Charleston Airport Travel Hacks for Fit and Frugal Road Warriors

When you’re ready to travel again you can use these awesome travel hacks to stay healthy and keep your wallet full.

By: Rich Tavetian, Guest Writer

I know what you’re thinking. “Is he crazy? I’m not traveling anywhere with these Covid-19 spikes happening!”

Well, yes. You’re right. I am crazy. Even if you don’t want to travel now you might eventually..  It’s 2021! Can’t be worse than 2020.

Plus, vaccines are looking promising so now’s the time to start planning your travels for the year.

When the pandemic hit the U.S. in 2020 it also hit my travel bug. Hard.

Every year I was so used to traveling domestically and internationally.

Whether it was a short weekend getaway locally or a trip overseas I really do miss the joys of travel. I’m sure you do too! Don’t you?

Working-from-home is fun and convenient but it can be tough to keep your sanity.

In fact, I traveled basically every other week for business or pleasure and I was so used to having my bags packed for the airport. These are my TripIt stats from my app (love this app).

Here’s what my travel looked like the past several years:

• 2017: 1,857 miles traveled. 8 days total. 2 trips. 1 country. 6 cities.
• 2018: 44,342 miles traveled. 99 days total. 16 trips. 3 countries. 31 cities.
• 2019: 43,040 miles traveled. 90 days total. 18 trips. 2 countries. 24 cities.
• 2020 (shhhh.. don’t tell anyone): 4,496 miles traveled. 12 days. 3 trips. 1 country. 6 cities.

That’s a staggering total of:

• 93,735 miles traveled
• 209 days total
• 39 trips taken
• 6 countries/regions visited
• 49 cities

All of this travel was incredible. I even visited Shanghai China where I was solicited for selfies from locals! On multiple occasions..it was awkward but funny.

To have all this amazing travel be gone in a blink of an eye due the pandemic was very sad.

Look, I’m not saying not to take travel safety precautions seriously but I am advocating to travel for the sake of your health and wellbeing.

Besides, it might be time for you to get away!

In addition to all of the health benefits from exercise, eating healthy, and supplements like mct oils and apple cider vinegar gummies studies have shown that travel really does improve your health.

Even if “travel” means just driving somewhere within two hours of where you live it’s a simple, inexpensive way to get out of the house.

I personally prefer flying when I travel but even a short drive getaway has some great mental benefits to break you from your routine.

During my travels I picked up some seriously awesome habits.

These travel hacks I documented are for the fit and frugal road warriors.

Whether you’re departing from Charleston Airport or arriving at Charleston Airport these are the travel hacks you need to know.

Here they are:

By the way, if you want to listen to these tips in podcast form at TheRichLifePodcast.com it’s in two parts: [Part 1] and [Part 2]. Otherwise, happy travels!

Staying fit on the road

The airport and airlines are filled with germs. Kids and adults cough everywhere and spread their germs to everyone around them (even with those ridiculously looking clear face guards).

Use these tips to avoid getting sick or feeling crappy from your flights.

1. Bring a small hand sanitizer everywhere, but you don’t have to go crazy with it. Use it in the high foot traffic areas like airline seats, bathrooms, and gates.
2. Bring chewing gum to avoid ear popping from the air pressure on the flight or use my air pressure relief technique where you hold your nose and gently push air out.
3. When you’re on the plane avoid touching the seat and seat basket in front of you completely
4. Avoid touching your face (or nail-biting in my case) while in the airport or flight
5. Take a multivitamin (with Vitamin C) before or when you arrive to the airport
6. Avoid sugary sodas and high caffeine drinks that will make you crash, the goal is to stay hydrated
7. Avoid the free snacks and drinks from the airline in-flight, most are high sugar and high caffeine (really, look at the ingredients!)
8. Avoid anything with too much saturated fat, fries burgers because you’ll feel sluggish
9. Find high protein items to-go (hard boiled eggs, protein bars low sugar). Charleston airport has them usually at the front of the small markets. There’s one on the left as soon as you pass security and another market in the further terminal.
10. Pack up on veggies and salad greens with lean protein where possible (pre-sliced in packages, salads in a box are okay but skip the high sodium dressings)
11. Avoid high sodium packaged sandwiches at all costs. Those sandwiches are ridiculously high in sodium. Take a second to read those labels!

Don’t break the bank on the road

Everything is WAY more expensive at the airport and on the plane so be smart with planning and preparation.

I call it the “airport tax”. It’s a real thing people!

Why? Because they know they got you, of course you’re going to splurge on that overpriced water and croissant.

Here’s how to get the most of your time traveling and not break the bank:

1. Bring a non-fiction book (or fiction if that’s your thing) to learn something in your field rather than paying for Wi-Fi or watching a mindless movie (unless you need to veg-out of course). Actually, the markets at Charleston Airport have some decent books for sale too and they’re not outrageously priced.
2. Download an audiobook or two to keep on your phone as backups if you don’t have access to Wi-Fi. Particularly, the airlines that charge for Wi-Fi will get you if you don’t feel like paying for it. Sidebar: Seriously why do airlines charge for Wi-Fi still? It’s nuts to me.
3. Bring an empty water bottle to bring through security then fill up at water fountains to stay hydrated $1 vs $6+ (seriously for a water bottle)
4. Bring a protein bar or two from home $1 vs $6+
5. Bring a small bag of nuts, almonds, or low-sugar trail mix. $1 vs $8+ (for a bag of high sugar trail mix)
6. When it comes to food, avoid the big chains and higher end restaurants in the airport. They charge much higher costs for everything, because the can. Try to stick to smaller portions meals from the small shops, kiosks, and stands.

There you have it folks!

Airport travel hacks for fit and frugal road warriors.

Hope you enjoyed it and safe travels to wherever the wind takes you.

This post was written by Rich Tavetian

Rich Tavetian writes about Business, Tech, Food, and Real Estate and is host of The Rich Life Podcast.

You can find him on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. He answers every Instagram DM, come say hello!

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