🛫 5 Ways to Make Travel Easier

We're going for unbothered & unstressed in the sky.

Last year, I wrote about the travel rules I always regret breaking. They’ve been a guiding force for me throughout the last ~10 years I’ve been traveling for work, fun, and everything in between. Today I’ll be sharing 5 tips for how to make travel easier, whether it’s a trip just a few states over or across the pond, in hopes that you can take a slightly less stressful trip the next time you fly.

🗺️ 5 Travel Rules I Always Regret Breaking

Tip #1: Visualize your days.

I’ve been keeping up with vacation intentions as a pre-trip ritual. To add to that, I’ve started adding daily visualizations into the mix. When I was in Japan last year, I’d wake up, do a little meditation, and visualize the entire day unfolding as if it was a perfect day. Even if I didn’t know my full itinerary (pro and con of solo travel!), I visualized eating yummy food before I got too hangry, not being stressed on the metro, finding cool treasures at funky stores… and guess what? That’s usually how my days unfolded. On the days I didn’t run through a short visualization, they kinda felt mushy and sometimes frustrating.

Neither of these practices need to be long or drawn out. Write your intention on a post-it note before you leave and visualize your days while you’re in the shower. Simple moments to trick yourself into making what’s in your head a reality. Trust me, you’ll feel like a magician.

Tip #2: Lock in your travel outfit & snacks.

9 times outta 10, I’ll be wearing almost all black on a travel day. Knowing what I’m going to wear on the plane makes it 10x easier to get up and out the door for a 6AM flights. Key features of my travel outfit are a) feeling nice enough I can go to lunch after I get off the plane, b) having layers because plane air conditioning is temperamental, and c) comfort.

My go-to look usually consists of the following:

• Levi’s Denim Jacket — A classic.

• Everlane Sweatshirt — I have an older version, but this one looks nice!

• A white tee — I got mine at Marshall’s.

• Vuori Performance Joggers — Dare I say that the Costco dupe might be better?

• On Running Shoes — One of my unwritten travel rules is to always bring running shoes and a swimsuit.

• Clare V bag — Pricey, but worth it because it goes from day → night and fits easily in my carry on tote. This one would also do the trick.

Really breaking through fashion boundaries with this one.

Tip #3: Find your airport comfort food.

To clarify, I do NOT mean food from the airport. I mean food that you enjoy eating while you’re at the airport and/or in the airplane.

Learning that airport food costs up to 120% more than if you’d buy it outside the airport only cemented my decision to always take the same exact snacks whenever I travel. It’s now a little pre-trip ritual: head to Trader Joe’s some protein bars and orzo pasta salad — don’t forget the disposable fork! It’s become a comfort food and I look forward to the layovers when I can dive into my little salad. Bonus points for it a) not being smelly and b) not being hand-held because… germs.

Tip #4: Buy two toothbrushes.

This one might be obvious, but it also doesn’t just apply to toothbrushes. Even if you’re not a frequent traveler, having duplicates or minis of your favorite toiletries makes packing AND unpacking 10x easier. Just keep your travel toiletries together and in your suitcase when you’re not traveling. That way, you’re not always restocking and refilling things when it comes time for a weekend trip.

Tip #5: Let your Lock Screen & Home Screen do the work for you.

If you’re heading to a country where you don’t speak the language, this is the best hack I have for ya: change your lock screen to the most used phrases in that language. It makes a world of difference compared to fumbling with Google Translate and by the end of the trip, you may not even need it!. Just search beginner phrases in [language] on Pinterest and you’ll find what you’re looking for!

When vacationing, I’m also a big proponent of less phone use. If I’m on Airplane Mode, that’s even better. To encourage this, I make my phone less attractive when I’m vacationing and utilize a Focus Mode on my iPhone. This way, my Home Screen only has vacation-relevant apps like Uber, Google Translate, and Flighty, plus helpful widgets like Clocks and Weather. You can also do things like mute certain notifications in a Focus Mode to get even more in the Vacation headspace.

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Anything rituals or routines you’d add that make your travel days just a little bit easier? I’d love to hear it.

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And for sleeping on planes, I’m always a fan of Solfeggio frequencies. Just be sure to download it to your device before take off!

Have a safe flight,

Zoë

P.S. I have few things coming up that you might be interested in!

• Creativity for Perfectionists: A workshop to get out of your head and into creation.

• The Creative Experiment: A six-week series to build confidence through creative experimentation.

Hope to see you at one of ‘em. 🤸‍♂️