DIY Soothing Travel Aromatherapy Blends & Recipes

By Marisa Lampert

Traveling is a great way to explore, relax, and see all of the beautiful places we learn and dream about. When preparing for a trip, travel aromatherapy, especially essential oil blends, can help you stay healthy, relaxed, and balanced on your journey — and they don’t take up a lot of space or time to prepare.

At e3, we all have favorite travel aromatherapy blends we never leave home without. Here are a few of our favorite recipes that we always take on the road. But remember, a recipe is a suggestion or guideline. The important thing is that the blend you use is pleasing to your senses, so you look forward to using it.

Tummy Soothing
When in a new environment, trying new foods and drinks and exploring new cultures is so much fun, and sometimes it can take a moment for your system to adjust. Essential oils for nausea, anxiety, and fatigue can help you re-center and get back to feeling great, so make sure you include some of the following in your travel aromatherapy kit. Orange Sweet or Basil can help to ease cramping. Bergamot, Lavender, or Neroli are all calming essential oils, and can help quiet anxiety while on the go. Get more digestive support ideas and suggestions here.

Denise’s Travel Aromatherapy: Upset Tummy Blend
2 drops Cardamom
2 drops Ginger
2 drops Peppermint
2 drops Clove Bud
OR 10 drops e3 Digestion Blend
Combine with 1 ounce lotion or carrier oil

This blend works well on the go for indigestion and heartburn. Mix and shake oils well with the lotion or carrier oil, and massage a dime-sized amount into your abdomen for relief. Be sure to follow the flow of the colon.

Sleep Spritzer
Have trouble sleeping in a strange place, or struggling with a time change? Mix up a bedtime blend before you leave, and spritz on a tissue next to your pillow or on the linens before sleep. Lavender and Bergamot are both great choices for insomnia, and you can add Mandarin if you’re feeling worried, or Frankincense if your mind is racing with thoughts of your trip. Read more about essential oils for insomnia here.

Sweet Dreams Spritzer
5 drops Lavender
5 drops Bergamot
OR 10 drops e3 Relax or Sleeptime blends
Combine with 4 oz Orange Blossom (Neroli) floral water

Mix all ingredients into the Orange Blossom floral water spritzer bottle and shake well. Spritz your sheets before bed, or spritz on a tissue and tuck into your pillow.

Add Air Freshening & Cleansing to Your Travel Aromatherapy Kit
Help support healthy breathing, refresh and clear any hotel/motel room stale odors with essential oils. e3’s Respiratory blend is a great option to help support and soothe breathing in smoggy cities or when flying. For musty tents, stuffy cars, or any other air that needs a little refreshing, citrusy or camphoraceous essential oils can be helpful. For more ideas for cleaning your vacation home or camping gear naturally with essential oils, click here.

Fresh & Clean Air Spritzer
3 drops Bergamot
4 drops Clary Sage
3 drops Lemongrass
5 drops Eucalyptus Citriodora
OR 10 drops e3 Breathe Easy, Cold & Sinus, or Respiratory blends
Combine with 1 ounce spritzer bottle & water

Add essential oils to the spritzer bottle, then fill to the shoulder with distilled water. Shake and spritz as needed, spraying as high in the air as possible (allowing more essential oil molecules to fall through and freshen the air).

Jet Lag Relief
When adjusting to a different time zone, you may notice yourself feeling a variety of symptoms at once: headache, fatigue, indigestion, irritability, excessive drowsiness, or even insomnia. Wendy likes to travel with a ziplock baggie of Epsom salts and her jet lag blend already mixed, ready to use; so she can relax into the new schedule with a warm bath. 

Wendy’s Travel Aromatherapy: Jet Lag Bath Blend
2 drops Grapefruit
2 drops Bergamot
2 drops Lavender
1 cup Epsom salts
Mix in a ziplock baggie or travel container

Pour Epsom salts and add essential oils. When you’ve arrived at your destination, and your bath is drawn, pour mixture into tub, breathe deeply and relax.

We invite you to share your favorite essential oil travel tips on our Facebook page. Are you ready to start creating your own travel aromatherapy recipes? Be sure to download a free copy of Listen to Your Nose: An Introduction to Aromatherapy. Knowing these basics will give you the confidence to get started.