Back in March, USA Today reported that the TSA would be re-testing airport body scanners for radiation after they found maintenance records for some of the machines showed radiation levels ten times higher than expected. TSA said these records reflected math mistakes and that the machines passed all inspections. My miniscule fear grew. I’ve since tried to avert these machines by using lanes that have a regular x-ray machine (much less radiation here, right? Please say yes!).

Then today I read this article on Radiation Overdose at the Airport reporting that “A large number of workers have been falling victim to cancer, strokes and heart disease.” This got my fear ball growing.

Just how far does this radiation reach? Could people standing in the nearby x-ray lane, just a few feet away, be affected by this radiation, as well? What is the cumulative impact of going through (and standing near) these machines? Add to that the radiation we’re exposed to by flying on a plane and then what does the impact of radiation look like?

While I await scientific answers to the above, I’ll be more attentive to what security lane I enter. I’ll be looking for a lane where the full body scanner isn’t in operation and thus will get the regular x-ray lane by default. If a regular x-ray machine is abutting a full-body scanner lane, I’ll head to the x-ray lane and keep my conversation to myself.

I think what got me the ‘come hither finger’ today was that I said a friendly Good Morning to the TSA Agent standing at the entrance of the full body scanner. When our eyes met, ‘the finger’ came next!

Here’s a recap of your options to avoid the full body scanner:

• Opt out of the scanner and submit to a full body pat-down;
• Be vigilant in getting into security lanes with the old-style x-ray machines;
• Avoid flying and instead take a car, a bus, a train, a boat, or charter a private plane

And watch out for the ‘come hither finger!’

To receive a free copy of our ebook, 70 Secrets to Safe Travel — Because Your Life Can Change in a Heartbeat, and for more travel savvy info to help you travel smarter, safer and with more enjoyment, visit SmartWomenTravelers.com and PearlsofTravelWisdom.com.

Click here to view the embedded video.

To receive a free copy of our ebook, 70 Secrets to Safe Travel — Because Your Life Can Change in a Heartbeat, and for more travel savvy info to help you travel smarter, safer and with more enjoyment, visit SmartWomenTravelers.com and PearlsofTravelWisdom.com.

Eating healthy and Travel – Do they go together?  They sure can! Take a look at these easy to pack foods that give you healthy options for snacking in-flight, morning breakfast and hunger attacks.

And if you think a ultra-heavy suitcase is needed to pack all of this, think again!  Take a peek into my actual packed luggage here.

To receive a free copy of our ebook, 70 Secrets to Safe Travel — Because Your Life Can Change in a Heartbeat, and for more travel savvy info to help you travel smarter, safer and with more enjoyment, visit SmartWomenTravelers.com and PearlsofTravelWisdom.com.

Many of these restaurant meals are at hotels. Some hotels I stay at often, while others are for a one-time event.

One of the hotels I’ve been frequenting a lot lately is the Hilton Garden Inn in Aberdeen, Scotland. About seven stays of two weeks each – more than enough time to try every item on their Granite City Restaurant’s menu, at least several times each. And enough time to get really bored with looking at the same foods night after night.

But I didn’t’ get bored – not at all. In fact, I was sad when I had my last dinner at the HGI restaurant.

How could I have gotten so attached to one hotel restaurant? Easy. It was Chef Brian and his team.

I started asking the servers to have meals prepared a bit healthier (leave the sauces off, skip the potatoes). While their menu has a lot of great items prepared just as described, I avoid anything with gluten or dairy so a few modifications are needed. Brian recognized that I was routinely asking for grilled chicken or fish and steamed vegetables. He came out of the kitchen and asked me about other items I’d like to have. He’d suggest several fish alternatives and said he would prepare them however I’d like. He’d tell me about the upcoming specials so I’d know what would be available in the next week.

It got to the point that I didn’t need to explain anything to the server as to how I wanted my meal prepared. All I had to say was “Ask Brian to prepare a healthy meal for Carol.” And that’s what I got.

Was I a high-maintenance customer? I don’t think so. Brian was eager to please and I think he enjoyed the creativity of taking his menu items and preparing them a bit differently.

And I was one very happy customer each time I ate at Granite City Restaurant. I really felt like I had my own private chef.

Can you also have your own private chef? Of course! It’s just a matter of asking for menu items to be prepared to your liking. Most restaurants, in-hotel or not, will be happy to meet your requests as long as the food items are available. This is especially important if you have food sensitivities so don’t be afraid to ask!

p.s. Speaking of food sensitivities, if you’re eating gluten-free, check out this Gluten Free Travel Site. And if you are traveling to a country where you do not speak the language, it can be difficult to explain what foods you cannot eat. SelectWisely offers food and travel translation cards for communicating food allergies and other health problems.

Minneapolis (MSP) has got to be towards the top of the list. Sometimes I feel like I’m walking between two cities in this airport. (Maybe that’s why they called it Minneapolis / St. Paul because it’s the bridge between the two cities!)

Atlanta (ATL) is surely in the running, since their lack of moving walkways keeps us putting one foot in front of the other. And when you just get to gate B32, your gate may change to A1! That walk alone could get you 10,000 steps just for one flight!

Dallas? Chicago’s United terminal (or checking in at Continental’s terminal, then having a gate at the end of Terminal C)? London Heathrow? Amsterdam?

Usually the longer the walk, the more us travelers complain. But I’m trying to look at the ‘healthy’ side of things, so the distance can actually be a good thing!

Where do you think the airport walks are the longest?

I stayed at the Westin Dublin this past weekend and had a beautiful room overlooking the Temple Bar area. Before hitting the pubs, I took advantage of the Westin’s workout room to get in a calorie deficit before BG (Before Guinness). Their workout room was small in area, but very full in equipment. Free weights, weight machines, treadmill, bike, elliptical and more. And I had the room all to myself when I used it. Very nice!

Then I saw a sign in the elevator for WestinFitness rooms (also known as WestinWorkout rooms) – guestrooms with their own fitness equipment. What a great idea! I asked for a tour and the hotel’s staff was glad to take me to one of these rooms.

When I saw the room, my first thought was “I could really get used to this!”

Roll out of bed and jump on the treadmill. No worry about bedhead, no safety worries if you prefer working out at night. Use your own equipment whenever you want in the comfort of your own room. Plenty of floor space for yoga, for using the provided free weights, stability ball and resistance bands and to watch the exercise DVD’s on the big flat screen tv. This is the ‘no excuse’ room … if you can’t find time to get in at least a few minutes of workout in this room, you’ll never do it!

If you want the expanded fitness room, you’ve got that too, which is great if you’re staying with someone who has a different workout or sleep schedule than you.

I see one major downside to the WestinFitness rooms – it’s virtually impossible to know which properties have these great rooms. It’s the great Westin secret.

I used the Advanced Search on www.westin.com and found that searching for a WestinFitness room is not an option. I then called Westin and was told that if I could give them the exact property I was interested in, they’d tell me if there were fitness guest rooms. So I gave them the Dublin property, since that’s where I just saw the room with the treadmill. Their reservation system said that the Westin Dublin had no WestinFitness rooms. When I told the reservation agent that “Yes, they do,” she told me that “No, they don’t show that they do.” Maybe I just imagined taking this video! Since I travel to so many large cities where several Westins are located, I’d never want to spend the time on the phone with Westin reservationists going through property by property looking for a WestinFitness room.

I also wanted to know what the average difference in rate was between a regular room and a WestinFitness room, but I wasn’t able to get that information due to their reservation system inadequacies.

So Westin – you’ve got a great thing going here … Don’t let it be a secret!

p.s. If someone does discover the WestinFitness room secret, I wonder if they book it just to hang their clothes over the treadmill like they do at home?

Post a comment with your healthy eating suggestions. I’d really like to hear where to find restaurants that serve organic foods.

So can you will your miles to someone else? My husband and I were just talking about this a few days ago, and then poof! this great article appears.

USA Today published an article by George Hobica of www.Airfarewatchdog.com. The answer is “yes.” Sort of.

. . . despite the fact that many airlines issue blanket statements in their rules that miles are not transferable upon death, Airfarewatchdog has found that the airlines do in fact allow miles to be inherited, or to be awarded in a divorce settlement. Call their frequent-flier service departments, and you’ll get an entirely different answer from what you see on the airlines’ websites.

Read  the full article for details, and a chart detailing:

• Airline
• What the Web site says about transferring miles in general
• Cost to transfer miles among the living
• What the service center told us about inheriting miles (deceased to inheritor)
• Documentation needed to process deceased’s account

So include this planning into your affairs and leave account numbers and passwords where your family can find them, and make those special plans to use the miles that you have been traveling so much to earn.

I first checked online to see if the Orlando airport offered any spa or nail service.  Sure enough, a facility named XpresSpa is located in MCO.  They offer a Mani-Xpress, custom fit for traveling schedules. XpresSpa also offer massages, facials, pedicures, waxing and cater to both female and male. They sell products at their stores and online and are located in several U.S. airports as well as international. Each spa is open 7 days a week, 16 hours a day. Check XpresSpa's website to see if they are in an airport near you. D_Parture Spa is also in Orlando. They offer similar services to XpresSpa and also offer haircuts for the entire family. Their menu of services has a nice feature of showing the number of minutes involved in each service so you can plan accordingly before a flight. A third choice you may find in your airport (or mall) is 10MinuteManicure. Not only can you get a quick manicure, teeth whitening is an option as well. Between these three companies (as well as others offering spa services at many airports), there is something for everyone, and hopefully within the right time schedule.

Unfortunately for my timeframe, I will be at the airport in the early morning hours and the spas in Orlando are not yet open, so I'll be getting on the plane without a fresh coat of polish.  However, it might be easier for me to find a nail spa in my arrival city, as it will be easier to get my nails polished and not have to worry about going through security, extracting my driver's license from my wallet, and pulling my laptop out of my tote … things that can easily destroy just-polished nails.

A massage would be fantastic if a long flight delay is now in your schedule. Why stress over the flight delay? Go find a spa and enjoy a wonderful massage, then get on the flight and fall asleep. Though If I had a massage prior to boarding, I would probably be a no-show for my flight – I'd be sleeping right on the massage table.

If your schedule is always go, go, go like mine, whether at home or on the road, you rarely make time to enjoy a massage or even a manicure.  Some of these great airport services may be just the ticket to relax and put a bit of enjoyment into your journey.

To find a spa in an airport you travel through, there is a good list by airport tracked by Travel To Wellness. About.com also has a list of airport spas for the U.S. and Canada.

If you have used any airport spa services, let us know your thoughts. I'd really like to know if nail polish really hardens within 10 minutes so I can stroll though the TSA process with no dings to my just-done nails.

Thousands of times I have used the excuse of “I travel” to explain why I am over my desired weight. Long work days and hours spent in travel time are great for explaining why I have little time to exercise.  And when girl-talk gets going, I find I am not the only one with digestive issues when on the road.  Now, all of that is changing.  I am on my way to a lean, fit body and travel will no longer be an excuse.

So what am I doing differently that I have not been doing in my many years of travel?

First, I am bringing a high-quality protein shake mix that I can make in my hotel room for my breakfast.  I’ve mixed up my protein shake mix with a spoon in a 12 oz. cup and added ice.  If I am using the blender (I like to have my Magic Bullet
with me), I also blend in a cup of berries.  Without the blender, the berries can be eaten separately.

Second, I am asking restaurants to prepare a meal without sauces, gravies, butter or lots of oil. Instead, I ask for a grilled chicken breast or salmon, for example, with a double-side of grilled vegetables. No pasta, potato or bread. Salads topped with the same types of grilled protein, along with oil and vinegar dressing, and I have a great lunch. I also like to grab lunch or dinner at Whole Foods if there is one nearby, as their salads and meat choices make for great meals. 

Third, I am traveling with exercise bands.  They’re a great way to get in a decent workout when there is either no fitness center in a hotel or very limited time to exercise.  I also have my X-Iser in my hotel room so I can get a great workout in just minutes (you can travel with the X-Iser as it fits in many roller bags and weighs just 14 pounds).

Fourth, and very importantly, I am using a coach to help me accomplish my goals. I have tried unsuccessfully over the years to get fit myself (“I’m smart enough to do this on my own,” or so I thought), and have realized that I need to enlist the help of an expert. I am working via phone and email with JJ Virgin, Nutritionist to the Stars and expert from shows like Dr. Phil and Extreme Makeover.  In just a few weeks, I have gotten into a very healthy eating habit, even in hotels and airports, my weight is heading down and I’m losing inches. I am very excited!  JJ has a free call this Saturday if you’d like to hear about the 21-day Detox program that I followed.  Go to JJ’s Lose Weight call and listen in.
 

I’ll put together a list of healthier eating choices in airports so you, too, can grab a better meal before boarding a flight.  If you have favorites that you’d like to share, post a comment and we’ll get it on the list.