Airline travel with essential oils
AIRLINE TRAVEL with EOs:
This post is a bit overdue but I finally was able to get my thoughts and pics together. I travel A LOT as an airline employee and I frequently see posts or questions about getting oils through TSA (security) at the airport. So here are my tips and tricks that hopefully you will find helpful. First of all the TSA requirements for liquids are you are allowed to bring one quart-sized bag of liquids, aerosols, gels, creams and pastes in your carry-on bag and through the checkpoint. These are limited to travel-sized containers that are 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters) or less per item. Typical bottles of EO are 15 milliliters or 0.50721 fluid ounces so you can see a standard size bottle of EO is allowed as long as all of your items combined together (liquids, gels, aerosols, etc) fit in once quart sized Ziploc bag.
Now since I am an airline employee I have additional “restrictions” since we never want to impose on paying customers so we try to be as compact and non-invasive when we fly as possible. Additionally, Doterra has a ton of different EOs that they sale so to take a 15ml bottle of each with you is impractical. I also am a firm believer is doing what works for your particular situation so think outside of the box. You don’t need a brand specific bag or case made specifically for EOs to travel. There are so many different styles in little bags and makeup carriers that work just as well if not better than those marketed specifically as EO bags. I actually carry mine in a little kit that was left behind in one of the seats on our aircraft. It’s cute so I don’t know why they didn’t want it but score for me. It is a kit our airline provides for long flights with such things as socks, eye-mask, toothpaste, toothbrush, lip gloss, hand cream, etc for our passengers. It has the perfect little strap across one side, was a semi hard case, square (square is very important when maximizing space when packing) and it zipps up. The little strap was the seller on this one for my needs.
Secondly when I first got into Doterra my lovely teacher and mentor sent me these perfect little super mini bottles (if anyone knows where I can get more of these I would be forever greatful) of EO as samples to try. I absolutely love these and they are beyond perfect for my needs since I travel about every 4 days. They hold about 10-ish drops each so for a 4 day trip that is perfect. I just refill them when I am home. So for these I carry the must haves (Breath, OnGuard, Peppermint, Lavender, DigestZen) ….basically everything I would need on a short trip at 35K feet. I have a small 5ml bottle that I cleaned out and just carry a little FCO in for whatever in a pinch. Then I have my little dram bottles for those days when I can’t tell which time zone I am in and need a pick me up (Cassia, Motivate, Cheer, Passion, Forgive <-- very important when you live in airports, and Cederwood). My OnGuard beadlets are a must have because airports and airplanes are germ havens and recirculated air is their friend. Immortal to help my eyes since I have been having severe issues, my roller bottle for my knee and joint pain (sitting on airplanes can take its toll), roller bottle that I made more as a perfume and my hdClear . And of course OnGuard cough drops.
You will notice there are some non Doterra items in my kit. This is the part where I say do what works for you. This Bert’s Bees lip balm I actually modified and took what was left in the tube out, mixed in some onGuard and put it back in the tube….to help keep my cold sores at bay. Totally works 100%. My eye drops because again of some eye issues I am having (those are being replaced by my prescription ones now), my little hand sanitizer (this was actually part of the original kit) and my hand lotion (again part of the original kit). And to keep my crazy hair at bay in recirculated cabin pressure air…bobby pins.
The next pic shows these cute little pill pockets I purchased off of Amazon for super cheap. 4 total since my travel days are about 4 days a week and each one holds the perfect assortment of my LLV, DDR Prime, Slim & Sassy, OnGuard, Mito Max. etc for one day. They pinch open and close so nothing falls out and I can take them quickly as I move around the world. Lay these in the top of my little repurposed bag, zip it all up and go …..the perfect size for my travel bag or my laptop bag without taking up too much space.
So with this kit I have controls for any germy bugs I may pick up, cleaners, stomach issues, respiratory issues, sleep issues <--a big one since I’m all over in time zones, my eyes, hands, cold sores, moods swings, aches and pains, fly away hair, overall health maintenance, etc. I can’t think of much more that I could possibly add to this without just being completely overloaded.
Hope everyone likes my little travel EO bag and this helps give you some ideas when you travel and happy traveling. There is a whole big world out there to explore!!
This post is a bit overdue but I finally was able to get my thoughts and pics together. I travel A LOT as an airline employee and I frequently see posts or questions about getting oils through TSA (security) at the airport. So here are my tips and tricks that hopefully you will find helpful. First of all the TSA requirements for liquids are you are allowed to bring one quart-sized bag of liquids, aerosols, gels, creams and pastes in your carry-on bag and through the checkpoint. These are limited to travel-sized containers that are 3.4 ounces (100 milliliters) or less per item. Typical bottles of EO are 15 milliliters or 0.50721 fluid ounces so you can see a standard size bottle of EO is allowed as long as all of your items combined together (liquids, gels, aerosols, etc) fit in once quart sized Ziploc bag.
Now since I am an airline employee I have additional “restrictions” since we never want to impose on paying customers so we try to be as compact and non-invasive when we fly as possible. Additionally, Doterra has a ton of different EOs that they sale so to take a 15ml bottle of each with you is impractical. I also am a firm believer is doing what works for your particular situation so think outside of the box. You don’t need a brand specific bag or case made specifically for EOs to travel. There are so many different styles in little bags and makeup carriers that work just as well if not better than those marketed specifically as EO bags. I actually carry mine in a little kit that was left behind in one of the seats on our aircraft. It’s cute so I don’t know why they didn’t want it but score for me. It is a kit our airline provides for long flights with such things as socks, eye-mask, toothpaste, toothbrush, lip gloss, hand cream, etc for our passengers. It has the perfect little strap across one side, was a semi hard case, square (square is very important when maximizing space when packing) and it zipps up. The little strap was the seller on this one for my needs.
Secondly when I first got into Doterra my lovely teacher and mentor sent me these perfect little super mini bottles (if anyone knows where I can get more of these I would be forever greatful) of EO as samples to try. I absolutely love these and they are beyond perfect for my needs since I travel about every 4 days. They hold about 10-ish drops each so for a 4 day trip that is perfect. I just refill them when I am home. So for these I carry the must haves (Breath, OnGuard, Peppermint, Lavender, DigestZen) ….basically everything I would need on a short trip at 35K feet. I have a small 5ml bottle that I cleaned out and just carry a little FCO in for whatever in a pinch. Then I have my little dram bottles for those days when I can’t tell which time zone I am in and need a pick me up (Cassia, Motivate, Cheer, Passion, Forgive <-- very important when you live in airports, and Cederwood). My OnGuard beadlets are a must have because airports and airplanes are germ havens and recirculated air is their friend. Immortal to help my eyes since I have been having severe issues, my roller bottle for my knee and joint pain (sitting on airplanes can take its toll), roller bottle that I made more as a perfume and my hdClear . And of course OnGuard cough drops.
You will notice there are some non Doterra items in my kit. This is the part where I say do what works for you. This Bert’s Bees lip balm I actually modified and took what was left in the tube out, mixed in some onGuard and put it back in the tube….to help keep my cold sores at bay. Totally works 100%. My eye drops because again of some eye issues I am having (those are being replaced by my prescription ones now), my little hand sanitizer (this was actually part of the original kit) and my hand lotion (again part of the original kit). And to keep my crazy hair at bay in recirculated cabin pressure air…bobby pins.
The next pic shows these cute little pill pockets I purchased off of Amazon for super cheap. 4 total since my travel days are about 4 days a week and each one holds the perfect assortment of my LLV, DDR Prime, Slim & Sassy, OnGuard, Mito Max. etc for one day. They pinch open and close so nothing falls out and I can take them quickly as I move around the world. Lay these in the top of my little repurposed bag, zip it all up and go …..the perfect size for my travel bag or my laptop bag without taking up too much space.
So with this kit I have controls for any germy bugs I may pick up, cleaners, stomach issues, respiratory issues, sleep issues <--a big one since I’m all over in time zones, my eyes, hands, cold sores, moods swings, aches and pains, fly away hair, overall health maintenance, etc. I can’t think of much more that I could possibly add to this without just being completely overloaded.
Hope everyone likes my little travel EO bag and this helps give you some ideas when you travel and happy traveling. There is a whole big world out there to explore!!