I'm Hormonal | PCOS, periods, gut + hormone health insights

3 Simple Tips to Minimize Travel Stress & Have Better Periods | Ep. 89

• Bridget Walton, Women's Hormone Coach • Episode 89

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Travel doesn't have to derail your hormonal health and stress levels. We explore three practical strategies to stay balanced while on the road, helping you maintain your hormonal equilibrium no matter where your journey takes you.

• Pack digestive enzymes to support your system when eating out or consuming foods you normally avoid
• Bring a multivitamin or adaptogenic supplement to counteract travel stress
• Include electrolytes to combat dehydration during travel days
• Pack clean personal care products to avoid hormone-disrupting chemicals
• Establish a consistent morning and evening routine that feels grounding
• Exercise early, meditate briefly, and maintain familiar rituals to reduce stress
• Prioritize quality sleep by booking flights at appropriate times
• Use eye masks and consider melatonin for adjusting to new time zones
• Set boundaries around work commitments to protect your rest
• Focus on the most urgent tasks when managing work while traveling


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Speaker 1:

Hello, my friend, welcome to today's episode of I'm Hormonal. This is a mini episode, and I'm going to be talking about three simple ways that you can mitigate stress while you are traveling. This is going to be specific to travel, but can certainly also be helpful for you while you are at home. Don't get me wrong there. To this week's earlier longer form episode about stress, how stress in its many forms can impact your hormones, impact your gut health. So that will be a good longer form. Listen, if you haven't dove into that one yet, now let's get into the good stuff, as we do in these mini episodes right away. My first of three recommendations for you is to really remember to pack certain aids that can help with digestion, help with stress. So let me run through what some of those things are, and this is really what I'm thinking of when I travel. Last week, I went to DC for a conference and to record a podcast, and so this is what I packed when I left for DC.

Speaker 1:

The first thing that I bring is a digestive enzyme. Digestive enzymes can be supportive of your digestive function, you guessed it, and so this is something I like to incorporate when I'm out and about and I'm eating food that maybe isn't as healthy as what I normally eat. When I'm eating, like you know, I don't really normally eat dairy that much, so I'm like, okay, I'm going to be out at this restaurant, I might be having a couple of drinks, and so let me incorporate this digestive enzyme. This is something, too, that I started incorporating when I was experiencing a lot of bloating, and so that's something that can be supportive. Now it is. I mean, I wouldn't even say that it's a quick fix, but it's not exactly a root cause approach. It's something that can aid the other things that you're doing as it relates to mitigating stress. Hopefully that makes sense.

Speaker 1:

I also like to focus on bringing a multivitamin, or for me that is AG1. I like to drink that in the mornings. It also helps me to feel like I'm in my routine, which I'll talk about in just a moment here. But a multivitamin AG1 has an adaptogen in it, but sometimes, or maybe if you don't have a sort of powder like that that you would like, then you can always bring an adaptogen in the form of a capsule as well. So right, you can take a maca capsule or you could get an adaptogen snack. I bet there's going to be a zillion at Whole Foods. Honestly, I wish I had one that I knew of. Off the top of my head, I think there's a company called Urban Remedy and they have relatively a lot of adaptogens that are tied into some of the smoothies that I can remember they have. So I don't know why I'm shouting out Whole Foods all the time. I guess because that's where I normally go for groceries when I'm on the road. But just something to keep in mind. And again, an adaptogen is going to be Basically all of your hormones, that not your hormones. It's going to be supportive for your organs that are producing your cortisol, producing your stress hormone. So that's why that can be a good one.

Speaker 1:

Last well, second to last on this list would be Element. Element is an electrolyte packet. I did a story last week to see, hey, what do you bring? What do you make sure that you pack with you when you're on the road? And a couple people are like oh, you didn't mention electrolytes. I always bring electrolytes, so those are good, especially if you're flying. Maybe you're not hydrating the way that you normally would if you have a long travel day. So an electrolyte packet can be a good option and it's just a lot of these things, or rather, in summary, a digestive enzyme, multivitamin, adaptogen and element. If you want it to do a full send and go with all four. I mean that does not take up much space, right? That could fit in a small purse, all of it. So it's not something that's going to be taking up a lot of real estate in your suitcase. Something that's going to be taking up a lot of real estate in your suitcase. The other thing I want to mention here are things to pack. I like to pack my own shampoo and conditioner because I know that I'm then going to be using a clean product that doesn't have all these chemicals in it that's getting on my skin. So if that's something that's important to you too, right, because some of those chemicals can impact what's going on with your hormones, impact your stress, then that would be another one to focus on Just getting those travel size containers for your clean deodorant or toothpaste tablets, whatever it is that you like to use. So that was the first thing focusing on packing some of these aids.

Speaker 1:

Second, create a routine For me when I'm on the road. Creating a routine and following my routine helps me to just feel so chill and soothed, just like Bridget, you were in this random hotel in Spokane, washington, but it's all good because you've got your routine. For me, what that looked like was I would try to be consistent about exercising in the morning. So getting up early, exercising, get back to my room, you know, while I'm showering, having some green tea and then, if time allowed, having maybe five or 10 minutes of a mindfulness meditation to set me up for the day, and while those things, independently, are supportive of optimal stress levels for me, just having this routine. Going back to this, you know this is my constant while I'm on the road that was really helpful for me. Constant while I'm on the road that was really helpful for me.

Speaker 1:

Similarly, in the evening, I like to have an evening time routine where I'd get ready for bed, I would do a face mask, I would drink my sleepy time tea and it's also important to make sure that you're getting enough sleep, right? No surprise there, sleep is really important for what's going on with your stress. So if you I mean maybe just while you're at home you have a lot of kind of late night outings with friends, or if you are traveling and there are like there's happy hour with a team that goes until midnight, something like that. Just you know, set a timer so that you can get back to bed on time and really like have that as a staple for yourself to come back to, to feel cozy and grounded in. Okay, so just in recap again one, pack some of those helpful aids. Two, create a routine to feel grounded. And three this is actually coming back to planning around quality sleep, because, again, I can't emphasize enough how important sleep is for your stress. Also, if you listened to last week's episode, you know that sleep is really important for your blood sugar stability as well. So do you need to book an earlier flight so you're not getting home at midnight? Or do you need to book a later flight so you're not getting home at midnight? Or do you need to book a later flight so that you're not having to get up at 3.20 in the morning like I did the other day, which not the dream?

Speaker 1:

Coming back to the tip that I had mentioned a second ago, like, set an alarm pick ahead of time what time you're going to leave If you're like me, bridget, hanging out with a team and like having a glass of wine, just wants to keep hanging out with a team, even though in the logical part of my brain I know that I should be getting to bed so that I'm prepared and ready and feeling good the next day. A couple other final thoughts here. Don't be afraid to bring an eye mask. I'm sure that the internet can hook you up with a high quality one for like $12. Maybe go crazy and spend $25 so you can get one that has the little you know indents for where your eyes and eyelashes go. But bring an eye mask. You don't know if it's going to be particularly light and bright in your room. If you're traveling to a different time zone, maybe you want to take melatonin for a spin and see how that can help you adapt to that time zone. But overall, this kind of comes back to routine too, just having your cozy go-tos. At least that was really important for me. Tell me what you think about that. I would love to hear from you. You can connect with me on Instagram at Bridget Walton, or on LinkedIn. Search up Bridget Walton. The suffix for LinkedIn Link is Bridget tech, g tech Walton. But anyway, let me know if that is something that feels really supportive for you or if you're like Bridget, that's just a you thing, all right.

Speaker 1:

Last thing here Make sure that you're prioritizing your to-do list based on importance and urgency. Now, I know that this is not a hormone tip, this is just a workforce tip, but I think we could all use it at some time or another. So here I am Just while you are traveling and you have eight, you know, maybe you have 80 emails that are waiting for you. People need you, but you're with customers or you are on a plane or in a car, like, just focus on what is the most important. Get that done and remember that, yes, you, your job, is important and you can still do a great job at your job and prioritize quality sleep. Easier said than done, but I believe in you. You've got this Between these three categories of planning ahead, to pack some of these helpful aids, between creating a routine that feels really good for you, that you're excited about, that supports your health and, just, girl, making sure that you create a schedule for yourself that allows you to get enough sleep. You are on your way, my friend, to having happier periods, having less energy fluctuations and, hopefully, having a happier digestive system too. So that is it from me. Again. My name is Bridget, a women's hormone coach.

Speaker 1:

Thank you so much for listening to the podcast today. I hope you liked this one, and I will see you on Tuesday for a longer form episode. If you loved today's episode and got something good out of it, make sure you subscribe so that these episodes show up automatically in your feed, no work needed on your side. Let's put it on autopilot. As always, I need to give you my reminder that the information I share with you here is for educational purposes only, and it should not be used as a replacement for medical advice or diagnosis. Now, if you are, on the other hand, in the market for some one-on-one support, then I would love for you to take me up on my offer for a free strategy call. You can find these links and more in the show notes.