A Tennis Ball A Day....

[trip style = any]

Did you know? It's Travel Beauty Month. Yesterday, we did a travel skin care secrets interview with internationally acclaimed Dermatologist and best-selling author, Dr. Murad, and one lucky reader will win his Radiant Skin Renewal Kit.

{Editor's Note: Steve is a sport enthusiast. He is also a fan of tennis, especially while traveling. Working as an Orthopaedic Physiotherapist and Acupuncturist in Vancouver, BC, he never leaves home without a firm tennis ball; for more reasons than one. Steve and I were recently commiserating about the aches and pains---think uncomfortable plane seats, a new bed every few nights and standing in line for hours---associated with travel.

I told him about an incident I recently had on a red-eye to NYC, involving intense pain in my lower back and my DIY attempt to fix it by piercing the area with a closed Tide pen {my logical way of trying to iron out the pain at 4am}. He told me a tennis ball works much more effectively as compact, on-the-go muscle treatment when your Physio or Massage Therapist don't happen to be on vacation with you. Here are his tips for alleviating and/or preventing travel aches and pains with a tennis ball. I'll never take another trip without a tennis ball in my carry-on!}

In my practice, an indispensable piece of exercise equipment is the tennis ball. I've seen clients reduce pain and increase flexibility by targeting painful areas of their bodies with the tennis ball. The body’s natural response when we develop an injury is to trigger the surrounding muscles to shorten causing additional pain and limitation with movement. By working the ball into these painful areas called trigger points, we can release the tension of these tight bands of muscle. But the benefits are not only for people with pain, this technique is useful for freeing up muscles that become chronically tight, especially with prolonged sitting and standing during travel. Common areas of muscle tightness and pain include:

The Neck For relief, lean up against the wall with your feet staggered, one close to the wall and one farther away. Use your body weight to compress the tennis ball into the muscles between the shoulder blades. This target area extends from the base of your neck down to the bottom of the shoulder blade about 5cm from the spine. Hold the ball for 20 seconds per point, 5 points.

The Low Back Lie on your back placing the ball underneath the buttock muscle roughly 5cm below your belt. Note that this ball position adressess the buttock muscle which attaches up into the connective tissue of the low back, which becomes very tight with low back injury. Rotate your body slightly towards the side the ball is under, feeling the sore points and holding for 20 seconds per point. Find 5 different areas throughout the buttock by shifting the ball position slightly.

The Shoulder{s} Lean against the wall placing the tennis ball in the triangle-shaped area of your shoulder blade. You will need to lean against the wall with your body turned roughly 45 degrees to the side you have the ball on to ensure your shoulder blade is flush against the ball. Also, place the ball in the pectoral muscle 3cm below the collar bone and lean up against the wall. Find 3 spots along the length of the pec muscle extending from your shoulder towards your breast bone.

Please Note Note that the sensation should be strong but not painful. This technique should also never cause pain that radiates away from the location of the ball. The exercise should be done once per day only. The normal reaction is for lessening of muscle tension and pain. If symptoms increase after exercise, discontinue this technique. Note that these recommendations are not appropriate for everyone. If you have a history of severe pain, please consult your Physiotherapist before beginning this program.

{Steve Nairn BSc., MSc.PT, has built his practice in Vancouver, Canada at Sitka Physiotherapy and Wellness. He holds a Masters Degree in Physiotherapy from McMaster University plus his Advanced Manual Therapy Certification (Part B level manual therapy), and level 3 Medical Acupuncture from the Acupuncture Foundation of Canada Institute. His approach to wellness also incorporates exercise, education and soft tissue work. Steve [at] vancouverphyisotherapy [dot] com}

More Healthy On the Road Content Why Drink Water While Traveling Summer Paddling Healthy Road Trip Choices Make Any Trip Style Healthy The 20-min Exercise Itinerary

[Photos sourced online]

Travel Beauty Month :: Dr. Murad Interview

[trip style = any]

{Editor’s Note: In addition to our regularly scheduled content, this month we’re doing a once-weekly feature on Travel Beauty. This week, Lauren, our beauty expert, sits down with LA-based skin care guru, aka The Father of Internal Skin Care, to talk about how to get glowing skin while you jetset---regardless of your trip style! Find out how to win a special Dr. Murad skin care kit here!}

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to chat with the renowned Howard Murad M.D., founder of Murad Skincare and the Murad Inclusive Health Spa, Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine {Dermatology} at UCLA, bestselling author and brand ambassador, and busy dermatologist---who has managed to treat over 50,000 patients over the course of his career! I asked Dr. Murad to share his tips on travel skin care and how to keep your complexion healthy and glowing while on vacation. Here’s what I learned:

Airplanes Can Be More Damaging To The Skin Than The Sun Planes are one of the most dehydrating places on earth. With high levels of radiation at such altitudes; free radical and environmental damage are real concerns. What to do? “The skin is connected to the body, so if skin is dehydrated, so is the body,” explains Dr. Murad. “Internal hydration helps external hydration. Hydrating isn’t just about drinking your water, so much as eating it.” When you eat your water through fruits and vegetables, you not only hydrate, you also provide your body with antioxidants, anti-inflammatories and roughage. Whereas drinking too much water can flush out key nutrients. Eating water-rich raw foods like grapes, pomegranates, tomatoes and cucumbers helps hydrate and plump cells, giving you firmer, healthier looking, hydrated skin. This is an example of Dr. Murad’s philosophy of internal skin care and nurturing your skin from the inside out. So try to bring these fruits and veggies on the plane {if you're traveling domestically} to stay hydrated in-flight and keep your skin glowing! And while you’re at it, check out Dr. Murad’s book The Water Secret, the perfect beach read. On the surface, you can also hydrate the skin by using moisturizers with botanical extracts. We recommend Murad’s Hydro-Dynamic Ultimate Moisture, {Sephora.com, $65} an ultra-rich cream that locks in moisture for 8 hours and Active Radiance Serum Featuring Resilient-C Complex {Sephora.com, $89} which helps skin resist environmental damage.

You Really Are What You Eat Vitamin A is known to improve the look of your skin, and is commonly prescribed to treat acne and smooth fine lines. Dr. Murad recommends eating Vitamin A and antioxidant-rich foods to help your skin from the inside out. Tomatoes, apricots, carrots, pomegranates, melon, papayas {yellow and red fruits and veggies} and green tea are examples of foods that are not only hydrating, but high in Vitamin A and antioxidants---i.e. super foods for the body and skin. In addition, these foods can help reduce certain radiation from the sun---just another reason to fill up on them. Dr. Murad cautions to stay away from fried and fatty foods, noting “improper eating is not good for the body, and the skin is part of the body.” So to stay radiant while on vacation, fill up on Vitamin-A rich foods and eat healthy.

Keep Up Your Skin Care Routine Even on vacation, Dr. Murad recommends at the very least a 3-step skin care routine. Start with a cleanser for your skin type, follow with a treatment {depending on your skin, could be something for acne, wrinkles or pigmentation} and finish with a moisturizing sunscreen. Murad makes some fabulous travel-friendly kits that contain everything you need while on vacation, my favorites are: Age Reform Complete Skin Renewal Kit {Murad.com, $42.50} with: cleanser, treatment, day and night cream Radiant Skin Renewal Kit {Sephora.com, $45} with: cleanser, serum, moisturizer and treatment all packed with protecting and strengthening Vitamin C.

The Sun Being outside and enjoying yourself is part of being on vacation---it’s unrealistic to think that you can stay out of the sun entirely. Dr. Murad suggests mixing a good sunscreen with at least an SPF 15 and UVA and UVB protection {to combat the burning and aging rays, also called “broad spectrum” protection}, as well as “internal sunscreen” {a healthy diet of fruits and veggies rich in antioxidants}, will keep you protected and can even increase the effectiveness of sunscreen. He says to look for sunscreens that contain chemical blockers like avobenzone, octocrylene, and ecamsule, as well as physical blockers like zinc, oxide, and titanium dioxide. But being outside poses more risks than harmful sun rays, there's also pollution and smog to think about. According to Dr. Murad, “a moisturizing sunscreen rich in antioxidants, with ingredients like pomegranate and green tea will help protect your skin from harmful environmental elements.” We love Murad’s Energizing Pomegranate Moisturizer SPF 15 (Murad.com, $33) which protects from free radicals and contains antioxidant-rich pomegranate.

More Travel Beauty The Best Fragrance For Each Trip Style Q&A With tarte Cosmetics Founder Beauty Bars Around The World Travel Beauty Hair Tips from Celebrity Stylist Michael Shaun Corby 4 Products You’ve Never Heard Of In-Flight Essentials

{Murad Gift Giveaway: Open to residents of Canada and the USA. Entries will be accepted Aug 10 – 16. Winner chosen at random and announced Aug 16, and has two days, after prizing notification, to make contact.}

[photos courtesy Dr. Murad]

Tech Tuesday :: Google Hotel Finder

{Editor’s Note: Today is the last day you can enter our Travalo petite porta-perfume giveaway before noon PST! It takes 20 seconds or less, and all you have to do is comment on any TS post.}

Google's been eyeing travel for a long time, building their backend with both quiet and hotly talked-about acquisitions. Their voyage into travel is no surprise: with a strong hold on anything search-related, combined with the multi-billion dollar web travel space and their purchase of ITA software {the software that powers Kayak, Orbitz, Hawaiian Airlines, etc...}.

Google hotel finder In a move that I think only represents the tip of the iceberg, Google's just launched hotel finder {google.com/hotelfinder} is an "experiment." And for all you Google buffs, experiment---meaning "beta mode"---is what the search giant is likely transitioning their high-priority labs products into, given that Google labs is being phased out.

Travel Search Intended to be a travel meta search engine like Kayak or Bing Travel, I don't doubt they will quickly move from hotels, to flights to cars and so on. However, like with any experiment, it's not a done deal. Take Google city tours, a two-year-old city itinerary suggestion tool {presented with a map overlay and directions} within Google labs that never took off, yet is still online. With a touch more finessing, Google city tours could seriously help travelers trying to sort out what to do with 5, 24 or 48 hours in a destination, but sadly, it's pretty dormant right now.

Using Google hotel finder If you use a lot of different Google products, you'll recognize the ability to custom-select a geo area for your hotel {reminiscent of Google Adwords geo ad targeting}. Other helpful features include the ability to shortlist hotels that suit your fancy {eliminating the need to open a bazillion internet windows}, as well as determining the best time to visit with a percentage published beside every listing comparing its current price with its typical one. Like most travel products launched in the US, Google hotel finder works mainly with US cities right now.

The Verdict Google hotel finder shows promise and I encourage you to take 5 mins to try it out and compare and contrast it with your preferred online booking service, but at this point I see the majority of its value as a research versus booking tool. I also appreciate its integration into Google Maps {pictured above} which is very helpful for researching what hotels are available for your dates in a given area {navigate to maps.google.com then type, for example, 'hotels in vancouver' or 'hotels in seattle' to see dates and hotels appear}!

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More Tech Tuesday Travel Apps :: Flightboard Summer Travel Gadgets [1/2] Summer Travel Gadgets [2/2] Travel Apps :: Royal Tour Travel Apps :: Tiffany’s New York

[images sourced from Google]

Jetset Jingles :: R+R

[trip style = weekend getaway + sun]

{Editor’s Note: Have you entered this week’s petite porta-perfume giveaway? It takes 20 seconds or less, and all you have to do is comment on any TS post.}

Rest and relaxation: two requirements that are always high on my list when it comes to vacationing. Some escapes are busier than others:  there’s trip style = sightseeing that has you going to and fro, taking in all there is to see at your destination; the action-packed trip style = active & adventure that has you climbing mountains or furiously paddling down a roaring river; or the trip style = urban weekend getaway that has you wining and dining in fast-paced cityscapes. While these kind of trip styles are eye-opening and exhilarating, sometimes you need a change of pace from the go, go, go to a relaxing, do-nothing-and-sit-in-your-hammock kind of vacation.

The playlist I created this month compliments the kicked-back and relaxed trip style I’m talking about….the kind of trip that has you sitting back with your feet up, unwinding from your hectic everyday schedule and enjoying the summer scenery.

Whether you’re lounging lakeside, unwinding poolside or sprawled out on your hammock, these chill out tunes will have you rested and relaxed in no time.

Happy listening.

Song List 1/ Porcelain - Play & Play: B Sides 2/ Teardrop - Mezzanine 3/ In the Waiting Line - Simple Things 4/ Gatekeeper (Full mix) - Open Season 5/ Take Five - Dave Brubeck's Greatest Hits 6/ Intro - xx 7/ Come Away With Me - Norah Jones 8/ Lebanese Blonde - Garden State (Music from the Motion Picture) 9/ This Is the Thing - Distance and Time 10/ Where Is My Mind - Novö Piano

Playlist {Can't view this playlist? Click here.}

More Jetset Jingles Summer Staycation Camping Tunes Aussi Songs Best of Coachella Turbulence Calm

{Jetset Jingles publishes once monthly and is mixed and mastered by Nicole, amateur DJ by night and movie maven by day.}

[Photo by A. Ford]

Beachside Camping [1/2]

[trip style = camping & glamping + weekend getaway]

When: July 29th - August 1st Where: Tofino, BC Why: Brush up on trip style = camping with camp-savvy friends How: From Vancouver, 1h 40min ferry to Nanaimo + 3-hour drive

{Editor's Note: This summer we're publishing Monday - Thursday since most people are taking off early for the weekends---if not physically, then mentally. But Monday was a BC provincial holiday, so we wanted to make sure you collected enough trip style miles this week! PS - Have you entered this week's petite porta-perfume giveaway? It takes 20 seconds or less, and all you have to do is comment on any TS post.}

Even getting up at 4:30am, I wasn't sure if we'd catch the 6:20am ferry. Miraculously we did by only a few cars, which made the earlier than thou wake-up just a little more bearable, perhaps even slightly satisfying. We were headed to Tofino, on the West Coast of Vancouver Island to trip style = camping. At our beachside campsite {see my review here}, there was nothing between us and Hawaii but a beach, the Pacific Ocean and a 6-hour flight.

Packing... Not-So Light In the past few years, we've done more glamping {in Africa, Australia, the US and Canada} than camping. Our skills were rusty to say the least; partly evidenced by an SUV filled to the brim with everything from extraneous gear to our dog Nacho. Honestly, it was humbling. How is it I'm able to bring a carry-on with me to Australia for 3 weeks, yet I can't go camping for the weekend without the entire contents of my condo? {Trip Styler Tip :: Resist the urge to bring everything. Warm clothes and earplugs are a must for any campsite. Even in the summer, a toque helps your head stay warm in your sleeping bag.}

The Camping Trip That Couldn't I had high hopes for this seaside camping trip. Given my love of home decor, I wanted to turn my campsite into a glampsite, take pictures and then write about it. My goal was to spend no more than $20, plus with a few things from home, decorate my tree-covered plot into a Moroccan-inspired beach retreat. Sadly, even with all the accoutrements---solar-powered lanterns, velvety pillows with tassels and plush blankets---I failed miserably, mostly due to time constraints, a full day of tent-leaking rain and a violent, in-tent, 3am vomiting episode with my dog. After 2 loads of laundry and 50+ disinfectant wipes, all I can do is laugh about it now. {Trip Styler Tip :: I can't stress enough the importance of disinfectant wipes while camping. They are helpful for cleaning your tablecloth or knife in a jiffy, and great for cleaning dirty hands!}

The Camping Trip That Could While my Saturday circumstances on the front steps of the Pacific Ocean were not looking so bright, Friday, Sunday and Monday sparkled. Friday night we started cooking beer can chicken on the hibachi at 5pm---my first experience cooking a whole chicken! At first there were some significant flames, causing me to think the bird was going to be a bust, but two hours later we pulled away the foil tent placed around the bbq---apparently even our chicken was tenting---set the picnic table with a wipeable red and white checked tablecloth and dined on the tender white meat with the slightest hint of brew. Friday's cooking adventures aside, Sunday was the day, both for me and my friends. After surfing at Cox Bay, beach walking with his gal and spending a lengthy sundown toast atop blankets on the beach Sunday night, my friend's boyfriend from Australia mentioned it was one of his best days in Canada. For some reason, I took it as a compliment on behalf of the natural beauty of my country. {Trip Styler Tip :: The ultra easy beer can chicken recipe can be found in Coleman's Camping Cookbook iPhone app, along with other campsite delicacies such as bocconcini s’mores.}

One Step Forward Two Steps Back Needing more than a tent and campfire for a successful camping trip, I suggest venturing into the outdoors with a fun group of people, the right gear and a fisherman! Saturday's deluge sent any affinity I have for "roughing it" two steps back, yet the 20+ pound Spring salmon my friend's husband caught and she seasoned and barbecued for dinner, redeemed it with one big step forward. Hoping to even out my camping experience with an additional step forward, I'm going to monitor the weather like a hawk, pack less, and do a "Beachside Camping 2/2" continuation at some point over the next two months. Who knows, hopefully my Moroccan beachside retreat won't be just a figment of my imagination! {Trip Styler Tip :: If there's even a 10% chance of rain, don't chance it. Set up a tarp over your tent in such a way that no part of it might cause water to run off and pool near your tent. PS - lots of rope, likely more than you think you'll need, is helpful too.}

If you have camping tips, send them along by commenting below, I'm sure all part- and full-time campers could use a refresher, about as much as sunny skies!

[photos by nstoik, @tripstyler & @nate_fri]