy immune response and help maintain overall well-being.*

Our Black Elderberry capsules and Black Elderberry gummies are also great immune-support choices and can be easily stowed in your bag to continue taking once you’ve arrived at your destination.* They pack the same punch of Elderberry as our award-winning syrups—which you don’t want to spill in your suitcase—and the gummies are just as delicious.* And if you’re bringing your little ones along, we offer GaiaKids® Black Elderberry Kids Daily Gummies to help them stay feeling well and ready to explore, too.*

Tackling Common Concerns While Traveling

You want to have the experience of a lifetime, not be sidelined in a hotel room by the common concerns listed here. In addition to a daily immune supplement, consider adding the following formulas to your herbal travel kit so you can be ready to tackle any of these issues head-on should they arise.*

Soothing an Upset Stomach

Foods that are unknown to your system—whether oily, spicy, or gas-forming—can cause digestive upset. Reflux Relief® may help. It combines the neutralizers calcium and sodium bicarbonate, which maintain stomach acid balance, plus Aloe, Chamomile, Licorice, Marshmallow, and Spearmint to provide support for occasional stomach upset, heartburn, and acid indigestion.*

For tiny travelers, bring along GaiaKids® Tummy Tonic to soothe an occasional upset tummy.*

Taming Travel Worries and Anxiousness

For some people, traveling can trigger circumstantial stress. Embrace serenity with Calm A.S.A.P.®, which is formulated to promote feelings of tranquility.* It’s made with a harmonious blend of Passionflower, Chamomile, Blue Vervain, English Lavender, Holy Basil, and Skullcap—all calming herbs traditionally used to provide relief from occasional anxiousness.* This a great product to take before boarding an airplane or heading to that crowded museum.

If you feel stress in your stomach, you may want to bring along GI Feel Good, a blend that includes Chamomile, Ginger, and Lemon Balm, to help keep butterflies at bay and maintain a calm belly.*

You can also help your little ones handle the hustle and bustle of a trip and the discomfort of being someplace unfamiliar with GaiaKids® Calm Support.

Managing Motion Sickness

Ginger has long been used as a natural option to help manage motion sickness and common stomach complaints.* Our Ginger Root liquid extract provides relief from occasional nausea, as do our Ginger Supreme capsules, which contain a comforting blend of Ginger and Turmeric. Both formulas can also be used to soothe an upset stomach if you've overindulged.*

Easing Aches and Pains

Whether you’re biking around a new city or hiking up a mountain, it can be easy to push your body too far on vacation. You may also nap in less-than-ideal positions on the plane or sleep on an uncomfortable bed, leaving you with a stiff neck or back.

Turmeric Supreme® Pain—which blends Turmeric with other foundational support herbs such as Feverfew and Jamaican Dogwood—can help support the relief of occasional aches and pains in those times when you overdo it.* A similar blend, Turmeric Supreme® Pain P.M., which also includes Valerian Root and Kava, can help provide nighttime comfort from occasional pain so you can enjoy the good night’s rest you need to recover for whatever activities lie ahead on your agenda.*

Overcoming Overseas Travel Troubles

A healthy gut microbiota is key to digestive comfort, but being in a new environment can upset your microbial balance. If you travel to a less-developed country, you need to be extra careful about the water you drink and remember to avoid any produce that may have been washed in tap water. If even after being cautious you still find yourself suffering from digestive complaints, turn to our Wormwood Black Walnut Supreme, a formula that has long been used for maintaining a healthy gastrointestinal tract.*

Other Must-Packs for Your Kit

Tuck these products into your day bag and/or suitcase and be prepared for anything.

  • Our new organic Hand Sanitizer spray, which is made with a nourishing natural botanical extract in a 70% ethyl alcohol base, comes in convenient two-ounce bottles and is 99.9% effective against common germs and bacteria while leaving your hands smelling lemony fresh.^
  • Though you'll have been boosting your wellness in the weeks before you leave, the best-laid plans do sometimes go awry. Have our fast-acting Quick Defense® formula with Echinacea and Elderberry on hand to take at the first sign of a challenge and support a healthy immune response so you can stay feeling well.*
  • Both our Sage & Aloe Throat Spray and Sage & Aloe Herbal Throat Lozenges are ideal for travel and can support a clear and healthy throat.*
  • Bring along our Echinacea Goldenseal Propolis Throat Spray for added immune support when it’s needed most plus a little TLC for a dry, irritated throat.*
  • If you’re out and about all day, you may want a chance to cleanse and freshen your breath so you can have more confidence meeting new people in new social settings: Pack our Fresh Breath spray in your purse or pocket for those times you can’t get back to your hotel room.

Bon Voyage!

While some of the products and herbs for travel mentioned here may not be part of your everyday wellness regimen, they’re ideal for your herbal travel kit. Have it packed and at the ready to throw in your suitcase when wanderlust strikes. Wherever your next journey takes you, here’s hoping it’s easy-breezy and health-challenge-free.

^Tested against 11 common bacterial strains that may cause disease.