Essential Oils While Traveling | 10 Must-Have Young Living Essential Oils for Travel With Kids

Well, it's no secret that our time in Nicaragua is almost up (10 days!) - We're really excited to go home and start up some new projects, but we know for sure that the moment we step off the plane into Canada we're going to miss las Nicaraguense gente, la ciudad de Managua y Granada, playa Maderas, and the friends we've made here.

That said, I think that after 4 months of roaming up and down Nicaraguan mountains and markets with two kids, The Butlers are officially seasoned Central American travellers. So it comes with a small pinch of authority that I share...

Dum dum da dum...

The 10 Best Young Living Essential Oils for Travel!

(At least, the best for us.)

As a note, all of the essential oils that our family use are Young Living brand, and this post isn't intended to diagnose, treat or cure any illness or offer any prescription advice. I am not a doctor.  If you have a specific condition, I am happy to lead you to resources that can help you take charge of your own health or I recommend you seek a healthcare professional in your area of interest.

1. Peppermint: Travelling into different regions of the world exposes your body (and little bodies) to a variety of new bacteria that may not sit well for the first few days, or even weeks. That's why we've used Young Living's Peppermint essential oil topically diluted on our bellies to soothe upset tummies associated with travel and / or added 1 drop to a pot of boiled water for tea and drank it.

2. DiGize: We're pretty adventurous eaters and drinkers, but we're not naive either: Nicaragua hosts parasites that are easy to pick up. Children native to Nicaragua are actually given anti-parasite medication on an annual basis! We've used Young Living's DiGize essential oil topically on our bellies and our daughter's bellies to help pass any possible parasites. When we get home, we'll also be ingesting some papaya seed extract (not a YL product).

3. Lavender: We've used Young Living's Lavender essential oil topically on sunburns after swimming, and to help relax and calm our daughters for long car trips or plane rides.

4. Thieves: Travelling brings you into contact with a variety of new bugs - from airports, airplanes, taxis and markets. We've used Thieves topically diluted on the bottoms of our feet (and our daughters' ) to help prevent full-blown illness when we started to feel under the weather.

5. Thieves Spray: We've used Young Living's Thieves Spray to help clean surfaces on the airplane and in other public areas. Although it's not recommended, we've also sprayed Thieves Spray at the back of our throat to help reduce pain from a sore throat (only on adults - never on children).

6. Grapefruit: Nicaragua is really hot. Like, really hot. We're all constantly guzzling bottles of water, which can sometimes lead to fluid retention. We've used Young Living's Grapefruit essential oil topically on our bellies to help reduce water retention, and add 1 drop into a full 1L bottle of water to help detox from any bugs we may have picked up along the way.

7. Lemon: Like I said, Nicaragua is really hot. We've used Young Living's Lemon essential oil topically on acne or pimples that appeared in the early few weeks of our trip.

8. Valor: Soft surfaces don't exist in Nicaragua: kids are either standing on tile or concrete at any given time - and there have been quite a few accidents associated with this craziness. We've used Young Living's Valor essential oil topically on any bumps and bruises our children have incurred along the way.

9. Stress Away: Travelling with kids inevitably involves stress and frustration. Kids are upset that they're out of routine (or in our case, that routine constantly changes), and their totally understandable but still ridiculous behaviour can really interrupt the flow of peaceful parenting. Stress Away has helped us with that - it smells great and usually lives up to its namesake. Stress... away.

10. RC: This sounds basic, but here goes: there is nothing worse than having a trip dampened by something as simple as the sniffles. It happens, friends... it always happens. RC is perfect for any congestion and coughs you may experience while you're supposed to be exploring the world.