Travel Series- Chia Fresca, TSA

Hello everyone!  Spring is in the air, flowers are popping up all over the place.  Great time of year!!  This gets me excited for summer, and more importantly, TRAVEL SEASON!!  YESSSSSSS!  I have had a love/hate relationship with travel.  When I was younger I used to love to go on vacations.  Then, as I got older, I started going on vacation with people other than my parents.  It was then that travel got a bit more stressful for me.  After more and more travel practice, however, I have become an old pro.   Because of this, I am starting a bloggie series of my best travel tips.  I know that these tips will be helpful to SOMEBODY out there, and even if it only helps one person, it's worth it.

Alright, here we go.  Chia Fresca.  When you travel, especially throughout the summer, you need to make sure you stay hydrated.  When you fly, the air on the plane is so dry that you tend to dehydrate faster than if you were on the ground.  What's really cool about chia is that, when mixed with a bit of water, it turns into a gel that is SUPER hydrating.  What I like to do when I travel is make Chai Fresca.  It's uber easy to do, and it keeps you very hydrated.  Not to mention that it's full of fiber so it helps with internal...discomfort... that often happens to people when traveling.

So here's what you need-
water
chia
lemon wedge (1/8th of a lemon is fine)

Fill up your water bottle (this is 12oz), add 1-2 T of chia seeds.

Mix well with the water and add the lemon juice.  The.End.

It'll be very gelatinous, and semi-thick like a milkshake.  It'll taste fresh, and will keep you energized and hydrated.  If flying, you can either get a bottle of water after you get through security and add the chia/lemon to it, or take your refillable water bottle through security (you may need to open it to prove that it's empty), and fill it up at the fountain.  I like to add goji berries, dried cherries, or raisins to encourage myself to drink all of my water throughout the flight.  You can pack the chia, lemon, and any extra dried fruit in a ziplock and it'll easily get through security.

SPEAKING of security...

SO, TSA.  My thoughts on the whole backscatter "naked body scanners" as they're so lovingly called.  I.DO.NOT.GO.THROUGH.THESE.MACHINES.  Pat away, TSA, pat away.  I simply do NOT trust that these machines are safe.  Any time you get an X-ray, you expose yourself to radiation.  "Experts" say that you  get more radiation by flying 2 minutes on a flight from NYC to LA, but you know what?  It's all CUMULATIVE.  It all adds up.  X-rays at the dentist.  X-rays at the doctor.  Radiation while flying.  Radiation while going through these machines at the airport.  If I have the option of avoiding one of these methods of radiation, I will.  Hence, I'm an opt-out.  My husband is an opt-out.  If TSA yells "OPT OUT!!", I'll yell it right back.  Negativity aside, in the next post I'll talk about what I wear through security to make the whole process easier.