My name is Louise Short. I work for Brown and Brown. I'm the national clinical leader, so I'm a consultant to employers on their health and well-being programs. However, full disclosure, this talk has nothing to do with my official job. This is just a very significant interest of mine, and so I'm really glad that you joined today. So let me take you back. The year is 2009, and I signed up for a leadership position with an innovative health and wellness company in Nashville. And I live in Atlanta. I don't know how many of you know the geography, but it's about a four-hour drive or an hour plane ride. And my first day, I drove up to Nashville, and I was really excited because this company had a brand-new building, and it was really shiny, and I was all raring to go. And that day, I happened to have lunch with another medical director who had recently been hired by the company. And we sat down. We had a lot of commonalities. We both had occupational medicine in our background and prevention. This was a disease management company. And he shared with me that he had actually interviewed for my job and his job. And I said, oh, well, why did you take your job and not my job? And he said, oh, well, they told me that your job is 70% travel. Well, my daughters were, at that time, 17, 14, and 12. And when he said that, I absolutely felt like a tsunami had hit me. And I thought, I think I'd better quit, like, right now. I called my husband. I said, I think I'm out of here. And by the way, it wouldn't be the first job that I quit on the first day, but that's another story. But, you know, you might be wondering, why didn't I ask or why didn't I know? How stupid was I to take a job that was 70% travel? Well, when I interviewed for the job, they told me it was 40% the first year, which I thought I could handle, and then, like, 20% to 25% subsequent years after I got to know the client. So I said, okay, that's doable for me. Well, I love the company. And even though it really was 70% travel, because I actually clocked it. I wrote down every trip. I wrote down every night that I was away. It was 70% travel. I decided to stick it out. So I stick it out, stick it out. I was going from Atlanta to Minneapolis for lunch. I was going to Southern California for lunch and dinner and coming home on a red eye. And, you know, everything at home was going pretty well. My babysitter had things under control, carting the kids around. Occasionally, we had little problems, like someone got left at the tennis facility after it had closed after their tennis lesson. So that was a little bit of a problem. But, you know, other than that, outwardly, things were running. The trains were running. But I was actually imploding inside. I was missing things every day from just seeing my kids, homework support, significant events, whether it was sports games or other kinds of things, social gatherings, time with my spouse, community service. And at the end of two years, I had gained 20 pounds. But I was really dedicated to my mission to improve health outcomes and health care. And I just knew, like, how much the clients and the company appreciated me. But gradually, more and more, I was realizing business travel was hazardous to my health. And it was a very odd paradox, because I was working for a health and well-being company, and I was trying to convince employers to take care of their employees. But I, myself, was really suffering from the stress and disorganization of travel. So here's my first message, and it's something that someone told me early in my career, and I really didn't listen well enough. The only place you're irreplaceable is with your family and your friends. Please remember that every day. And if you're in a culture and a company where you can't say no to travel that conflicts with significant life events, however you might define those events, then, by all means, reassess your situation. And I know we can't have full control, but if it's something really important, you ought to be able to say no. And if you don't say no, you're going to be at very high risk for physical burnout and mental burnout and exhaustion. So you won't be able to do your job well. If your culture really doesn't permit you that flexibility, then think twice about where you are, and think about how you can make your case. So these pictures here are my before and after for that job. Before, I was really excited, shiny new building, and afterwards, I was like, I don't know what to do with myself. And there is a punchline to this. So for all of you who want to multitask or look at your texts or whatever, please come back at the end because I want you to hear the punchline to this job that was 70% travel. So I still travel a lot for work. I have since 2005, and now it's a little bit easier because I'm an empty nester, but I also travel now more for leisure. So there's a lot of travel. Over the last 20 years, I've learned a lot about how to cope with travel, particularly strategies for business and leisure travel. So today, I'd like to share some of those strategies with you. So just wanted to show you some information here, and the key is that business travel is here to stay, and post-pandemic, business travel has eclipsed pre-pandemic levels. So employers really still believe that those face-to-face interactions drive revenue. And for those of you who don't travel a lot but are at companies where the employees travel a lot, this is important. And as I started to look more and more into this issue, I realized I wasn't the only one. There isn't that much literature on the health effects of travel, but at least scientific peer review. But I can tell you there are two key studies. One came out of Columbia in 2011, showing that people who travel more had poor self-related health, higher incidence of obesity, and high blood pressure. And the Harvard Business Review in 2018 published a study showing that people who have more nights away from home have more anxiety, depression, alcohol dependence, and poor sleep. So I'm going to ask five questions. If any of these pertain to you, please raise your hand, keep it up until I've asked the fifth question. Anyone here have trouble sleeping in a hotel? Raise your hand. Keep it up. Do you struggle eating healthy on the road? If you do, raise your hand and keep it up. Anyone have little motivation or time to work out on the road? Raise your hand and keep it up. How about stress? Anyone stressed by travel, being on the road? Keep your hand up. Okay. And then has anyone felt isolated from your family and friends during travel? Everybody keep your hands up. We've got a few people who have no problems traveling, good for you. But the rest of you, as you can see, most of the hands are up. So if you keep your hands up, that'll be your exercise for the day. I've learned a lot over the years, but to be honest, every trip I go on, I have anxiety. And it's that gnawing feeling of just like, I don't want to pack my suitcase. I'm procrastinating. I don't want to sleep in a hotel. I don't want to go to the airport in the morning, particularly some of the busiest airports in the country, which are the ones that I fly out of. And especially on Monday morning, I don't want to go to those airports. So a little anxiety is probably good, and it can help you. But in terms of what is traveling anxiety, it can really be crippling. And it's defined as fear of an unfamiliar place. It can result from various causes, including negative experiences, traveling, fear of flying, being outside your normal routine, jet lag, being different time zone, or also not speaking the language. So business travel anxiety is a bit different, and I might be coining a new phase, but I would define it as anxiety specifically related to business trips. So it's caused by all the same things as normal travel anxiety, but on top of that, you've got the pressure of important meetings and projects, presenting in front of large groups like I'm doing now. Yes, I am anxious, so just so you know. Poor food choices, having to keep on your regular work, like those dates with your laptop late at night, which I had last night, or early in the morning, which many of you may have had. Compressed schedules, flight delays, running for planes, and thinking that that's your exercise for the day. And then re-entry. And re-entry is hard. When you go home, if you're re-entering with family, friends, kids, pets, whatever, you may encounter resentful spouses, children who've had a function while you're supposedly having a great time on your business travel, going to stimulating meetings, social events, and sleeping soundly. So now that we've defined the problem of business travel, what can you all do about it? Preparing. So that sounds like a no-brainer, right? Like why wouldn't I prepare? But to be honest, a lot of us that are very busy don't have a lot of time to prepare. And what I would say is don't be too hard on yourself. Pick and choose things that you can get ahead of before you travel. I used to leave my husband a schedule of where the kids needed to be, and my family thought I was crazy, and they would laugh at me. It was all color-coded, but it made things run smoother while I was away. Keep it in perspective, really, because most of the items on your to-do list probably aren't that important. They can wait. And so relieve yourself of that pressure when you're traveling, and that feeling that you have to multitask all the time. New research shows that multitasking leads to burnout. So how many of you here are running through airports, on conference calls, trying to eat lunch or whatever all at the same time? Realize that you don't have to be doing that and give yourself a break, because that really is not worth it, and in the end, it's going to burn you out. In terms of packing, unless you have a physical limitation, I would suggest that you carry on your luggage as much as you can. Sometimes you just can't. You might have a poster or some other thing where you have to check your luggage. So consider using air tags, which you can see there in the middle. These are new. You can put them in your luggage or attach them to other important things, and you'll be able to find your stuff. You can hook them up to Apple. Also consider colorful tags on your luggage as well. So if you have to check, you can find your luggage quickly. And then I would always suggest having a change of clothes, because you don't want to end up in jeans and sneakers at a client. So if you're traveling casual, make sure you've got that in your carry on. If you're going international, make sure you have your plugs in your backpack or in your carry on. That happened to me a couple months ago. I actually put them into my suitcase inadvertently, and I didn't have a charger when I was at the airport. So again, going fast, you don't have time to make your checklist, and make sure you have all of your travel documents with you, as well as your medications. Wear comfortable shoes. You can see the sneakers. Check the weather. If you're renting a car, make sure you know the hours of the pickup location and that you schedule in advance, because a lot of the times, even post-pandemic now, people don't even think about it, but there's still a shortage of cars in many places. And don't let your gas run down low. I would suggest a quarter to a half a tank is as low as you want it to go, especially if you're in an unfamiliar place. Okay, so food and exercise. This is tough. Try to figure it out as much as possible ahead of time. You can look at restaurants. You can often look at menus. Have a plan for how you're going to eat and what types of food you're going to bring. I try to carry snacks with me, so I generally try to carry things that are a little bit higher in protein, like almonds or protein bars, or if it is carbs, more lower fat, like popcorn. Try to minimize alcohol on the road, and I know that's hard, because you're going to events, cocktail hours, like last night, and meetings and things, but alcohol will really make you more tired, and it will also make you more agitated. I think business travel is particularly difficult for people who do have alcohol dependence or issues, people who've been in Alcoholics Anonymous. It can be very, very difficult during business travel, and for anyone who is in that situation, I would really suggest that you stay in very good contact with your sponsor and make sure that you've got some good strategies worked out. In terms of exercise, just take a look at your accommodations, scope out the exercise options or put a plan together to exercise in your room if you don't like hotel gyms. A lot of people don't like them. My fitness pal, 8Fit, and not up there, but Caroline Gervin has really good workouts. They're all free on YouTube, and then make sure to stay hydrated. You can forget to drink, and it's really, really important when you're traveling for your brain as well as your body. Consider a collapsible water bottle. It's like those ... I'm dating myself, but when we go to overnight camp, we have these little collapsible cups. They're collapsible water bottles, so you can flatten them, put them in your suitcase, open them up when you get to your location, and they work well. Some hotels also now are really into wellness, and you'll see there are certain brands that are into wellness. Westin has a brand, for example, and they give you yoga mats in your hotels. I was in a hotel last week that had other types of equipment, like a ball, a weighted ball in the room. Something that can decompress you during travel is bleisure, and I say this is a great bleisure location for people. I saw several people walking around with their kids, and people like to bring kids to Orlando and other locations. Bleisure is really the new word. It's mixing business travel and leisure, and scope out the area you're going to and see if there's something you want to do there if you're not bringing people with you. For example, you might want to go play golf, go to a special restaurant, a show, or a spa. I remember when I was traveling on a new client trip. I went to Bentonville, Arkansas. You can probably guess who the client was. I thought, what in the world am I going to do here? Then I discovered the Crystal Bridges Museum, which is one of the largest collections of American art in the country. It's absolutely beautiful. I went there with some colleagues. I had a great evening, and I also got to know some new people. That was really fun. Recently, I was on the receiving end of a Bleisure trip. My daughter had a medical conference, and I was able to go with her. We just did some hiking and things when she wasn't at the conference, and that was fun as well. Comfort objects. We all have them, not just kids. They can help us to reduce anxiety. It might be your favorite playlist, a pillow, earphones, a certain item of clothing, a comfortable pair of shoes, an app that you use for meditation. I like to carry different smelling hand lotions and mint tea bags. That's just my thing, but anything that gives you that warm, fuzzy feeling inside that's easy to travel with, take it. If you don't have comfort objects right now, there's probably something that will make you feel better. Think about that, and think about what could bring calm and that aura of familiarity to your travel. Let's talk a little bit about sleep. This can be a big challenge on the road. Travel insomnia is a real phenomenon. It's been shown that people who travel for business rather than leisure are more likely to have travel insomnia. When you think about it, it makes sense because people are thinking about their business and what they need to do and what's going to happen the next day. Jet lag is a whole different topic. I'm not going to discuss that today, but I'm happy to discuss that at another time. Many travelers experience what's called the first night effect or FNE, and that's biological. It's related to our bodies, and it keeps us safe. Basically, it has to do with activity in the left hemisphere that's normally quiet at night when you go to bed, but when you're in a new environment, there's a lot of activity in that hemisphere, and so it keeps you awake. It's like it'll wake you up if you hear a noise, so generally, the first night can be the worst night. If you get a lot of short trips where they're only one night, unfortunately, you're going to have a lot of first night effect potentially. What can you do? Keep your hotel room cool. You can wear an eye mask, earplugs, melatonin or melatonin gummies, bring headphones or a special pillow to support your neck while traveling, and really try not to eat or drink late at night because that's just going to accelerate your problems with sleeping. Healthcare. Whether you have known health issues or not, and I think this is big. There are many people who have chronic diseases who travel, and they may have problems managing those chronic diseases, so it's always helpful to have a plan for healthcare on the road. If you have a telemedicine service through your company, register so you won't be fumbling with the telemedicine app when you go to get care. Check out retail locations in the vicinity into which you're traveling, and be aware of all the phone numbers. A lot of employers have nurse line, EAP, international travel support. Make sure you know all those benefits and have them handy, and then, of course, be aware of DVTs or blood clots, so if you're going on a long trip, consider compression stockings, be sure to keep hydrated. If you have risk factors for blood clots, you may even want to take precautions on shorter trips. Let's talk a little bit about safety. Familiarity really reduces anxiety. As much as possible, I can't emphasize enough, scope out the area where you're going. If you know the city, you may not know the area by your hotel. If you're traveling with colleagues, have their information handy, and when you're traveling for business, you're distracted, right? You're focused on being on time, multitasking, looking at your phones, your electronic devices. That work efficiency, coupled with the unfamiliar environment, can lead to a lapse in focus on personal safety. Just here are some things to think about. What's the spectrum of risk with travel? It's really threefold. One is your personal safety, and so it could be anything from crime to health risks, natural disasters or political unrest. The second would be your possessions, so credit cards, money, jewelry, whatever else you have, and the third category is about your information. your electronic devices, your hardware, and all the data that's stored on these devices and virtually. So, how can you mitigate some of these risks? Before you go, it's really good to do some research, and I'll give you an example. Several years ago, we took our kids on a trip to Ecuador, and just the day before we went, I was watching the news, and there was a volcano that was erupting in Ecuador. And my husband said, no problem, that is nowhere near where we're going, don't even worry about that. Well, we checked into the hotel, we got the two best suites in the hotel, and my kids said, oh mom, they know it's your birthday, they gave us the best suites in the hotel. Well, turned out that we got the best suites because there was no one else in the hotel, because everyone else had canceled, because they knew there was a volcano. So, we got lucky, we were not evacuated, but there was a lot of ash in the air, we still had a good vacation, but I probably would have made other plans had I been aware. So just a reminder, it's really good to scope out where you're going. And also make sure you have a contact, local phone number for emergencies, it's different in every country, a contact person, whether it's your corporate travel agency, travel insurance company, someone who's hosting you, safety at your lodging, or sorry, staff at your lodging. Obviously, make sure you have all of your required vaccinations if you're traveling internationally, and never check any medications, always keep those with you. And make sure you have a hard copy of all of your travel documents and a backup copy on your electronic devices. If you're going abroad, check the U.S. State Department's Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, and this is so that the U.S. State Department will know where you are, they will also send you alerts if there are different issues going on, like there's a flood or whatever else might be happening, a protest, et cetera. And this can be really critical, I'll just tell you a quick story, several years ago I was in Africa, I was walking in a park, a couple of kids came up to me, asked me for a donation, I gave it to them, a few minutes later I looked in my bag and my wallet was gone, my ID was gone. It was 1990, I think, and it was the first time I'd ever been abroad, and I had no idea what to do. I went to the U.S. Embassy, because I had no ID, and I don't even think there was a STEP program at that time, I couldn't get any help, and so I ended up calling and attending, I was working at a hospital, they took me to the police station, but if there had been a STEP program, you know, I would have been able to get into that embassy, and so I can't emphasize enough, whether it's for business or for personal, make sure that you register for the STEP program. Okay, I was just going to say, in terms of customs, make sure that you know what the local dress is, obviously there are different customs in different countries, some countries require a lot of modesty for women, you know, there are other things that will make you consistent with the customs, so just be aware, try to blend in and don't stick out, and especially at night, if you don't know where you're going, try to stay with other people, if you're traveling with colleagues, try to stay with them, and consider buying a whistle to alert people if you're in danger and need to call for help. Now, some people may think this is only for women, it's for men too, if someone pulls a gun on you, you know, you're not going to be able to deal with them a lot of the time, so it's very good to have a whistle or some other kind of alert. At your hotel, common sense, don't open the door, if you're getting a delivery, have them leave it at the front desk, or leave it outside the door, like I ordered Uber Eats a couple of weeks ago at a hotel, I just asked them to leave it outside my door. Use all the locks on the door, and also now there are some ancillary locks that you can buy, these locks were actually developed because of human trafficking, people breaking into hotel rooms and trying to kidnap women, so I would suggest, if you are a woman, you travel a lot alone, even a man, try and get a separate door lock. Put all your valuables in the safe and be careful about how you do it, a lot of those safes have a piece of felt on the bottom, I have a friend who put her rings in there a couple months ago, couldn't find them after, and what had happened is that when she was putting them in, they got stuck on the felt, they fell down behind a refrigerator, she actually called the police, they thought there was a robbery, all this, finally she looked and she realized that the rings were there, so just be careful with the safes, but put your stuff in them. Generally good to split up your money, so I keep some with me, put some in my luggage, some in the safe. In terms of transportation, if you've rented a vehicle, consider valet parking, it might be a few bucks more, but you won't have to be wandering around, you might get lost in the garage, you might be there at night by yourself, and I would highly suggest using an app for directions, even if you think you know where you're going, there could be traffic, I actually use road app myself at home, because I live in a congested area, and everywhere I go I use it, because I never know when there's going to be a problem. If you're using a ride share app or a car service, be sure to confirm the driver's name and license plate, I know you probably hear that, sounds like a no-brainer, but there was a student from South Carolina that was killed a couple of years ago, you probably heard the story, because she didn't check, and she just got in a car, so you can never be too careful about that. In terms of data, electronics, and social media, don't pack your electronic devices in your luggage, that's a given, I would not suggest using public Wi-Fi, if at all possible, use a secured network, VPN, carry an external backup battery, really important, because you may be in a place where you can't charge, and be cautious with social media, particularly if you're on a leisure travel, and no one's home, don't post that you're not home, and don't post pictures of your location. And just a few words of generational advice, so I don't know about you, but my parents would always give me advice about safety, and some of it was good advice, that's timeless, but particularly in regard to travel, some of it might be outdated by the changes in the world, so particularly technology that would have never been anticipated, so my mother always said, never get in a car with a stranger, and I thought of that the other day as I got into an Uber, times have changed, I have to admit, as a woman traveling alone, I don't take a ride share myself before dawn, or after the sun sets, unless I'm in a major city, where there are a lot of people around. My father always said, count your change, but I never carry cash anymore, I don't know about you guys, 90% of my transactions are Apple Pay. My paternal great aunt said, have a nickel for a phone call, well, I don't know, there may be people in this room who don't even know what a payphone is, but the advice today should be, make sure you have your cell phone, your charger, and a portable charger, and my paternal grandmother said, watch out for machines, and what are machines? She was from the old country, Russia, and what she meant was, pay attention when you're crossing the street, and that one really still applies, don't be looking at your phone when you're crossing the street, because you could get hit by a car. At the beginning of this talk, I told you a story about a job where I was traveling 70%, and the job made me realize that business travel could be hazardous to my health, and so here's the punchline, after two years at that job, I was rewarded, I got laid off, because the company was having big economic problems, and so, you know, the company gave me a paid vacation to get my life and priorities back together, which was helpful, but what I would say is, if you remember nothing else, your family and your friends are the only place that you're not replaceable, obviously I was replaceable, prepare, prepare, prepare when you're traveling, and remember, you're not alone in your challenges with travel, there should be no travel shaming in your mind. Discuss this topic with other business travelers, don't be afraid to share tips, resources, coping strategies, and use all the resources at your disposal, whether it's an employee assistance program, backup child care, or some other benefit that your employer is providing, or a resource you can find in your community, and the third thing is have a safety plan. So if you want to learn more, I've kind of skimmed a lot of topics here, you can check out my sub-stack and subscribe to that, it's completely free, I cover a lot more topics there, one of the topics that I cover that I think is particularly important that we just don't have time to go into today is human trafficking, but, you know, as a business traveler, you have a lot of opportunity to intervene and do good for others, and sometimes when you're traveling for business, it's hard to plug into your community for community service if you're all over the place, and so, particularly for people that are in airports or bus stations or other travel locations a lot, hotels, you may see something, and you know, you'll hear those announcements, if you see something, say something, what does that actually mean, and what should you do? So if you want to know, read my sub-stack, or come talk to me, but thank you all so much for your attention, good luck to all the travelers, and be well and be safe. Anybody take any questions, comments, anybody has travel tips, please come up, stories, happy to hear it. Mark Bodo from Seattle. I just do independent medical evaluations for many years now, and I got in a tiff with a defense attorney recently about workers' compensation and travel, and so he was trying to tell me that a person on travel is not covered under workers' compensation, and I said, go to hell, so even if you're traveling to China or whatever, he tried to give me all kinds of examples, and I said, you're not making any sense. I think it's under federal regulations under workers' compensation, which has oversight for all the states, is that an employee is covered during travel. As far as I know, an employee is covered during travel, I'd have to research a little bit more, but that's my understanding. I don't know, anyone else here? Yeah, agree? Yeah. Is that someone's alarm, okay. Any other comments, questions, anyone want to share a travel story or tip? That was fantastic, thank you. I do our travel medicine consults for our clinic, and some people inquire about sleep medications, I personally don't give them out, but what's your advice about those? I think it depends, right, it depends on the person. I usually like to start with something like melatonin, but if someone's going on a long international trip, sometimes it takes the edge off a little bit and lets them relax, but I think it just depends on the situation. Thank you. Hi, Bob Orford, I'm a former airline medical director, and had to deal with a lot of in-flight events, and also whenever I was traveling, I had a few, so I learned to carry with me a oximeter, one of those portable oximeters in my luggage, and I've had to use that a couple of times with passengers. Oh, sorry, I say that when I travel now, I use an oximeter, the little portable ones that you put on the end of your finger, it comes with a AA battery, I think it is, and it's very useful to have for physicians, and most of us are physicians or nurse practitioners in the room, whenever you're traveling, because if there isn't a medical event on board, and you're asked to respond, the FAA-mandated emergency medical kit does not contain an oximeter at this point in time, and that can be a useful device. That's a great point, and I mean, everybody's familiar with oximeters now from COVID, right, so yeah, that's a great idea, thank you. I did not know that the kits did not come with an oximeter. Great talk, two things, the State Department is great, I was just in Morocco and I was getting notifications that there was going to be a protest at this location, and that there was going to be a strike on these days, so it just helps that you know that. I was wondering if you could suggest what people should carry as a first aid kit when they travel. That's a good question, I mean, since we are physicians, right, we might use things that other people wouldn't, for example, an oximeter, but I generally get, first of all, the usual, which is, you know, Band-Aids or whatever, you know, you can buy the small box. So this is just me, I'm generally traveling also with, depending on the country, right, but even in the U.S., I'm generally traveling with sort of like a GI kit that I put together, so I usually have things like Tums, I might have some nausea medication, Pepto-Bismol, those are the things that I like to travel with, and I'm usually, if I'm going to another country, I will take all the over-the-counter stuff, so I'll take cough and cold medicine, I'll take throat lozenges, the last time that we went overseas, my husband was going to kill me, because it was like I had such a thing of medications, but I'll always take bug spray as well, really important, depending on the location, it could be more or less important, but I generally take that, and sunscreen also is sort of the part of the first aid piece, so I'd say those are most of the things that I would recommend. Anyone else take anything different? Anti-diarrhea. Anti-diarrhea, yes, part of the GI. I also take a little bit of a solution in case someone does get GI stuff, and the Pedialyte has the package you can just mix with water, but this is more practical, and probably many of you already knew this, but the curtains that never quite meet, the curtains in your room that never quite meet together, I take the hanger from the closet with the clips and I clip it together. Great idea, I love that, excellent, thank you, it's true, anyone else? Your comment about insecticide reminded me that whenever I'm traveling to a place like India, what I do in advance is use a permethrin spray on your clothing, particularly the ones that you're going to be wearing when you're in outside areas, because as opposed to having a spray bottle and having to spray yourself daily, you might miss some spots or whatever, this just puts a little cloud of permethrin that goes up your body, and it lasts for several washes, so it's well worth doing, that way you don't have to even worry so much, and it's going to protect you against things like dengue and malaria and so on when you're there. Yeah, that's a great idea, I did that when I went to, I think, South America as well. Hey, good morning, my name's Thomas Holcomb, I missed the first part so you may have touched on this, but with respect to food and meals, business travel can be not the healthiest of eating, so what are your tips and tricks? My personal thing is I like oatmeal in the morning, so I bring my own old-fashioned oats and then use the coffee maker to just put in nice hot water, and then you have a little collapsible bowl that you can bring with you that you can easily wash out, but I don't know if you had any other tips with business eating when you're on the road. That's a big challenge, I usually bring a lot of my own snacks with me, and I try to make them a little bit less carbohydrate and a little bit more protein, but I do eat a lot of popcorn, protein bars, sometimes I'll do the little hummus with carrots or things like that, just snacks so that you can make sure you get something in between. For meals, I would suggest looking at the restaurants and trying to figure out what's healthy. You can actually look at the menus at a lot of restaurants ahead of time and figure out what you're going to eat, and some of the restaurants even have the little healthy stars or other things like that, but I often also, if it's not too far and it's going to go bad, I'll bring yogurts with me as well, just because that can be a meal for me or also just a fill-in snack similar to your oatmeal. Because you mentioned anti-diarrheals, I always travel with Metamucil, too. Yes, yes. Oh, I forgot to talk about downtown lockdown, right? Okay, that's another whole issue, right, so constipation, anyone? Happens very regularly while you're traveling, so good idea on the Metamucil. Several other possibilities, too, including colas. And water. Anything else? My name is Kathy Logason. Just one, when you're traveling overseas, I would want to know what the Medivac, what your company's Medivac properties are and or if you're doing it by yourself, make sure you have that insurance in place because people, I've worked in a health unit, an embassy, people unfortunately have car accidents, whatever, and they think the embassy is going to Medivac them home when they are not. That's a really great point, absolutely. Travel insurance is another big topic and looking at travel insurance policies and what they cover and what they don't cover, it's, maybe that's the next subject of my blog, because it really, really is important and I also know people who have had to be Medivac'd. Anyone else? All right, well thank you all for your questions, comments, and sharing.

Louise Short

business travel challenges

family prioritization

travel-related stress management

health risks

travel safety tips

emergency preparedness