Breastfeeding is best when you travel

by Jamie Rhein on

There have been discussions about breastfeeding and travel on Gadling before. Breastfeeding on an airplane, in particular, has come up as a subject with many opinions. Here’s my take. I was reminded of my breast feeding days when I saw a woman with a two-month old at the movie Sherlock Holmes. When it comes to travel, breastfeeding is the way to go. And don’t worry about what anyone thinks about it.

If you’ve ever been to West Africa where a breast is for nursing children and not used as an object desire, you’ll see where I’m coming from. My Peace Corps male friends who were in The Gambia when I was would moan every time they saw a woman pounding grain without a shirt on or whipping a breast out in the middle of a conversation to nurse an infant, “This is ruining it for me,” they would say. What would they have to fixate on-to fantasize over?

When my son was born in India on New Year’s Day, I was fortunate to be living in India, a country where breast feeding is seen as natural as breathing. It gave me the notion that babies and travel do indeed go together.

Because I breast fed only, for six months my husband and I traveled bottle free. There was no worry about our son getting sick. No paraphernalia to pack. I’d pack onesies, a few cute outfits, and a pair of baby shoes, one of those plastic diaper changer travel kits, disposable diapers, burp cloths and a cloth baby blanket. (The portable changer rolls up to slip into a daypack and has a pocket for carrying two or three diapers and baby wipes.)

Breastfeeding made our lives easier. What I also discovered is that if one is quiet and discrete, you can breast-feed about anywhere as long as you look comfortable. I breast fed in movie theaters, museums, and restaurants. If you’re not worried about what people think about you nursing, you’ll feel comfortable. If you’re comfortable, chances are they won’t notice, and if they do, it won’t seem like a big deal. Think of it this way. Your breastfeeding is helping add to the peace and quiet of everyone else. Your baby who is breast-feeding is not crying. On an airplane, that’s a real gift to give to passengers-particularly during take offs and landing.

To help make breastfeeding easier, take a light weight shawl with you and wear shirts that provide room for your baby to nurse comfortably, but also will cover your breast.

Even when I traveled in the summer in the U.S. and breast fed there, I never had any problems.

For more tips on traveling with a nursing infant, whether breast or bottle fed, check out “Travel Recommendations for The Nursing Mother” at the Center of Disease Control and Prevention’s website.

5 ways to cure your travel hangover

by Brenda Yun on

Travel hangover (NOUN): the sad feeling you have upon returning home from an inspiring trip, otherwise known as the back-home blues or a hangover without the alcohol

We’ve all had it, and there’s no easy cure for it either. No matter how eager you are to return home from a trip, there’s something about the trip that you’re bound to miss — whether it’s the food, the culture, the sunsets, or the escape from reality. Upon returning home, you find yourself bummed out. Not only that: your friends just don’t understand — and can’t do much to get you out of your back-home funk.

Don’t get me wrong: there’s no place like home, but there’s also nothing like traveling abroad. Usually, the longer you’re away the longer your travel hangover will be. Here are a few ways to get rid of your “illness” a little quicker.

  1. Take time to reflect: Before you get back into the swing of things back home, make sure you reflect on the trip you just took and take note of the things you learned — about yourself and the place you went. If possible, share your reflections with your friends and family, as they will be better able to lift your spirits when you feel sad.
  2. Get and stay busy: Once home, try to get out of the house as much as possible and engage yourself in the real world. Getting and staying busy will force you to spend energy on other things rather than dwell on what you’re missing.
  3. Be grateful: I once sent a letter and care package to a lady I stayed with in Vanuatu and she wrote back with such enormous gratitude that it really lifted my spirits even more than my deed lifted hers. We often forget to say thank you to the people who made our time abroad so memorable and special. All it takes is a little thank you postcard, which is a small thing for the gift you just got in traveling.
  4. Make a difference: Your journey doesn’t have to end when you return to home soil. In fact, there are several ways to continue your trip in a metaphorical sense by saying thank you (#4) or giving back to the people who gave to you. If you don’t have the cash to make a donation to a local NGO, do your part to educate the people you know about what’s going on in the world. Sometimes the smallest gestures have the biggest outcomes.
  5. Plan your next trip: If you’re really feeling bummed out and still dreaming big, who’s to say you can’t begin planning for your next great adventure? Book your next ticket abroad! That way, you’ll have something to look forward to as well as back on.

While there may not be a sure fire way to cure your back-home blues, there are plenty of ways to turn your frown into a smile — and maybe even make others smile in the process. The world is your oyster, but so is your home, so take advantage of having your loved ones beside you again, and take comfort that your next big trip is just around the corner.

Is airplane air toxic?

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s a recent CNN article about a flight attendant who became ill after working a flight back in 2007. Her illness is alarming.

First, she felt as though she were coming down with a cold; then her nasal discharge was a neon green — the color of antifreeze! Since then, she claims to have suffered chronic migraine headaches, tingling in her feet, loss of balance and vision problems.

These health problems did not happen without warning. Right before her ailments started, the attendant noticed a “misty haze type of smoke” in the cabin of the American Airlines MD-82 plane. The haze occurred right after the plane landed and was heading to the gate.

The flight attendant’s visit to a neurologist confirmed she had been exposed to toxins. Because her condition is so bad, and she blames the airplane’s design for the toxins, she’s suing Boeing, the maker of the vessel. According to the lawsuit, the “bleed air” had been contaminated.


Bleed air is recirculated cabin air that’s mixed with the air pulled into the engines during a flight. The air that goes through the engine is cooled and compressed before being used in the cabin. The danger of bleed air being contaminated is small, however: according to the CNN article that presents a detailed account of the attendant’s story, one study has found that airplanes can have a fume leak 0.05% of the time. What causes a fume leak is unclear, but one idea is a leaky seal.

Currently, there aren’t conclusions about what caused this particular attendant’s sickness. She had flown for 17 years without any problems. Her case is not the only one where an attendant has become sick allegedly because of airplane air. Some pilots have also reported becoming ill, as have passengers.

The article also points out that because people’s immune systems differ, not everyone will be affected by toxins in the same way; many people may not be affected at all. It is also good to know that there are more studies being conducted to find out more about toxins in airplanes and what should and can be done to minimize the threat. The idea of being afflicted with neon green nasal discharge is not appealing.

Indonesian Minister: Tourists should wear masks

by Stephen Greenwood on

Indonesian Health Minister, Siti Fadilah Supari has stated that the country will ask all people arriving from swine-flu affected countries to wear face masks for at least three days after arrival.

“Visitors from infected countries should wear masks. It’s a precautionary measure we’re taking to avoid human-to-human transmission of the virus,” Supari told AFP. “We’ll give them the masks when they arrive at the airports and tell them to wear them for three days.”

So far 8 cases of the A(H1N1) Influenza virus have been confirmed, including three Australians and a Briton living in Australia.

“There’ll be no penalty if people don’t wear them. You can’t expect people to wear masks when they’re swimming,” Supari said, adding the masks would be handed out to visitors as soon as possible. Supari made the shock announcement after a ministerial meeting to discuss swine flu.

It remains to be seen whether the Indonesian Health Ministry can get people to put the masks on correctly.

Mexico and being “Mexican Enough”

by Brenda Yun on

As the scare over the swine flu escalates and the border regions grow increasingly violent, it’s about time we put some perspective on what exactly is going on in Mexico. Just two months ago, I contemplated whether or not Mexico was a dangerous travel destination, and the thread of comments to the article sparked even more interest for me to see and experience Mexico for myself.

I’m talking about the heart of Mexico, mind you, not the touristy coastal towns or culturally rich Oaxaca. I want to see the part that few talk about, the REAL Mexico, where the social and political struggles are transparent, and the people are living and breathing Mexico in all its raw glory.

That’s exactly why I picked up Stephanie Elizondo Griest’s recent travel memoir, Mexican Enough. Having seen Griest read from this book last year, read and reviewed her other books (Around the Bloc and 100 Places Every Woman Should Go), and spoken with Griest over the phone, I felt I could identify with Griest as a solo female traveler paving her own path in wide open world. If I can’t right now travel to Mexico myself, I wanted to read about it from someone I could trust.
Griest’s own journey to Mexico took place over the course of several trips to various parts of the country between 2004-2006. While she had been so daring to travel to such countries as Russia, China, and Cuba, Griest had an overriding fear of her half-motherland. As a bi-racial child growing up in Mexico, Griest felt she was never quite Mexican enough, and opted to avoid traveling to Mexico altogether until she realized she was running away from her own half-reflection.

Mexican Enough covers such potent topics as being bi-racial, social politics, gender roles, and immigration. Griest is able to confront her Mexican heritage and accept that she is, in fact, Mexican enough. She enters parts of Mexico during a Red Alert, witnesses the post-election riots, and investigates the disturbing violence against gay and women rights movements throughout the country.

I really enjoyed Griest’s ability to weave together these different threads into an interesting — at times humorous, at others heartbreaking — tale. There’s much to be learned from reading Griest’s memoir, but most of all, Mexico clearly remains a fascinating and culturally rich place that everyone should experience at least once in their lives.

A friend of mine is a traveling nurse and has been spending the past three years on the Arizona-Mexico border, witnessing the devastating drug-related violence there. When I asked him if I could go down with him some time to see it for myself, he responded, “I don’t care if you interested in the air rescue that saves lives, the drug cartels, or the human casualties at the border, but the pain and suffering that goes with it would probably be enough for a normal American to go crazy. It’s not worth going down there for the story. It’s only worth it if you’re willing to risk your life to see just how precious life is and how peaceful it could/should be but is not.”

Luckily, Griest’s latest memoir helped to satisfy my thirst for the real Mexico. I’ll wait for my chance to see Mexico one day when it’s just a little safer.