Healthy travelling needn’t be hard – especially when you’re equipped with all the info you need to know to ensure your skin, digestion and immunity stays at the top of its game from take-off to landing. Fresh off the plane from Bali, our Digital Content Editor Zsa Zsa Vella shares her top tips for keeping healthy in-flight.

On my most recent trip to Bali, I was delighted to embark on my journey with Cathay Pacific, a wonderful airline to fly with if travelling ‘well’ is your priority. Armed with a carry-on full of my favourite healthy portable snacks, my in-flight natural beauty essentials and a supplement regime, I was ready for take-off in true hip & healthy style…

The Food

If you want to ensure you reach your destination with your digestion in tow, it’s super important to pack your own healthy foodie staples to enjoy throughout your flight. Whilst this is something I do every time I travel without fail, I had heard great things about Cathay Pacific’s Raw Vegan Meal and was excited to try it out as the basis of my meals throughout my flight.

Featuring a generous portion of fruits and veggies at every meal, I spruced things up by adding my own healthy and tasty additions such as flaxseed crackers, a sprinkling of goji berries, sachets of miso soup (just add hot water!) and my new favourite Japanese Tamari and Chilli Smoke Seeds, the latest easy and portable superseeds from Punch Foods.

For in between-meals, I always keep it simple. Fruit and  veggie crudités make for easy accessibility and are quickly transformed into a decadent snack when paired with flight-friendly sachets of Pip & Nut’s nut butters and a sprinkling of cinnamon, great for keeping blood sugar levels stable. Additionally, I always have on hand a tupperware of refined sugar-free energy balls to satisfy my sweet tooth when cravings hit!

For breakfast, I paired a Cacao & Maca Of The Earth Superfoods porridge pot (my current obsession) alongside my Raw Vegan fruit & veggie platter to ensure I was still getting a dose of plant-based goodness in place of my regular morning green juice. My flight attendant was more than happy to provide me with a cup of hot water – all that’s required to make a creamy, warming gluten and dairy free serving of superfood porridge.

Whilst it’s important to eat well throughout your flight, it’s equally important to be consuming adequate amounts of water to ensure you body stays hydrated from the inside out. To keep my hydration levels up in style, I brought my empty S’well Bottle on board to refill at my leisure throughout the flight. I also always make sure to bring a variety of herbal teas such as peppermint, liquorice and tulsi for their digestion enhancing and calming properties.

The Supplements

If you’re a frequent flyer, you’ll know how easy it is to pick up colds and bugs on the plane that can disrupt your travel plans upon your arrival. For in-flight immune support, I always pack a pouch of Franks Staks of Wellbeing with me during long haul flights. Encased inside a carry-on friendly pouch, immune strengthening supplements such as iron, b12, krill oil, a multivitamin and a just-add-water vegan protein and supergreen powder are included, all of which support strong immunity and help ward off any nasties that you may have otherwise picked up in-air.

The Skincare

Flying can really take its toll on the skin, with dryness, flakiness and dullness a common after effect of air travel, however, there’s lots that you can do before, during and after your flight to ensure your skin doesn’t suffer. Pre-flight, I make sure to stay as hydrated as possible, taking special care to meet the recommended 2 litres of water a day for a few days beforehand, including the day of my flight.

During my flight I have on hand a small pot of coconut oil for moisturising, Hurraw Lip Balm for keeping lips soft and supple and A.S Apothecary First Aid Kit – a tonic for the nervous system full of essential oils and homeopathic remedies to help restore calm and induce a state of peace and tranquillity within the body and skin. The perfect natural remedy to quell any in-flight anxiety.

Post-flight, I always apply a hydrating face-mask to give my skin a potent dose of nutrients and moisture when it needs it most. Tata Harper Moisturising Mask is my skin rehabilitator of choice. Keeping up with the water intake, I like to also up my dose of healthy fats such as avocado, coconut, nuts and seeds for a few days after my flight. I’ve found that doing so is an amazing natural way to restore lost moisture in the skin.

Cathay Pacific flies daily between London and Bali and four times weekly between Manchester and Bali.  To book flights visit cathaypacific.co.uk

Prices start from:

London – Bali economy = from £819

London – Bali Business = from £3,619

Manchester – Bali Economy = from £789

Manchester – Bali Business = from £3,589

*All flights are correct at time of publication

Image: Pinterest

Words by Zsa Zsa Vella

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