Traveling while being sustainable- A Bag, A Tea Mug & Yoga

I'm in Ottawa on training until Friday, I flew in last night. I had plans... to go see the city, do yoga every single night, write blog posts. My second night and all I want to do is sleep... I should have known, Hanen workshops are always wonderful but completely and utterly exhausting. My goal tomorrow is to have enough of a snack around 3-4pm that I'll make it to a yoga class in a studio by 7:30pm. Hopefully.

 (me, being all tired and non-explore-y in my hotel room: Hi!. Cool light-head huh?)

 I've always had some difficulty sticking to my eco-guns while traveling. This time though, I've made a few adjustments and, I have to say, I'm very pleased with my tiny, miniscule steps. Even though I had to fly, which is a huge carbon-suck. Ah well... some things are beyond our control (and please don't suggest that I should have a) driven, b) taken a train or c) not gone- it was for work).

My first fun step was my carry-on/work bag. I finally ordered a new one since my previous bag broke (after two 1/2 years of fabulous service, the big strap broke and it no longer is appropriate from a professional stand point), and I LOVE it.

This is my "Aries Sport" Mariclaro bag. Made by hand in Toronto from car apholstery and other recycled material. It's sturdy, the seatbelt straps, although you might think would be ugly, are pretty, stylish and comfortable. I adore the sturdy zipper and easy to clean material. It's the perfect size for my lunch tin, shoes, agenda, books and whatever else. It was so fantastic on the flight. Love love love. Now if only they made yoga mat bags....

My second excellent piece of travel eco-genius was my tea mug. Andrew bought me a Libre tea mug for our Yulemas and all the yummy loose tea I've been drinking. It has a plastic out-part and glass interior and a very pretty top. I actually prefer it as a strainer on the go. While traveling I put the loose tea in the mug, heat water with the hotel coffee pot and steep the tea, straining it into a mug or cup after it's done. It's super easy to clean and use. I'm honestly not sold on using it as a mug of tea to go, as I would have to steep the tea in advance- I really don't like over-steeping my tea. But it's a great comfort.

The best though? Are my shampoo and conditioner "containers". I hate bringing my whole shampoo bottles with me. Mostly because I leave Andrew with only the crap shampoo and because it might break and squish all over my clothes. Luckily, we had these two small glass cheese and jelly samples gifted to us and had never eaten. Andrew washed them out for me and perfect for my shampoo and conditioner!

Although I didn't do so well on the remembering a plastic bag for my liquids part (I had chosen one of my cloth bags, forgetting the rule. Now I have another plastic bag for stuff), I'm glad for the adjustments I did make that didn't seem to add to my packing or travel-kit. Also, thank goodness for my DivaCup, best travel partner ever. Anyone else feel like it's time for another DivaCup post???

Now... time for some slow and nice late evening yoga in my hotel room. (Does anyone else choose their luggage bag to fit their yoga mat? Also, had to look up the prAna revolution mat weight to make adjustments and accommodations on how much I packed... can't sacrifice the mat!).

Blessings!

article and photographs copyright of EcoYogini at ecoyogini.blogspot.com