7 Tips to Travel Smart With Your Essential Oils

Are you wondering what the best way is to take your essential oils with you while traveling? We, at FeastingOnJoy Oils, get that question a lot! Once you make essential oils the remedy that’s your first line of defense, you’ll always want to have them with you no matter where you’re at.

We always travel with our essential oils, whether it’s a day trip or a two-week vacation. Countless times they have come in handy for us and those we’ve shared them with.

I want to share with you seven tips and tricks that will help you to travel smart with your essential oils.

1 | Identify the Essential Oils You Use The Most?

Whether you’re going on a short or long trip via road or airplane, it’s best to take an inventory of the oils you have been using the most of in the past month. Take note of the season of the year you are vacationing and forward think about any types of issues you might encounter that you might need an essential oil for in the place you are visiting.

• Could there be biting bugs?
• Might you come in contact with fragrance you need to detox from?
• Will there be a lot of input and you’ll need some help relaxing and winding down?
• Will you be around a lot of people which means a lot of germs?
• Do you think there’s a possibility of stomach upset?

We always take our emergency oils with us for starters! Once you have figured out what you need to be prepared for, make a written list of oils you think would be the best choices to bring on your trip.

2 | Decide How You’re Going to Carry Your Essential Oils

It makes a difference what form of travel you are taking as to what way you should carry your oils.

• Are you going on a road trip?
• Are you flying via airplane?
• Maybe you’re taking a train or cruise ship?

The most common forms of travel are in a vehicle and on an airplane so we’ll address those.

For Road Trips You’ll Need a Carrying Case to Hold Your Essential Oils

Honestly, when we take road trips, we take all of our oils unless we know at some point we may have to leave them in a hot car. Citrus oils and heat don’t mix. We love these types of soft-sided, carry cases that have shoulders straps, are lined with foam and have outer and inner pockets. I like to get some of my cases here.

Since oils are always in my purse, {this is my favorite one} I also have smaller cases like this that are great for carrying sample size bottles of oil on my person.

For Airplane Travel You’ll Do Things a Bit Differently

Due to TSA, you’ll need to have your essential oils in a quart size Ziploc bag for carrying on. The best part of this rule is that you can cram as many essential oil bottles as will fit, into your quart size bag and each person in your party can bring one bag. With our family of four, we have been able to take 30+ essential oils bottles this way! If you are checking your bag then I still recommend storing your oil bottles in Ziplocs or something watertight so if they leak, you won’t have a problem.

I also bring my smaller sample case (pictured above) to load in my purse upon arrival at our destination. It’s important I remember to put in my checked bags because if I don’t it will guarantee a search and possible confiscation by TSA should I put it in my carry on.

When traveling via airplane, upon arrival, we really don’t like to store our oils in the Ziploc bags we brought them in so we will usually bring one or more smaller cases. We usually place them in our checked baggage and transfer the oils to them once we get settled where we are staying.

3 | Purpose to Keep Your Essential Oil Lids Tight!

One of the biggest regrets I hear from people is that upon arrival to their destination, either via plane, or car, they discover one of their favorite oils only has a few drops left in the bottle because it leaked out and evaporated. Keep your bottle tops VERY tight when traveling! Tighten, tighten and tighten some more so you won’t arrive at your long-awaited vacation with disappointment.

4 | Forego the Heat on Your Essential Oils

Heat and certain essential oils don’t mix. The most fragile types of oils that actually get damaged by high heat are the citrus oils. This is the reason why they are cold-pressed and not steam distilled when extracted.

When traveling, you’ll need to be mindful that you do not leave your essential oils in the heated car above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. If you do, the fragile molecules in your citrus oils will get damaged.

If you know you are going to be someplace hot or not be able to carry your oils on your person, it’s best to leave your oils in an air-conditioned place instead of bringing them along.

5 | To Diffuse or Not. The Best Essential Oil Diffusers to Bring on Your Trip

You may be a little intimidated bringing a diffuser along in your travels but I want to reassure you that it’s possible and extremely beneficial to have when vacationing.

We utilize a variety of different diffusers in our home and some are better than others for travel.

Personally, we prefer bringing our Aroma Lite diffuser and our ultra-sonic car diffuser along when we go places. The Aroma Lite diffuses big rooms yet, it’s sturdy constitution travels well. We love to make sure it’s cleaned out and dry and either pack it in our check-in bags padded in between clothing or we like to bring it in our soft-sided bags for car travel.

It’s so convenient and quick to set-up upon our arrival and it’s great to use to cleanse the air, ward off germs, repel bugs and reduce allergens and toxins in the air. Time and time again we have had great success bringing our diffuser along on our travels.

The other diffuser we bring is our ultra-sonic car diffuser and I can’t tell you how many times this one has come in handy! It even has a USB port so if needed, we can plug it into our computer. I wish I could link it for you but it’s a while supplies last product with doTERRA so there is no link. Honestly, it’s the best car diffuser I have found.

It works wonders for making the car smell better, helping with car sickness and stomach upset, reducing germs in the air and cutting back on pollens floating around. It’s also wonderful for diffusing relaxing essential oils when you are stuck in traffic. We highly recommend investing in a quality one! The best types are the ultra-sonic kind that fit in the cup holder and use water and essential oils. We have found the pad diffusers to be short-lived and not effective long-term.

6 | Share Your Essential Oils

One of the fun reasons to bring your oils when you’re traveling is because you get to share them. There have been so many times my husband and I have shared our oils with family, friends, and complete strangers. It’s always such a blessing to be able to help someone out naturally with an issue they’re having! We’ve given samples bottles out on the airplane for queasiness, headaches and cooling and we even shared drops from our full bottles with anybody who needs them during our adventures.

It’s always great to be prepared. I remember recently when we were at a kids activity and a boy came into the room bleeding profusely from his big toe that he stubbed badly. I quickly grabbed three doTERRA Essential Oils – Helichrysum to help stop the bleeding, Lavender, to calm him down and Melaleuca to help stave off infection. When his mother got back from where she was, she was so grateful that I had been able to help her son.

**It’s important you are educated about essential oil safety, potency and usage when you share oils and I teach every person in my FOJO tribe how to be safe with essential oils through ongoing education.

Sharing oils with others is an excellent idea as long as you use common sense, knowledge and a have a true understanding of the power of using essential oils therapeutically.

7 | X-Rays and Essential Oils

When you fly on an airplane, your essential oils will be scanned by x-ray machines, both for carry-on luggage and checked baggage. It’s important to understand that x-rays can minimally alter the molecular structure of your essential oils. However, with a one-time pass through the x-ray, the changes are minute, if any. According to Dr. David Stewart, Ph.D., D.N.M., during x-rays, the ray actually has to hit a molecule to fracture it. This happens to about 1 in 10,000 molecules. The coolest part is that the oils can actually fix themselves due to the electrons that know what to do when their molecules are fractured. Just say a prayer over your oils and they’ll be fine! All that being said, if you travel via airplane a lot and bring your oils, it’s probably better not to bring your big bottles but rather smaller bottles that you can refill.

Be Smart When Traveling With Your Essential Oils

You are now equipped with seven ways to travel smart with your essential oils. Bring the oils you’re currently using the most of and be mindful of what you may need at your destination. Invest in a few durable travel cases both big and small and keep your tops tight, tight, tight when traveling. Keep your citrus oils out of the heat and remember to bring your diffuser since it is so beneficial. Lastly, if you are educated in oils, don’t hesitate to share your gifts of the earth with others and don’t stress about the airport x-rays!

Happy travels to you!