I’m always struggled to understand the audience for Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop and her general lifestyle shill. Is she mostly just trying to appeal to rich, bored housewives and wealthy socialites? And if so, isn’t that a really niche audience? Gwyneth has a new profile in the New York Times and it’s all about how Gwyneth travels, what it’s like to fly Goop-style. While I doubt Gwyneth is regularly flying commercial, she deigns to impart some of her travel and travel-beauty tips and thoughts to the peasantry. Some highlights:

Whether she exercises while on the road: “Recently, no. If I’m in Paris, I’d much rather take a walk and discover something amazing than be stuck on a treadmill at my hotel. If it’s more than a few days, I will work out because my body is so used to it, but my last trips have been short ones, and I haven’t.”

Her flying routine: “I drink tons of water, and I have a vitamin sachet that I put in it. Also, I moisturize my skin and put on a mask. I try not to eat rubbish either. I’ll pack salad and fruit. If I’m going on an overnight flight, I’ll drink whiskey or a glass of wine and then go to sleep, but on day flights, I try not to drink. When I land, I try to find a sauna to sit in for 20 minutes to help me sweat out all the germs from the plane.

Whether she indulges in carbs while traveling: “Absolutely. When I’m traveling, I would rather eat what I want and come home and tighten it up. I don’t want to be in Paris and not have a croissant or goose fat potatoes. I love pasta in Italy, bread and cheese in Spain and wine everywhere. You don’t have to indulge all day, every day, but I think it’s important to your psyche to have flexibility and genuinely enjoy the food wherever you are.”

What makes a good hotel experience: “Service and food are important. Also, good sheets and a comfortable bed. It doesn’t necessarily have to be fancy. Some of the best hotels I’ve stayed in were basic in terms of the physical room but had great food and service.”

Check-in luggage or carry-on? “Carry-on. The only time I check in is when I am going to a cold destination and have to bring lots of warm clothes.”

[From The NY Times]

The “sweat out all the germs” comment is getting a lot of notice. While I too feel germy, dirty and gross whenever I’ve been on the road or flying or whatever else, my instinct is to, you know, take a shower and change clothes, not sit in a sauna. I actually think sitting in sauna and sweating my ass off for 20 minutes after a long flight sounds like hell, and it also sounds unhealthy to me – most people are probably already somewhat dehydrated after a flight, because they’ve had a few cocktails or an Ambien or soda, so a sauna is going to make you even more dehydrated and tired. Plus, most medical professionals – not the “doctors of crystals and positivity,” whom Gwyneth prefers – say that saunas aren’t actually doing anything for the toxins or germs in your body. When you sweat in a sauna, you’re not actually sweating out germs and toxins.

As for Gwyneth just having carry-on bags… LOL. I just happened to come across these photos of Gwyneth and Brad Falchuk returning from their Paris trip in January, and look at how much crap Brad is lugging around. Yes, Gwyneth only does carry-ons, but she makes her boyfriend/man-servant schlep all of her checked bags.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.