The benefits of essential oils go well beyond their fragrance. Here is our list of the best essential oils while traveling.
- Relieve congestion: Eucalyptus can be used to clear sinuses and can help reduce coughing. It also has antiviral properties and can help boost your immune system.
- Sleep better: It can be difficult to fall asleep on a different bed or pillow from home – put a couple drops of lavender on your pillow to help you sleep. If the smell is too strong, you can put a couple of drops on a cotton ball and put on the nightstand or near the bed. Rub lavender on your feet as well to help with swelling.
- Boost Immune System: Thieves oil which is a blend of cinnamon, clove, lemon, rosemary and eucalyptus, is said to help support the immune system and purify the air around us. If someone is coughing near you, put a couple of drops and rub your hands together and breathe. This is especially helpful when flying.
- Combat stress: There is no doubt that packing, travel delays and unexpected things happened while traveling. You can take some essential oils with you to help relieve stress. Our favorites are Patchouli, Sandalwood, Bergamot, Lavender and Ylang Ylang.
- Relieve nausea: If you feel car sick from a long road trip or perhaps a little queasy on a cruise, breathe in peppermint oil through your nose for relief from nausea. You can mix in lavender and ginger oil as well. You can also rub peppermint on your temples to help with a headache. You can also add a drop of peppermint to a cup of hot tea to help settle your stomach.
- Antiseptic: You can use Thieves or Tea Tree oil on your hands to protect you from bacteria and viruses. Tea tree is also good on acne, rashes and insect bites.
- Mosquito repellant: Mix your own natural bug spray by combing a drop of lemon grass, a drop of citronella and a drop of eucalyptus with a teaspoon of coconut oil in a small plastic sprayer.
If you don’t want to mix your own oils, or want to minimize the amount of bottles to take with you, there are very good essential oil blends you can purchase for motion sickness, immune defense and stress such as the Thieves we mentioned above. doTerra, are great oils, but there is membership involved if you want to get the best pricing. We have been happy with products from Rocky Mountain Oils and Young Living Essential oils as well. Just keep in mind to look for therapeutic grade oils.
We suggest packing your oils in your carry on. Make sure they are sealed tight and keep them in a zip lock bag just in case anything spills. Also make sure they are under 3 ounces if you are flying so you won’t have any issues with TSA.
Please make sure and consult a physician before using oils and always do a skin test first to make sure you have no allergic reactions.
