Holistic Haute Couture:
The Argos Ayurvedic Summer Travel Guide to Synergizing Style & Well-being
We bring you savvy travel suggestions from uber eco-chic Ayurvedic practitioner Aubrey Bamdad, the trailblazing brand maven and visionary force behind Argos Destinations. Whether she's jet-setting to hidden retreats, self-enrichment safaris or crafting bespoke wellness adventures, Aubrey's expertise and elevated eco-conscious style set the gold standard for lush, immersive, soul-stirring travel experiences.
The Ayurvedic Approach
As a seasoned Ayurvedic practitioner, Aubrey's approach to wellness is unique. She focuses on preventive healthcare applications that aim to maintain physical, mental, and emotional equilibrium. The tradition of Ayurveda is based on the theory of the five elements (Pancha Mahabhuta)– earth, water, fire, air, and ether or space—and how they relate to our individual bodily constitution, as well as our sensory faculties. These elements are not just abstractions; they form the very fabric of our existence, comprising the substratum of all things in the natural world and governing our physical and mental states. This approach involves an ongoing assessment of how the elements manifest in our mind and body, and how their qualitative effects can be modulated through food, lifestyle, and other holistic practices.
During air travel, the light, drying, and spacey qualities of vata dosha, which is made up of air and ether elements, naturally increase. This can create a host of common travel complaints including intestinal gas, constipation, anxiety, insomnia, restlessness, nervousness, coldness, inflexibility and rigidity of the joints, muscles and mind. Aubrey assures that these conditions can be easily managed by integrating simple steps into a travel routine.
Protocols for Travel
While most people are heading to Paris this summer for the Olympics, Aubrey is enroute to a Buddhist hermitage in the forests of Normandy on the French Atlantique coast for a retreat on Dharma teachings.
Here are a few of her straightforward and effective protocols as well as what she’s wearing, reading, listening to, inhaling and imbibing this summer.
Inflight tips
Some of Aubrey’s biggest pet peeves during air travel are being cold or uncomfortable in what she’s wearing, or not having the self care tools that she needs to manage her health inflight. This summer her travel loungewear of choice is Alo Yoga’s Muse sweatshirt and matching sweatpants in ivory, which are not only stylish but also cozy and practical. She compliments the look with the Tiger scarf from Fara Boutique which is both gorgeous and functional, as wearing silk around the neck can insulate precious body heat.
She is carrying onboard the Calpak Stevyn duffle in pink, filled with must-haves for both staying healthy in the summer heat and while in and out of air conditioned Ubers and airports. One of her current favorite carry-on stashes is the Greatest Hits Skincare set in TSA-approved mini sizes by LilFox, which she uses for inflight facials.
Aubrey applies a lavish layer of the Melty Jungle Cleansing Balm then covers her face for a quick steam with a hot, damp hemp washcloth that she packs in a ziplock. She completes this ritual with a copious spritzing of the Bitter Orange Toning Mist and by dabbing Cupu-Cool Hyaluronic Treatment Balm to acupressure points around her eyes before taking a few direct palm inhalations of Living Alchemy’s Supreme Breath essential oil blend, then finally putting on her LilFox flourite eye mask and settling in for a brainwave entrainment session and an extended catnap.
One of her most critical self-care hacks for minimizing internal dryness and maintaining optimal health while traveling in the summer is to stay well-hydrated. Aubrey always brings chia seeds to add to water as they pack well, are nutrient-dense, contain natural electrolytes, and are naturally hydrophilic, (which is to say they love water.) They are also very absorbent, slowly releasing their fluids into your system to provide sustained levels of hydration. Aubrey also travels with several sizes of Dyln water bottles, which alkalizes water up to 9+ pH. Alkaline water is naturally more hydrating and absorbable to the body’s tissues.
Tips Upon Landing
One trick Aubrey uses to readjust her circadian rhythm after changing time zones is to catch a sunrise or sunset in the new location right after landing. This works even better if you can go outside to watch it directly and put your bare feet on the earth.
After checking into her hotel, one of the first things she does is take a healing aromatic and botanical bath. She often formulates and packs her own bath salts using a combination of Epsom salts, magnesium flakes, essential oils and Molecular hydrogen tablets, which help to reduce oxidative stress and neutralize harm from free radicals, hastening recovery time from jet stress.
To offset the effects of both external and internal dryness as well to regulate and calm her nervous system and mind, Aubrey massages herself after her bath from head to toe with Aromabliss’s Vata oil and savors a delicious spoonful of Ixcacao Treasure Medicinal Ghee before lighting a stick of cypress traditional Japanese incense to invoke the aromatic power of the forest. She puts on her favorite Cosmic Mystery silk pijamas, which Ayurveda considers to be one of the most thermo-regulating, breathable, nevermind luxurious fabrics on the planet and settles down to listen to the latest on The Emerald Podcast, or a passage from Work, Sex and Money by Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche to pen a journal entry, or to read an excerpt from the classic on deep ecology, Thinking Like A Mountain, A Counsel of Beings or The Other Shore, Thich Nhat Hahn’s translation of the Buddhist Heart Sutras, before embarking on her adventures ahead.
Conclusion
Aubrey's Ayurvedic travel guide masterfully blends style and well-being, offering holistic protocols for the modern traveler. Through a conscientious inflight regimen, focusing on comfort, hydration, and skin care, alongside post-landing practices like aromatic baths and grounding rituals, Aubrey’s approach not only mitigates travel-induced imbalances but also transforms travel into a rejuvenating experience. Her commitment to eco-conscious and luxurious wellness sets a new standard for holistic haute couture.
Aubrey is a mother, author, philosopher, yogini, and meditator as well as an Ayurvedic practitioner, and clinical herbalist with decades of intensive experience in these respective fields. She has led hundreds of retreats, programs, and events worldwide since 2005. Aubrey is the founder and CEO of Argos Destinations and the executive travel designer of the Argos Experiences. When she’s not globetrotting, Aubrey is at home in the Peruvian Amazon at her wellness center that is part ethnobotanical garden and part animal sanctuary, amid hundreds of species of medicinal flora and a myriad of wild things including an ocelot named Set and a one-eyed owl named Kali.
