Chia seeds and other little things you hope don't get scattered in your suitcase

Know your body. What medications and supplements do you take? A couple of weeks before departure, I laid out all my bottles (it seems to be edging on 3 figures) and decided that if I wanted room for my swim suit and an extra shirt, I'd better leave some containers at home. That was my first mistake (others to be described later). I take a variety of pills and powders (and Chia seeds). Some are absolutely essential medications to keep my body working properly. I wasn't sure how essential the supplements were, so I left several of them at home. Sadly, some pesky problems began my second day in South Africa, and my daughter took me to a pharmacy in J0-burg. That was a fun outing, in that the owner was a very nice man whose daughter owns Poleci (pronounced like "policy"), a high-end clothing line, in Los Angeles. He carefully suggested products, which I bought, but it was not how I wanted to spend time in a great big country that I'd never seen before.

I've come to love my chia seeds. They crunch so nicely when mixed in with my fiber drink. I decided to leave them at home because seeds and fiber were two of the supplements I thought I could skip for 3 weeks, and having a Baggie of chia seeds split open in my suitcase was something I wanted to avoid. Now, I don't know if skipping those 2 products did my body any harm (probably not, but I'm choosing to worry about it just a little), but I regretted leaving that part of my daily routine at home.

The added benefit to taking everything with you is that everything is in one place when you arrive at home, and it's very simple to continue the routine.

Check back for more obvious and aggravating health problems while traveling.