3 Steps to Maintain Hygiene and the Travel Essentials to Include in Your Travel Hygiene Kit
I was beat. I felt dirty, hungry, and exhausted.
My eyes burned from the dry, cold air so unlike my Florida home. I was ready for a shower and bed, but my own personal hygiene while traveling had to wait because I still had to change and feed the twins…
We were one day into a three-day road trip to the family reunion, my three girls (under four) and me. And after an eight-hour drive, it was all I could do to hand my four-year-old some peanut butter crackers, plop on the couch, and feed the twins – who were three months old.
Somehow everyone got changed and in bed. The twins went to sleep in their pack-n-plays. Elsa finally fell asleep in the fold out bed in the cheap hotel we were staying at.
And I plopped in the deceptively comfortable hotel armchair.
Tired. Dirty. And stiff. Neither the shower head nor the hot water worked.
And I had no back up plan.
In my desperation to get clean, I wiped myself down with cheap hotel bar soap and water. You can guess how that turned out…
I spent the better part of an hour trying to get the sticky residue from the soap off my skin. But at least I’d “washed” myself.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve been flying from one airport to another, driving 10 hours in a car with three children, or hiking down highway 66, at the end of a long traveling day, you feel dirty.
Even though it’s one of the most basic forms of travel hygiene, there are a lot of reasons why you may not be able to take a shower.
What do you do then?
You still feel dirty. But is that just a feeling or is there something more to it?
Why is Travel Hygiene Important?
Travel hygiene is different from your normal personal hygiene routine because you’re taking extra precautions with fewer amenities. You may not be able to take your full range skin and hair care products and appliances. (Sorry guys, you gotta leave the beard straightener at home.)
But travel hygiene is vital to a successful trip because it keeps you healthy and comfortable, so you can avoid getting sick and enjoy your trip.
So no. You don’t just feel dirty. You are dirty, but it’s a different kind of dirty.
When you travel, your immune system works overtime to protect you from the increased exposure to new germs in a new environment. That’s why your skin gets that sticky feel.
You also expose yourself even more when you travel through highly populated or crowded areas — like airports or a family car — that use recycled air — like airplanes.
By maintaining your personal hygiene while you travel you’re helping your immune system cope, so that you don’t get sick on vacation.
Travel hygiene is important for your health. But it’s also important for your comfort. Improper hygiene can lead to chapped lips, chafed legs, lack of sleep, and acne breakouts – even if you’re way past puberty.
So let’s lay a foundation of what good travel hygiene needs and then how to maintain good hygiene while traveling.
What Travel Essentials Do You Really Need?
The first and most obvious thing to recognize is that hygiene is personal. It’s going to look different for different people because we each have our own individual travel essentials.
So instead of throwing a laundry list of travel essentials, here’s the three-step process I use to make sure I can maintain my personal hygiene while traveling.
Step 1: Prepare for the Climate with Specialized Hygiene Products
Just like you plan out what you’ll wear on your trips, plan out what your personal hygiene needs are based on your destination.
Are you traveling to a dry climate from a humid one? As I’ve already stated, I’m from Florida. You put me in Arizona and I feel like a fish out of water.
The last time I visited Phoenix, my skin could not get enough moisture. I was slathering my lips with lip balm by day and coconut oil by night. And I had used up my travel size facial moisturizer in two days — I was there for a week.
Moral of the story? Your skin doesn’t adapt to changes in climate overnight. Be sure to bring specialized hygiene products to help you cope with the change.
For Arizona, I’ve found that O’kefes Working Hands is the best lotion for me. And coconut oil, while it would be too oily for me to use back home, is perfect for a facial moisturizer in Arizona.
Let’s think of some other drastic climate changes for you to think about before your travel.
Are you going to be hiking in a humid climate? Better pack the Gold Bold cause that’s the only way to keep from chafing if you know what I mean.
Are you going to the beach and wondering how to protect your curly hair? Look up protective styles that make haircare easy and keep the salt from drying out and tangling your hair.
Are you going to an extreme cold climate where you won’t get to bath often? Find a no-water cleanser that you can use between baths.
All of these are personal hygiene issues that depend on climate and activities that you’ll be doing. So plan ahead for these things by packing what you need now.
Step 2: Put Together a Personalized Travel Hygiene Kit
Once you know the travel essentials you need for the climate, you’re ready to pack it.
A Travel Hygiene Kit has everything you need to stay clean in one small package. Not everyone needs to pack a razor and shaving cream, especially if it’s a short trip. And some trips don’t lend themselves to packing a lot of hygiene products.
So when putting together your personalized travel hygiene kit you want to prioritize your needs. Here’s the hygiene hierarchy that I use.
- Hands and face: This includes your teeth and mouth, eye care if you wear contacts, and nail care.
- Body and hair: pick an all over body cleanser and three haircare products – if you need that many.
- Feet: If you’re going hiking or backpacking then you might bump this one to the top of your hygiene hierarchy because if your feet aren’t happy, you’re going to have a loooong trip.
- Protective hygiene: these are things that keep you from experiencing pain from the environment.
- Personal hygiene: things that apply to you and your personal situation.
Let’s dig in!
Paramount in travel hygiene is a clean face and clean hands.
While you’re traveling, it’s obviously a good idea to wash your hands every chance you get.
That’s before and after you eat, after you use the restroom and after you touch down in a new airport.
Your hands touch everything – including your face and your food – so keep them clean. But hand washing doesn’t remove the dirt and grime that builds up beneath your fingernails.
Keep something to clean under your nails in your Travel Hygiene Kit. If you’re hiking then it’s your multitool, but if you’re flying make sure whatever file you pack is okay with TSA.You can check out their requirements here.
To keep your face clean, I like using a facial cleansing wipe for your skin type. This can be tricky because some cleansing wipes can actually dry out the skin, so test them out before you commit.
But the wipes are nice because even if you don’t have water, you can still clean your face.
Also, bring along your facial moisturizer in an appropriate travel size container. Your skin protects you from so much. Give it some love.
Part of your face is your smile. So pack your toothbrush and toothpaste, but be sure to cover your toothbrush bristles. You don’t want to expose them to more germs than necessary.
If you wear contacts, make sure you pack your eye drops and extra contacts just in case.
Next up! Body and hair.
Now I have curly hair. And if you look in the shower of a curly girl you’re going to see a whole drug store’s supply of products.
But when we travel, let’s keep it simple.
For a short trip, I do my wash routine before I leave and bring a refresh spray along…and maybe one styling product. Just in case.
If it’s a longer trip where I’ll need to wash my hair, then I limit myself to three products: cleanser/co-wash, conditioner, styler…Okay maybe four, because you need to refresh between washes.
Sweet and simple. Just three products to keep your hair healthy and your scalp clean.
If you have sensitive skin, then definitely pack your own body wash in travel size containers. You don’t want to try a new wash on vacation only to break out.
Keep your feet happy.
Even if you're not hiking and climbing all day, after a long day of travel, put your feet up. Let the circulation level out to prevent swelling. And wear comfortable shoes if you’ll be running around airports.
If you’re backpacking or trekking, then you should put this one at the top of your hygiene hierarchy. And here, good foot hygiene is less about cleaning your feet and more about caring for your feet.
First, there's preventative care. Do everything you can to keep your feet dry because when wet skin gets rubbed over and over, that’s when blisters form. Make sure you have dry socks to put on and two pairs of shoes – a camp shoe and your hiking boots.
Second, is the after care. When you set up camp, take the time to change shoes. Climate allowing, something that lets your feet air out is a good option. Take the time to wash your feet with hot water to keep the bacteria down.
Finally, it’s inevitable. In certain climates, you’re going to get blisters. Be sure you have the necessary first aid to treat them.
Protect your body
Protective hygiene focuses on keeping your body safe from the elements. Things like sunscreen, bug spray, and lip balm fall into this category.
While these aren’t typically what we think of when we think of hygiene, they are essential to keeping us healthy and enjoying our travels.
Step 3: Be Ready for the Unexpected
There are some travel essentials that you should have easily accessible at all times while you’re traveling. This partly depends on your individual needs, but here’s the scenario.
If you get stuck with no water, no privacy, nothing, what’s the least amount of clean you need to rest well at night.
For me, it’s wet wipes treated with tea tree oil and mouthwash.
The tea tree oil in the wet wipes has natural antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral properties that cleans pores and moisturizes. It’s completely absorbed by the skin, so it doesn’t leave a sticky residue.
The mouthwash is the lazy way to kill germs in my mouth without packing my toothbrush around and exposing it to more germs.
These two travel essentials fit easily in my carry-on or my backpack. That way they’re always with me, and – even if I don’t have water – I’ll at least get a good wipe down and a clean feeling in my mouth.
About BODDI
At BODDI, we help humans who live on-the-go lifestyles stay clean without damaging our environment.
We believe cleanliness is an essential part of our humanity, and we want to bring back that humanity to those of us who don’t have regular access to water.
Get clean. Anywhere. Anytime. Without water.
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* Elon is a freelance SEO copywriter for outdoor brands. She’s a Venturing Silver Award Recipient who grew up in Tampa, FL. Now, she lives the camping lifestyle in a travel trailer with her husband and three girls. She believes the world would be better if we all got outside more. You can learn more about her at ElonJones.com.