We all know that travel can be super uncomfortable, stressful + chaotic, and I find that I need yoga to keep me sane more than ever while I’m on the road. I wrote a blog post about practicing yoga while traveling a few weeks back, so this week’s post is focused on my yogi essentials while I’m traveling.

1.Essential Oils

Essential oils have become an essential part of my day-to-day life and when I was packing up my bag to go traveling, I knew I needed to bring some with me. I was torn about which ones to bring, which blends I used the most, and what would be most space / weight effective.

I discovered Saje not long before I left, and I knew I had found the answer to my essential oil travel problems. Saje offers a ton of essential oil blends for all types of ailments, and offers them in small packages, so I went with the pocket pharmacy, a blend of peppermint halo for headaches, immune defense, stress release, pain release, and eaters digest. After nearly 2 months on the road, I am confident in saying that this was a great choice. The mixture of these oils can combat nearly all of my travel ailments, and for me the only thing that is missing is a blend to help with sleeping in noisy dorm rooms….

I also use Saje’s natural deodorant and their yoga mat cleaner, and would highly recommend both!

2. Travel mat

Having a yoga mat for travel is a non-negotiable for me. There are already a lot of factors that stack against me in terms of getting my practice in, and not having a mat would ensure that I almost never practiced.

I am a lululemon girl through and through, and I haven’t owned anything other than a lulu mat for a number of years now. But, as much as I LOVE my lululemon mats, they don’t offer a great travel mat. So, I branched out and purchased a Manduka eKO SuperLite Yoga Mat.

What I love about the Manduka travel mat is that it folds up, and it’s super light weight. It fits easily in the bottom of my backpack in a no-fuss manner. An obvious con is how thin it is when I do practice on it, but that is what I was looking for when I purchased a travel mat.

Regardless of if you choose to go with Manduka or another brand, find something that is light weight and isn’t going to weigh down your bag.

3. Shea butter

I don’t travel with very much in the way of make up. I have mascara, under eye cover, and of course, shea butter. Shea butter may seem like a puzzling addition to my list of yogi travel essentials, but having a good quality, natural face moisturizer is really important for me. I have ridiculously dry skin even in the most humid climates, and shea butter keeps my skin feeling moisturized and youthful. Plus, a good quality shea butter will last for ages!

4. Diva Cup

I switched from tampons to the Diva Cup a number of months ago mostly from a convenience and cost perspective. The more I’ve learned about tampons though, the more it’s become about the health side as well.

Having a Diva Cup takes away the pressure of packing a million tampons for your trip and /or the stress of not being able to find your preferred brand in a foreign country. Save yourself the hassle and inconvenience and get a Diva Cup before your next trip!

5. Body Wipes

There is (almost) nothing better than having body wipes easily accessible after a long day on an airplane when you can’t quite check into your hotel. My favorite brand is Yes to, but I also like the Burt’s Bees version of these. I take these EVERYWHERE with me. Even if I’m going to a cabin overnight, I’ll toss them in my bag. You never know when you’re going to need them… and they become especially useful if you’ve made the transition to natural deodorant!

6. A journal

Not only is it great to document the things you are seeing and doing for future reference, it is also great to have an outlet for feelings + emotions. I find that certain aspects of travel keep me more sane than while I’m at home (working less, less social pressure), but other elements throw me for an emotional loop (new cities constantly, changing schedule, less yoga!), and having a consistent place where I can write about how I’m feeling is super helpful.

Choose a journal that inspires you to write. Having something pretty that makes you excited to sit down and capture your thoughts will ensure that you actually do it. Journaling is a beautiful practice, but it takes time to create the habit of sitting down to write, even when you have time on the road.

7. Meditation App

I’m going to meditate every day while I’m away.

Right. I’ve told myself that on every trip I’ve ever taken, and on almost every trip it’s fallen through. That was until I discovered Headspace. Headspace is my favorite meditation app, not only because Andy (the host) has a dreamy English accent, but also because there are different lengths of meditations for all types of situations, and even some quick meditations for those times when you’re freaking out and need a little bit of mindfulness right NOW.

Regardless of if you choose Headspace or not, don’t leave home until you have an app downloaded on your phone. In those times of chaos when you all you need to do is breathe, you won’t regret it.

8. Yoga App

If you haven’t cultivated a strong self practice and you aren’t traveling somewhere where you will have easy access to yoga, I would suggest downloading an yoga app. There are a ton of great options available, and you can do free trials for each of these. Right now, I’m using YogaGlo.

What else do you travel with? Send me an email and let me know!