CBD is inarguably all the rage as you can access products nearly anywhere in person or online. Yet so many people don’t know or understand how to use CBD or why they should use Kush Queen products daily. My philosophy in regards to cannabinoids is preventative and consistent use. As an every day, multiple times a day user, I believe in keeping my endocannabinoid system nourished. Today’ I’m sharing a recap of my recent trip to New York for Fashion Week. 

Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine the places and spaces Kush Queen would take me. One of those places is New York Fashion Week to celebrate the launch of our collaboration with alice+olivia. Fashion Week. New York. Kush Queen. I am still shook.  

NYFW CBD Travel Diary

I use cannabis to live my life free from mood stabilizing pharmaceuticals which requires me to think through my life and plan ahead. Upcoming travel always means I up my daily dose and stay mindful of my sleep patterns. So much about any type of cannabis use is about finding what works for you by learning from others. Here are the notes from my NYFW travel diary.

The Pre-Game – Planning and Adjusting My CBD Dosing

Traveling and changing time zones can be one of the biggest triggers for me. Pre-flight stress always creeps in 72-36 hours before take-off. A few years ago, I built out a CBD routine to ease into traveling. Trust me, you want to give this a shot if you share the same type of pre-travel feelings. 

My pre-traveling CBD ritual includes: 

  • Gummies RX, in the morning and at night the day before my flight. I also keep these with me at all times just in case I need to take the edge off mid travels. 
  • A pre-flight CBD bath. I swell up on airplanes, so I use our new 200mg alice+olivia Bath Bomb to prep my body for the long flight and help ease my pre-flight stress. 

I love the higher dose CBD bath bomb because it’s stronger than our regular doses. It’s like carb-loading before a long workout; I was about to be exposed to germs, plane air, and a time zone change. Plus, floating in the bath is always a time I take for myself to clear my mind and bring myself into the present before traveling.

Sunday, September 8, 2019 – The Day Before the alice + olivia Presentation

Late Afternoon

I arrived at our amazing brownstone in Brooklyn and notice my post-flight swelling wasn’t as bad as usual, must have been my pre-flight CBD bath bomb. I take a full dropper of Bäre before heading to dinner, which is about a 33.3mg dose of CBD. Ahhh – comfy shoes (check), cute outfit (check), mind at ease (check)! 

(Late) Night Time

My fashion week looks arrived straight from the alice+olivia showroom. I popped a Gummies RX CBD gummy before getting fitted to keep my pre-show jitters from creeping in. After my fitting, I showered with our Soaked CBD shower gel and then lathered up in our alice+olivia CBD body lotion before heading to bed. No chance for bad sleep, aching feet or a restless mind to steal my slumber. 

Monday, September 9, 2019 – alice + olivia presentation

Mid Morning

A pre hair and makeup dose of CBD is always what I need. Anytime I am putting a full face of makeup on I wear our Defynt CBD Skin Serum and Kingdm CBD Primer under my make up. Many people ask why they should use CBD in their makeup routine? 

The 3 main reasons to use CBD with your makeup routine:

  1. CBD has anti-acne properties
  2. CBD is anti-bacterial
  3. CBD helps reduce redness. 

Mid Day

Arriving at the alice +olivia presentation is like a scene in a movie. Sophia Ritchie was posing on the carpet before me. Luckily, I had 4 CBD Gummies RX gummies in the car, which is a solid 50mg oral dose. The show is filled with incredible clothes and people; all of my senses were stimulated. What an incredible experience I will never forget. 

Also seems like NYFW needs to pour some CBD on it more than anyone!

Kush Queen CEO, Olivia Alexander at 2019 NYFW
Stacey Bendet and Olivia Alexander
Kush Queen's Olivia Alexander at alice+olivia presentation during NYFW

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Mid Day

It’s our day off exploring in Brooklyn. I have never seen Dumbo, but love the history and charm of the area. We had a beer and bite and then we explored a shop nearby with CBD products. I decided to try a CBD beverage called Recess while we explore the area and trekked over the Brooklyn bridge. A light and refreshing taste in a cute can, but not sure if I would buy again. 

Olivia Alexander in Brooklyn, New York
Kush Queen CEO, Olivia Alexander

Before Bed

My feet are ravaged from wearing heels the day before and then walking most of the city. I lather them up in Melt CBD Pain lotion before bed and put on some socks. I can instantly feel my feet cool and my pain fades away. 

Wednesday, September 11, 2019 – Photoshoot Day

Morning 

Back in hair and make up again for a photo shoot. I toss two droppers of Bäre CBD Tincture into my cappuccino. My makeup artist Lauren lays a velvety smooth layer of Kingdm CBD Primer on before she starts on my look for the shoot. 

Late Night

I had a busy day with the shoot. Time for a super dosed bath with the alice+olivia 200mg CBD Bath Bomb and CBD Bubble Bath.  

Thursday, September 12, 2019 – alice+olivia Collaboration Event Day

Early Morning

I was woken up by a problem in LA with our payroll. Outside of travel, my next biggest trigger as a business owner is the banking industry. At this point, for me, CBD isn’t enough, so I smoke a joint, take a deep breathe and assess possible solutions. Things get resolved relatively quickly given the time zone change. Now we start to prep for the alice+olivia collaboration launch event. 

Early Evening 

Time for the alice+olivia x Kush Queen Meatpacking CBD Mocktail party. I had about 4, 25mg CBD mocktails, so you could say I am feeling GOOD. Keep an eye out for our upcoming alice+olivia events in La and Aspen – you need to get your hands on these mocktails!

Kush Queen x alice+olivia CBD Collaboration
Kush Queen CBD Mocktails at alice+olivia event
Kush Queen CBD Dream Team

Friday, September 13, 2019 – Head Home

Too Early in the Morning

My flight was at 4:45! Yes, you read that right. I’m crazy and I am on an early AF flight back to LA. No one should be up this early. I can’t be nice. So I take 2 full droppers of Bäre and sleep the entire way back to LA. 

The Aftermath 

Once I returned home, I had only 72 hours before I had to go to Hall of Flowers, a cannabis B2B show in Santa Rosa, CA. I also had to attend a wedding, so I could not and did not get sick. Sure, once I was home I ate 150mg of THC edibles and slept for 16 hours, but I didn’t catch anything. 

I always rely on CBD to help me through these work benders. Cannabinoids deliver an equilibrium I feel in my body and I am grateful that I have it in my life to help me be my best self. 

CBD is a great tool to help with traveling and non-stop work. As you read in my travel diary, I use Kush Queen products in a variety of ways, depending on what’s going on in my life. I start by thinking through my triggers and building my CBD routine out from there. 

I had bought tickets for Ariana Grande’s Sweetener tour when they first came out. My most diehard Ari fans live outside of San Jose, so we agreed that I would book the $75 roundtrip flight, and they would buy me dinner before the show.

It was supposed to be a nice 3-day getaway… and then our team decided to bring Kush Queen to Hall of Flowers in Santa Rosa… and then I had the opportunity to meet with a couple of our coolest NorCal dispensary partners… during the week after the tradeshow and concert.

I love getting out of LA and seeing other parts of California, and I knew I’d get to spend time with some of my favorite people during this trip, but my 3-day getaway quickly evolved into a 12-day working road trip with an Ariana Grande concert in the middle of it.

 

Whether I’m traveling for work, for pleasure, in-state or across the country; there are a few things I find absolutely essential to my comfort and happiness.

  1. Knowing where I’m going to spend the night

  2. Understanding the boundaries of my hosts regarding when/where/how I’ll use cannabis

  3. Planning to stay hydrated with minimal single-use plastic waste

  4. Comfort with constant carb consumption

I’m usually planning these things for 3-5 days of travel, maybe a whole week at most… but this 12-day trip would include 6 places to lay my head and 3 very different activities. Fortunately, my planning paid off and resulted in a GREAT trip – so here are just a few more details about how I prepare for traveling.

1. I’m not the type of person who can just “wing it” when it comes to sleep.

I’ve always been a firm believer in getting enough sleep, which is hard when one of my best friends is a classic “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” ‘type’ of person. I was recently affirmed on this via a Goop podcast (minute 18:30) where Emily Gagoski explained how even just one night of bad sleep – nevermind sustained lack of sleep – has the same effect on our bodies as being drunk.

6hrs/night or fewer for 2-weeks, and the typical person will be as impared as someone with .1% blood alcohol level.

So when planning a trip, I have no shame in asking my potential hosts questions about their home (if I’ve never been) – temperature, animals, linens – I can prepare for each if I know what I’m preparing for. The same can be said for cannabis restrictions, which brings me to…

2. I smoke so openly and privately at home, and sometimes forget what a luxury that is.

If you’re paying attention you know my favorite way to enjoy flower (high-CBD hemp flower, or cannabis) is by smoking it through a bong. And to be honest, I brought a bong with me on this trip because I knew we’d have some privacy at our AirBnB in Santa Rosa. But between hotels, friends’ city apartments, and a high fire risk mountainside, there had to be other solutions.

This is where a few things came in handy:

  1. Bare CBD Tincture

  2. High-potency vaporizer cartridge

  3. CBD Edibles (including Gummy RX and Big Pete’s Treats)

  4. THC Edibles (another shout out to Big Pete’s!)

3. Just like sleep, hydration is crucial to our health.

But I was also raised by parents who own a recycling-based company, so my hydration comes with a sincere effort to reduce the number of single-use plastics. If that doesn’t immediately resonate with you, I suggest reading/watching something that will tell you far more than I can.

To stay on topic though, here are a few of my tricky tricks for doing this while traveling. I bring:

  1. My reusable Starbucks-style cold cup, with metal for ease of consumption while driving

  2. One extra large insulated bottle for keeping a backstock of cold water

  3. A small mason jar with powdered electrolytes to help keep my energy and hydration up

  4. An extra metal straw, and cleaning tool

4. And lastly, as your resident #CarbInfluencer, I’m here to remind you that carbs are fuel; don’t let your body or your car run on empty!

My final advice is that once you open your heart and your stomach to carbs, there can sometimes be an overwhelming number of choices to make. Have no shame in adding some bakeries and restaurants to your “travel” bookmarks on Yelp or Google Maps. Some of my favorites on this trip included:

  1. this insane handmade French pastry with goat cheese from ALTA in Monterey

  2. every single pasta at Locanda in San Francisco

  3. orange + chocolate chip scone at Batter Bakery in San Francisco

  4. Classics: Whole Foods pizza and cookies – you can find a Whole Foods ANYWHERE and there are always reliable choices


Don’t forget to follow and tag @KushQueenShop and @KushQueenCo in your Instagram posts and Stories!

Need some CBD for your Summer Roadtrip? Shop Kush Queen Below!

Shop CBD!