Brain Health While Traveling
What I'm bringing and doing on my travels
For the next year, I’ll be travelling with my son on a gap year adventure before he starts college next fall. If you’d like to follow my travels, I’ve started a travelogue called You’re a Trip and you can subscribe to it (for free) at atrip.substack.com.
With only two suitcases, one checked bag and one carry-on, I had to make some hard decisions about what things to bring to maintain my brain health and provide support if and when I needed it.
My kit includes the following:
Lumebox
I shine this portable red light therapy device on my cervical spine, my face, my skull, and my joints. If I feel like I’m coming down with something, I’ll put it on my chest. It’s a powerful device that’s easy to travel with.
Note: Unlike a Vielight device, the Lumebox isn’t modulated at a certain frequency. The light is simply on. That’s fine for what it does. The Vielight has a different purpose.
Vielight Neuro Gamma
A brain-specific photobiomodulation device. It’s red-light therapy for your brain. The nasal applicator delivers light to your brain through your nose. Some lights stimulate the areas of your brain associated with the Default Mode Network. Yes, those lights can penetrate your skull. Learn more here.
Walking
People say they walk “to clear their head” and that is literally true—walking stimulates the brain’s glymphatic system (the only other time that system kicks into full gear is when you’re sleeping). Whilst walking at a Zone 2 cardio pace, I can feel my brain clearing about 30 to 40 minutes in. A few weeks ago, I bumped my head, and I turned up the dial on walking multiple times a day. Works every time.
Wim Hof App
I use this almost every day to do three rounds of breathing, usually mid-morning. Indispensable. It seems that it isn’t just the oxygenation that helps your brain, but the cyclical hypoxia that this breathing method creates. It seems to create a pumping action whereby the blood is contracted and expanded inside your brain with each round of breathing. I’ve measured the results with an fMRI. It works.
Supplements
In the morning, I take Seed probiotics, dopa mucuna, Rhodiola, and creatine. An hour or so before bedtime, I take Thorne’s Magnesium Citrimate and L-theanine. I
Neorhythm
I’m bringing this because it can help me and, perhaps more importantly, it can help my wife and son should they get a migraine (it has a pain reduction mode). I don’t use it often, but I might use it to reduce jet lag by inducing sleep. It can also help ADD with its Focus mode.
Per my previous post, I’m also getting more regular sun exposure. And I’m drinking spring water more regularly and getting my feet into the sand on the beach more often.
While I’m in Europe, I might seek out the atlas treatment from AtlantoVib. To be determined.
There was a time when I might have been quite anxious about doing this extended travel—fear of sensory overwhelm; not knowing who or where to turn if things got bad; and not having a quiet place to retreat to. So it’s another opportunity to appreciate what’s possible.
If you’d like to follow my travels, subscribe (for free) to You’re a Trip.
Brainwave is a newsletter about brain health, a personal blog about my own journey, and an informational resource for people whose symptoms haven’t resolved after a concussion or mTBI. I aim to present this information clearly and concisely, spelling out what’s backed by science and what remains unknown. Nothing here is meant as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. I am not a physician or a healthcare practitioner of any kind; I’ve had a lot of sports-related head trauma and had to learn this stuff the hard way. If you found this information helpful or know someone who might benefit from it, please share and subscribe to Brainwave.