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Jennifer’s Vacation Diary - Part II Planes, Boats, and Automobiles

Just like the movie, “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles,” my recent trip to Ecuador definitely had multiple forms of transportation. We took planes to boats to buses to taxis and back to planes again to arrive at our destinations. Every location was worth the hassle, but with so many forms of transportation you can guarantee something will go wrong at some point, leaving you stranded without food or water, and needing to relax tight and achy muscles. Here are my plan ahead tips:

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Pack Healthy Snacks

After a full day of travel back from the Galapagos Islands (a taxi, to a ferry, to a bus, to back to back flights) we were finally landing at the Quito airport to catch yet another hour and a half taxi to Cotopaxi. As we made our descent, we experienced heavy turbulence. Just as the wheels were about to touch the ground we took back off again. This happened not once, but twice! So the captain headed back to Guayaquil where we could land safely. We sat on the plane for 4 hours waiting for a new crew and starving at this point. Luckily we had packed some healthy homemade energy bars from Whole Foods and almonds to get us through this long day without a real meal. I know it sounds like a bit of a hassle but I never regret having a little healthy snack taking up room in my purse for emergency purposes like these!

Stretch

After hours sitting in cramped airplane seats, and already a little achy from a two and half hour boat ride the previous day in the most choppy of ocean waters, (I literally caught air multiple times until a doctor recommended holding myself down by grasping the seat cushions. Umm, duh Jennifer) I had to stretch! Yes, I was the weirdo in the middle of the aisle doing my favorite DS stretches - hip flexors, hamstrings, spine, and chest extensions. I felt better afterwards and woke up feeling fine the next day because of it.

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Drink Plenty of Water

Being on planes and in high altitudes can dehydrate you quicker than a typical day. Mix in the fact that you are most likely having a few extra cocktails and desserts since it is vacation and now you have a recipe for travelers constipation, bloating, energy loss, and looking old with more wrinkles and dry skin. Gross, ugh, boo, and no thank you! So drink up! In Ecuador we bought gallons of water for the room and drank up to a gallon of water a day. It helped with all of the above!

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About the Author

Jennifer McCamish is owner and Director of Programming and Training at Dancers Shape. Jennifer has over 30 years of dance experience with training from legendary institutes in New York City, London, Los Angeles and New Orleans. She received a B.A. in Dance from the University of Texas at Austin (Dean’s List) and was a professional dancer in New York City for thirteen years. She danced at Radio City Music Hall as a Radio City Rockette performing in numerous productions of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Fifi Awards and the NYC Christopher Columbus Day Parade. Read more about Jennifer.