What are Team USA's Travel Hacks for the Olympics and Paralympics

SELF Magazine

Competitive sports can involve a lot of travel to and from competitions, so SELF asked Team USA if they have travel hacks to help them arrive at the Paris Olympics and Paralympics feeling their best.

Transcript

00:00I think a travel hack for me is sleeping on the plane

00:03when you can, so I always pack my travel pillow with me

00:05and I put it around front ways on my neck

00:07so I can kind of lean on it like this.

00:10And then I have an eye mask.

00:11And put your hands in your seatbelt, right?

00:14And then you just kind of lock in.

00:16Just lock in here.

00:17And then you'll sleep on a plane.

00:19♪♪

00:24I have a lifting hook that I use when I lift

00:26and I don't know why.

00:28Maybe because I'm, like, anti-prosthetic.

00:30But I started traveling with my hook

00:33so I could hook on my carry-on

00:35and then I could have my phone,

00:36especially, like, when things change

00:38or if I'm looking for something or somebody calls me.

00:40Like, it's only one thing,

00:41but it's literally a game-changer.

00:43Like, I feel like I have so much more ability

00:45to, like, do things or pay for things.

00:47Like, I have my hand available.

00:49Traveling is always going to throw a curveball at you,

00:53no matter what, no matter how well you plan.

00:55For me, I just always like to bring comfortable foods,

01:00no matter what,

01:01whether that's, like, a breakfast food, a snack food,

01:04because you never really know what you're going to get,

01:05so I'll always fill my suitcase up.

01:07Having, like, a familiar blanket, pillow, PJs,

01:10like, I think I get so much better quality sleep

01:12and it, like, really helps me perform a lot.

01:14Yeah, I have my pillow that I travel with.

01:16Yeah, keeps me sane.

01:17Underrated, for sure.

01:19I love organizing to the maximum degree.

01:22It could be two weeks, three weeks.

01:24I consolidate all my things into, like, a little carry-on

01:27and, like, one little personal, and that's it.

01:30Bring my sleeping mask with me all the time

01:34to make sure I get the best sleep possible.

01:36Puts me in a deep sleep,

01:37because pitch black gets me ready for the big game.

01:40If you know me, you know my suitcase will be overweight

01:43because I carry all my coffee with me.

01:45Like, I pack for three weeks of coffee,

01:48and I usually have one bag left,

01:51because there's so much you can't control

01:52when you're traveling.

01:53The one thing I can control

01:55is the one thing I'm passionate about, and that's coffee.

01:58I have this device that I travel with.

02:00It's, like, this big, and there's two of them,

02:03and you put them right here on your leg,

02:05and it's called a Firefly.

02:06It helps with recovery.

02:08It's almost like a Norma Tech boot,

02:10but you can travel with it, you can take it anywhere,

02:12and you can wear it as long as you want.

02:14Traveling the world is such a blessing,

02:17and learning new cultures and seeing new things

02:21is something I get really easily inspired by,

02:23and I think it's easy on the road or during tough times

02:27to get homesick and think of home,

02:29or if I was home, I could be doing this or doing that,

02:32and for me, when you're traveling,

02:35it's just so important to try to be as present as possible

02:37and just be grateful for where you are and what you're doing

02:40and trying to enjoy that as much as possible.

02:43And for me, my travel hack is fly business,

02:47but also just, like, make your environment

02:50that you're going to as similar to home

02:53and what makes you comfortable as possible,

02:55especially, like, when we're in a two-week training trip

02:59or something like that,

03:01you're gonna struggle to get sleep,

03:02you're gonna struggle to eat well,

03:04you're gonna have all of these struggles,

03:05so taking away some of the struggle in your routine,

03:08like establishing what do you wanna do for skincare,

03:11how do you wanna be when you're going to sleep,

03:13how do you wanna wake up,

03:15what do you want the space that you're gonna spend

03:18a good amount of time in and, like, decompress in

03:20to feel like.

03:21I normally like to travel with my bands and stuff with me,

03:25on me at all times,

03:26so I can do kind of, like, kind of workouts

03:28and stretching as well.

03:30Best travel hacks have to be all of my recovery tools.

03:34I always have, like, some type of TENS unit

03:37or, like, my Theragun.

03:39Also, hydration's super important.

03:41I always have water, electrolytes.

03:43I like to keep my morning routine as normal as possible,

03:46so I bring my own coffee, I bring, like, a pour-over set.

03:49It's a whole thing.

03:50I always travel with my Omega watch

03:53because it helps me stay on time.

03:54Like, that's so important in every sport

03:57and, like, literally any part of life.

03:59I also bring all my skincare, all my haircare.

04:04Like, you get so dried out in the pool.

04:06That's super important.

04:08And then also just things from home.

04:09Like, I like to always have a stuffed animal with me.

04:13My friends always make fun of me

04:15because they're like, I'm always complaining

04:16about how I'm overpacking.

04:17They're like, well, you do have two stuffed animals

04:19in your bag, so I'm that kid, I guess.

04:22That's okay.

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