PHILOSOPHIES

1. STAY! First ask yourself if you really need to go. Travelling can be such an eco-awful pain in the ass. And more than anything really, we need to be building community and deeper connections. So maybe just stay home, be gentle (that means no aggressive running of errands) and have some healing conversations with your people. Volunteer somewhere for the weekend. Turn off your wifi and wrestle with your shadow and do something sacred in your living room.

2. GO! Go bless another city with your presence. Shake it up. Be uncomfortable and free and curious. Use the experience to change a habit, create a before + after in your life. I had a friend who chose to recarpet her house instead of going to Turkey to stay in a friend’s mansion. That was dumb prioritization. 

3. TAG TEAM! If you’re traveling for work, make it more fun. I was backstage with Esther Perel and we were talking about the love-not-love of traveling for gigs. “I alwayz a bring a friend wit me now. A girlfriend, my husband…” she told me. GENIUS, really. Caravans are more fun. 

SMARTS + STUFF

4. I avoid checking bags and always aim for carry on. I use one roller for clothes and a backpack for my laptop. I did 3 weeks in Europe in the summer with 2 silk camisoles, 2 skirts, a silk shift dress, a few t-shirts, 1 pair of baggy boyfriend jeans, bathing suit, mocha suede Puma’s, flip flops, a jean jacket and sun hat. And a shawl!

5. Shawls are indispensable. They dress everything up and can also become blankets, pillows, back support and privacy curtains. 

6. Revelation: I don’t need to come home with things from the trip to remember the trip. This is so freeing! I’m not knocking myself out to “find stuff.” Trips do not revolve around shopping. There are more picnics and people watching and time to get lost. Besides, big downside of globalism is that The Gap is everywhere you go and it’s getting harder to find unique things. 

7. You probably don’t need it. If you do, you can buy it. Don’t think of it as ‘going without’, think of it as freedom. 

8. Never ever ever bring new shoes on a trip #blistersruineverything 

9. The TimeShifter app for jet lag is BRILLIANT and it WORKS. Both my kid and I have used it before long distance trips and it is life changing. 

10. Packing: roll instead of fold. 

11. I spend most of my travel cash on culture. I gorge on plays and musicals and art galleries. I’m there for what I can’t get anywhere else.

12. Probiotics. These are powerful friends for my gut, recommended by my Naturopath. They are expensive and effective AF. I take one in the morning on an empty stomach.

13. Amino acids. These are my source of protein in the morning. I bring a ziploc bag full of them.

14. Not as lite as a bamboo toothbrush, but, Queen that I am, I go everywhere with my Living Libations electric toothbrush. Holds its charge for up to 3 weeks. I’ve had the same one for 2.5 years now, comes with changeable heads.

15. Best travel bag for safety and ease is a shoulder bag. You can whip out your phone while on the back of a motorcycle, and you can be sure no one can hit your cash stash in a crowd. I bought this guilty fast fashion cheapie shoulder bag and I’m sure you can do much better.

16. I keep all of my travel details in an iPhone note that’s shared with my travel partner(s) and someone on my team. No more sifting through emails for flight or hotel info. You can leave notes for each other. I do everything by DATE and include links to tickets, address and sites to see. EASY BREEZY.

17. Stay Free, k? I for one am not thrilled about the surveillance culture that many of us are living in. QUESTION IT ALL. Note: You are NOT required to do face scanning to board planes. Biometrics bullsh*t is still circumnavigable. On my last flight from Newark, I said to the airline agent, “I’d like another option than face scanning.” And it was no big deal. “Of course, I’ll check you in at the counter!” LIKE A HUMAN. 

18. You know when you go thru the security x-ray machines? They are bad. That’s why when you get an x-ray at the dentist, the hygienist puts a lead cape on your body, and then s/he leaves the room. 

If I’m not in a rush I skip the x-ray coffin and ask for a pat down. Sometimes security officers are cool—they have to oblige. Sometimes it would seem they make me wait a long time just to spite my free thinking nature. 

If I’m in such a hurry that I’ll endure another dose of toxicity, I say a quick prayer for protection, and then as I raise my hands in the air, as if to simulate being arrested of course, I gently flip my middle finger. Because I’m so mature.

19. I really love you so I have to tell you: carrying all of your credit cards and ID in your cellphone case is just about the dumbest thing ever. This makes you feel like your existence and mobility depends on your device—which is pretty much how cyborgs operate. And if you lose your phone, you’re more eff’d than a cyborg. Get an actual wallet. You’ll be more empowered and you won’t be checking your DMs everytime you need to pay for something. I’ve had this Samara mini for a few years and it’s holding up great!

20. In hotel rooms I cover the TVs with towels. I burn sage or spray Thieves. I always leave a tip, and I pile the towels and sheets in the shower when I leave. I’m also trying to only stay in hotels that have windows that open because air “freshener” is a nasty hormone disruptor and respiratory irritant. 

21. Exchange your currency BEFORE you get to the destination.

22. I never eat the glutinous, plastic packaged, dead plane food. I make awesome lunches and then maybe lie about, “not bringing in apples into the country.” Renegade.

23. This is my travel meditation, always: CREATION SPACE. It’s a beautiful visualization where you see yourself in a lush forest, basking in the prana/life force. And then throughout the day you keep seeing yourself back in this space. I know this has helped me strengthen my immune system.