Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Travel Kits

I really try to keep up with my dog's healthcare when we travel. Long distance drives are stressful, and stress effects the immune system, the digestive system, the nervous system… well, everything (for humans too). On this particular trip I'm also in New Hampshire for several weeks, so I need to think about what I might need while I'm there too. Having done this particular trip with her for a couple of years, I've gotten better at "kitting up" her stuff (well, our stuff, we share a lot of it).

I often get those sideways looks about my stock of "just in case" supplies, but keeping things can be useful if done with consideration. A few things you'll see in these photos: insulated bags from Wild Kitty Raw Food, small measuring spoons from Pet Superfood, an empty spice jar, and a small divided box for holding one ounce bottles. 



 

The first photo is of my bottle kit. This carries bottled tinctures, homeopathics, and aromatherapy products that make up the bulk of my first aid kit. There's colloidal silver, AromaDog Quick Fix, a homemade bee remedy for Vida (she's allergic), a heartworm prevention tincture, and a few tinctures for me. I also have some flower remedies and homeopathics in a small soft kit that holds 10ml bottles.

This kit is stored behind the front seat in a cooler (no ice, just the insulation of the cooler) that I'll put a folded blanket or towel over for extra insulation. There's enough room that I can put my toiletries in the same cooler. Driving can get hot, so this layered insulation method is helpful.


This next series is of her supplement kit. I use this kit nightly while traveling, and during our stay at the end of the trip. During the drive this kit is kept in a small backpack in the trunk with our other overnight stuff (her dehydrated food, bowl, and toy, along with my stuff for the night) so I can quickly unpack it from the car to the hotel room. I don't worry as much about temperature because all the items are dry powders that will get used up during the trip.

I did some repackaging to make things fit. I've got Green Mush in a smaller jar (the gold top). The Organic Pet Superfood is in it's original container. The NK-9 capsules were put in a bag (who needs a jar for capsules?). 



The large container is a Connectin tub. The powder comes in a plastic bag within the tub, so it's easy to adapt that to hold more items. I bagged up the Perfect Form (in two layers of ziplocks) to stuff in there, and the measuring spoons fit in too.



The glass spice bottle is obviously not sage, as is printed on the glass. This is a homemade powder of equal parts Turmeric, Astragalus, and Ashwagandha. I made it up for the trip in order to continue some of the ingredients I've been using during the past several months in a way that was easier to travel with (no teas to cook, no expensive refrigerated liquids to protect). I'm going to take some myself, as I do with the Green Mush, added to my smoothies.


I packed a couple of things that I didn't break out until we got to New Hampshire: a new bottle of sardine/anchovy oil, chia and hemp seeds, and some chaga. The drive wasn't the best thing for them, but I'll be using them up while we're here.

We're swimming in the lake every day, enjoying the change of pace, and still working on keeping (the both of us) healthy.

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