Guest Post by Kim Orlando of Traveling Mom:

As a travel writer I travel a lot. The best part of my job is when I travel to new places; I love to soak up the local culture – whether I am in Kentucky or Costa Rica, by walking or biking through the neighborhoods, the city or the beach. But in order to get to new places I have to travel - a lot, through crowded airports and airplanes, dirty cabs and busy hotels. In order to travel as much as I do, and quite often with my family, I have to stay healthy and try to keep my family healthy. While I can’t control the level of craziness and cleanliness during much of my travels I can have a little bit of sanity when I get where I am going. I wipe down hotel remote controls, phones and other surfaces with Lysol disinfecting wipes because it’s a little known fact that those are the germiest places in hotel rooms!

Healthy travelers are always happy travelers and to make it even easier for us to help stop the spread of germs at home and on the road this cold & flu season, Lysol is now offering Buy 1 Get 1 Free packs of Lysol Disinfecting Wipes and Lysol Dual Action Disinfecting Wipes at major retailers nationwide through January 2011. When we are healthy and active we can do so much more to enjoy the places and experiences each new place has to offer. My newest outdoor love is hiking. I recently hiked La Jolla Canyon, just north of Malibu, with some friends. One friend is a plant nerd who wrote a 700 page book on succulents and who had us on a search for a certain bloomed succulent to photograph. The other friend is a hiking enthusiast who has hiked that canyon about 100 times. He loves to share his knowledge of the area and to point out cool landscape changes along the way. He also keeps a very energetic pace. There was no shuffling thru the trails, we were moving along – uphill. I’d forgotten how grounding it is to be out enjoying nature. Even though I finished the hike in a sweat, it didn’t feel like exercise at all.

This year, I am committed to making time for more fun ways to get fit and stay healthy. My husband and I joined a fancy gym that is coming to our area in March and we plan to use that place as our date night destination. We both need to drop at least 15 pounds so instead of movies and popcorn, we will hit the gym and yoga. Lots of yoga!

Whether I am home or abroad, health and community are universal wishes. I recently learned that Lysol is running the Lysol Mission for Health Community Heroes Contest and is recognizing moms who do more for health in their communities by awarding a total of $10,000 in prizes to be donated towards local community organizations. To enter, share videos, photos or stories about how you made a difference in your community at www.lysol.com/communitycontest. Contest entries will be judged based on both relevance to improving the health of your community, and the possible impact of your community improvement effort.

No matter where this holiday season finds you – home with loved ones or on top of a mountain – best wishes to you and your family for a healthy and happy New Year!

This post was sponsored byLysol.

Lysol is running the Lysol Mission for Health Community Heroes Contest and is recognizing moms who do more for health in their communities by awardinga total of $10,000 in prizes to be donated towards local community organizations. To enter, share videos, photos or stories about how you made a difference in your community at www.lysol.com/communitycontest. Contest entries will be judged based on both relevance to improving the health of your community, and the possible impact of your community improvement effort.

Remember to look for the Buy One Get One packs of Lysol wipes in stores now! (handy after all of those sticky candy cane hands have cruised through your house!)