Steal Billie Jean King's Healthy Travel Hacks
No, your eyes have not been deceiving you: Billie Jean King really is everywhere these days.
In 2023, the tennis legend sat shoulder-to-shoulder with First Lady Jill Biden at the NCAA women’s basketball championship game in Dallas. She was on the field in Australia celebrating with the Spanish soccer players after they won the Women’s World Cup. She was spotted courtside at a home game for the WNBA’s New York Liberty, right next to Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai. And the 39-time Grand Slam champion was the guest of honor at the 2023 U.S. Open—yes, that was her face on this year’s tournament logo, celebrating 50 years of equal prize money, a cause she championed.
And when Coco Gauff won her first-ever major singles title, Billie Jean was the one who handed her the trophy. “Thank you, Billie,” Coco said, “for fighting for this.”
At 79 years old, Billie already has a laundry list of accomplishments to her name, so everyone would understand if she decided to watch all these iconic women’s sporting events from the comfort of home. After all, so much travel can take a toll on your body and your wellness routines.
So I had to ask Billie Jean: Why do you still do it?
“Well, you noticed I showed up, right?” she responded. Yes, I did. How could I not? “That sends a message right there.”
Billie Jean is on a mission to do much more than rack up frequent flyer miles. When she was 11 years old, she'd already decided she would be the best tennis player in the world. “I thought if I could be number one, maybe I could make this world a better place through my sport,” she says. “That’s why I show up… because I dream about [equality] every day of my life.”
Honestly, if Billie Jean wanted to bottle up all that energy she uses to fight the good fight, I’d buy it. In the meantime, I asked her to share some of the tips, tricks, and essential wellness tools that keep her fueled on her global quest to advance equality in women’s sports.
Billie Jean leans in to long travel days.
“Traveling, you either love it or hate it. And I love it,” she says exuberantly. “I've loved it since I was a kid. I knew if I was going to be number one in the world, I better like it.”
Over the years, she and wife Ilana Kloss have made friends all across the globe, and getting to see them when she travels is an instant mood-boost. Billie Jean gets especially excited about a long airplane ride, and swears the 14-plus hours it took to fly Sydney for the Women’s World Cup was a total breeze. She considers long flights dedicated R&R time.
While she admittedly doesn’t sleep well on planes, usually playing some music or a podcast will help her nod off. Currently on Billie Jean's playlist? Julie Foudy’s Laughter Permitted—"I think she's hilarious,” Billie Jean says. She also loves The Tennis Podcast, hosted by three British superfans, and The Daily from The New York Times to stay up on current events.
She preps ahead of time and scopes out a tennis court.
Billie Jean takes her health seriously, which is why she’s partnering with Moderna to raise awareness about getting your annual vaccines. She always makes sure she’s up to date before she travels (yes, she’s got her flu shot!) the same way she remembers to pack her vitamins and regular medications, and she also brings an N95 mask with her to be super safe.
Naturally, one of the greatest athletes of all time is also making time for movement on the road. Ilana is a former world number one in doubles tennis, and they make it a priority to find a spot to play tennis together while traveling. (Sorry, a correction: “I don't think I play,” Billie Jean says with a laugh. “I hit tennis balls and try my best.”)
She makes sure to get 8 hours of sleep, no matter what.
Sleep is critical for Billie Jean, especially when she's been flying all over the place. But she’ll absolutely be sleeping in late to get her eight hours—many successful people may be morning people, but Billie Jean King is not one of them.
Nighttime is Billie Jean’s quiet time to think, visualize, and meditate. “I do my dreaming at night,” she says. “I think about where I want the world to go, the vision for women's sports and other things.” She loves to meditate to a beat—repeating “dream it, build it, dream it, build it” is a go-to. And sometimes, she allows herself to think about absolutely nothing. “It's kind of a great state to be in,” she says. “Just nothingness, not thinking about something or having to do anything. Just being. Floating.”
When it’s finally time to say goodnight, she turns to another form of relaxation: “I love going to sleep to Law & Order,” she says. Her dad was a firefighter, so it’s a comfort show for her. And she’s quick to point out she’ll watch any spinoff, not just the OG.
She focuses on the present.
The key to winning at life, Billie Jean says, is staying in the here and now. “It's important to me to have goals,” she says. “But when I set the goal to stay in the now… for me to be totally present in the present with you, that, to me, is winning.”
To Billie Jean, being limitless in life means opening herself up to infinite possibilities. “It's very easy to give up as you get older, [and] it's really easy to give in,” she says. “Giving in is good sometimes, but giving up is no good. There's just so many different possibilities, and I think that’s fantastic.”
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