I’m proud of being a healthy, well exercised road warrior. Let me tell you how I do it.
Exercise
Dance: If you like to dance like nobody’s watching, there’s nothing like a hotel-room-solo dance party to spark up a business trip. I’ve collected songs I like to dance to and with my ipod, I don’t even need to wake up the neighbors with that infernal loud music.
Bed jumping: This is an underrated exercise activity. If you tell your children not to do this at home, this is a great time to practice the fine art of hypocrisy. Or tell them about this tip.
Bathing suit: Who knows when a hotel with a heated pool, sauna or hot tub might come your way? My motto is to be prepared.
Snacks
Celery: If you are lucky enough to like celery, you can be the only one in your airline seat row who has a fresh vegetable to crunch on. Celery doesn’t spoil without refrigeration even after a few days.
Apples: Oh blessed apples that are hard, don’t need refrigeration and are an oasis of freshness right there in my suitcase. I pack one per day.
Peanut butter: If you like peanut butter, you probably already know that you can’t get a jar through airport security. This next tip is for the die hard peanut butter lover. Buy a few jars of the healthy kind that only has peanuts and salt. Open it up and put some paper towels in the top to soak up the oil. Close the lid and wait a day. Throw out the oily towels and replace them with more towels. Repeat for the next few days. Now scoop out a line of peanut butter onto a row of paper towels. Wrap the peanut butter and squeeze more oil out. Repeat over the next few days. Ultimately, you will have your prize: hunks of solid peanutness. Put hunks in plastic bags and enjoy with an apple. Or celery.
Water
We’ve been told that flying can dehydrate. Let’s face it – life can dehydrate, so take the advice of the lady who once gave me a facial. Upon waking – before eating or drinking anything else – drink a glass of water. In order to help me with this habit, I fill up my water bottle and place it at the bedside. When I wake up, I glug, glug glug it down.
Jet Lag
Several road warrior colleagues insisted I use StopJetLag.com for my international travel. For $35 I sent my itineraries and eating and sleeping habits. I got back a personalized plan that kicked into gear a few days before the trip. It included instructions on having big meals at some times, small meals at others, high protein at some points and high carbohydrates at others. It told me when to exercise and when to avoid or get sunlight. The result? The morning after arriving in Melbourne, my eyes popped open at 7AM. So I’ll share the love one more time: StopJetLag.com
