In this week’s episode of The Whole Circle Podcast we talk all about our upcoming trip to Guatemala.
We not going to lie, we’re nervous about what this trip has in store for us. But having spent a portion of our childhoods living in Papua New Guinea, we are hoping that we will have some, even if minor, experience with travelling to, and staying in, a third world country.
Why are we going to Guatemala?
We are going there as part of a doTERRA humanitarian trip through doTERRA’s Healing Hands Foundation. When you are building a business with doTERRA and have achieved certain leadership ranks, you are entitled to a few little perks. One of them is that we were able to put our names down to participate in a humanitarian trip. This year we were lucky enough to be able to go to Guatemala.
We are going over there to see where doTERRA source’s cardamom from. We are also going to be helping build a trade centre so that the locals can gain employment through that facility. We’ve been told to bring along work boots, gloves and all the Ice Blue we can carry! Haha
Our husbands are also coming with us which is so exciting!
doTERRA’s humanitarian efforts
This is one of the sides of doTERRA that drew us into the company almost more than the actual products.
doTERRA is constantly giving back whether it’s to our own community here in Hobart after devastating bushfires or many third world impoverished countries they source their produce from such as Nepal, Kenya, Haiti, Guatemala to name a few.
They give black on a global scale.
Long haul travelling additive-free
Whenever we go on long haul flights, we always want to take our own food because we want to get over the jetlag quickly and arrive feeling good and unfortunately, aeroplane food just won’t do this for us given it can be additive-laden.
Having said that though, this is a massive trip to get to Guatemala that will take around 40 hours from the time we leave Hobart to the time we eventually arrive in Sika’abe which is a little village in Guatemala.
On the plane, we will take lots of fruit and veggies which have a high-water content. Flying is incredibly dehydrating to our bodies so taking fruit with a high-water content gets extra hydration into us. We’re talking things like:
Carrot, snow peas, capsicum, watermelon, berries, oranges, apples etc.
Packaged food wise we will also be taking additive-free food bars such as the Berry Choc Chunk and Collagen bars from Nutra Organics.
We have been told that the village we’re staying in has clean water so we will be able to eat lots of fruit and veggies and not have to worry about our food whilst we are there.
We’re also taking probiotics to boost our gut health as well as grabbing some bone broth powder sachets from Nutra Organics so that we can make up bone broth drinks on the plane as well as whilst in the village in case we’re eating food that doesn’t agree with us.
We’ll also be taking protein powder sachets with us too so that we can get some much-needed protein into us after days of hard manual labour.
Because we’re taking food onto the plane with us, we will freeze a bottle of water as this will act as an ice-cooler to keep the food nice and cool in the carry-on luggage. However, double-check with the airline on the size you need though because you may be restricted for anything over 100ml.
Taking food on planes
The other thing to note is that you can take any food you like onto an aeroplane, it’s just that you cannot take it off the plane with you. So, if you’re prepared to leave some food behind or you know you will eat it all, then take what you want on the plane because it’s only at your destination that whatever leftover food you have needs to be left onboard.
Exercise
Tracey has been increasing her exercising in the lead up to their trip away to build her fitness up. Long haul travelling can be quite sedentary sitting on planes for long periods of time. So, the fittest they can be is a good thing because it will not only help with travelling but will also help when they reach their destination and start building the trade centre.
Bus Trip
So, that 40 hours of travelling also includes a 10-hour bus trip to take us from Guatemala City to Sika’abe. We don’t imagine this will be a lovely air-conditioned coach with a toilet haha. doTERRA even suggested we pack as much Ginger essential oil as possible to help us with queasy tummies. Oh boy!
What essential oils are we taking?
Tea Tree
For all those cuts, scrapes and bites we are likely to get.
Ice Blue
For all the sore muscles! There will be lots we’re sure.
Copaiba
For all the sleep support we can get.
Travel diffuser
Yes, we will have power so we can plug the diffuser in and get it cranking all day with Lemon Eucalyptus and Citronella to keep all the nasties and bugs at bay in our room.
TerraArmour and Arborvitae
For all the bug bites.
Helichrysum
For all the first aid support we need.
OnGuard
To keep our health supported and all those nasty germs away. Ah, aeroplane toilets…. need we say more?!
How are we going to manage jetlag?
When we both went to America last year, neither we nor our families suffered jetlag which was fabulous.
Jo’s strategy last year was to make herself stay awake until about 8.30 pm local time before going to sleep. She also spent time with her shoes off, grounding herself to the earth and being in the sun, especially when it was setting to help her body acclimatise to the new time zone she was in.
After doing all this, when she woke up the next day, she was absolutely fine and fully acclimatised.
When Tracey went to America they didn’t get into LAX until 6.30 am so they had a long time to try and stay awake. They didn’t get much sleep on the plane, so they were exhausted.
The biggest tip Tracey received to get your circadian rhythm back in sync was to not wear your sunglasses for the first day and do some exercise as soon as possible as this helps to produce melatonin in your body which you will need for good sleep later on.
So, when they got off the plane at 6.30 am they just got straight into the day. Of course, by the end of the day they were exhausted, but they stayed awake all day and went to sleep at the normal time that night so by the next day their bodies were in sync with the time zone they were in.
Airport food
If you’ve run out of food, especially for your travel home, then, of course, you have to eat what’s available to you and if that’s airport food, then so be it. We have done this many times. All we do is try and make the best food choice we can with what’s available to us. Go for less packaged foods, foods that look like they have been made fresh. Packaged foods with fewer ingredients. Fresh fruit if you can get it.
Noise-cancelling headphones
These have been game-changers for us! We love our Bose noise-cancelling headphones. They sure weren’t cheap (you can get them for around $400), but they have honestly been the best investment.
Jo has a fear of flying but she doesn’t want to let that stop her from doing anything so she takes her headphones on the plane with he, turns up whatever she is listening to and it cancels out all the plane noise that would normally make her fearful.
For Tracey, they are great to help her fall asleep. She will often put a podcast show or meditation on and this will help her fall asleep because it drowns out all the plane noise.
Oh, and this is not sponsored by Bose at all, we just love their headphones! Haha
Accessory tips
We also like to take neck pillows, a large scarf to use as a blanket, eye mask, our oils… pretty much everything you can think of and we are set to fly! haha
Hopefully, those little hints and tips have helped you for any long haul travelling you may have coming up.
We’re excited to share with you all that we get up to in Guatemala. We will then be staying 3 nights in Mexico City on the way home as a little mini-break and time to process all that we have participated in on doTERRA’s Co-Impact Sourcing trip.
See you on the flip side!
Jo and Tracey x
Podcast Review
We would love for you to leave a review of this podcast >>> here
Really enjoyed listening to your latest podcast with lots of travel tips. Recently I did a short inter city flight which provided water and a snack. The snack was a thawed chicken sandwich . Silly me looked at the ingredients list and was horrified to see how many additives and preservatives were in this simple sandwich ? No wonder people feel horrible after travelling. I also didn’t realise that I could take food on board so will be in future ?