Ellen Pompeo on the Snack That Received Her Flagged by TSA

Though she is likely one of the greatest tv stars of our time, Ellen Pompeo is rather like us when she travels. The Gray’s Anatomy star mentioned she brings the “normal stuff” when she flies. “Mints, glasses, water, hand sanitizer, and child wipes. I’ve to do the Naomi Campbell factor and wipe down the whole seat,” she advised Journey + Leisure earlier this month. And like many people, she additionally brings her personal snacks. Nonetheless, on a flight in March, what appeared like an harmless wholesome snack landed her in a room with the bomb squad.

Whereas going via TSA, she set off the alarms for carrying—of all issues—sunflower seeds. “I had a bag of sunflower seeds, like natural sunflower seeds from Erewhon, in order that they had been most likely the most costly sunflower seeds cash should buy. They actually held me for an hour, and so they introduced the bomb squad in.  And I used to be like, what is occurring? Is that this a joke? They mentioned it was most certainly a chemical on the packaging of those tremendous costly, fancy, natural, clear sunflower seeds. My protein on the aircraft!” She requested if she might simply throw them away, however they wanted her to remain and look ahead to the bomb squad to evaluate this unopened bag of sunflower seeds. “I virtually missed the flight. It was actually like nobody would ever consider this! I used to be texting my publicist saying, ‘I won’t get on this aircraft, and also you’re by no means gonna guess why.’” 

TSA sunflower seed debacle apart, Pompeo does like to journey, even when it throws off her typical morning routine of doing a sauna adopted by a chilly plunge as she does at her residence in Los Angeles.  “I’ll attempt to search for inns with saunas. Not all people has a chilly plunge. Chilly plunges are a comparatively, you realize, form of bougie, new factor. I believe most of those older inns do not have it, however a chilly bathe, I believe, does the identical.” She additionally likes a lodge with a superb pool. “I do like to get up and swim.” She loves the swimming pools at The Greenwich Resort and Bristol Plaza, each in New York Metropolis. 

One other a part of her journey wellness routine is the Youth Activating Melon Serum Superior Components from Significant Magnificence, for which Pompeo is a model ambassador and a longtime fan. The skincare model simply had its twentieth anniversary in 2024. “That is all the time been my go-to on this line. And I put the melon serum on first, after which I put oil over it after I journey. I am actually huge into serums and oils at this age,” she mentioned. 

However her favourite factor about journey is being together with her household. Pompeo has three kids—Stella Luna, 15, Sienna Could, 10, and Eli Christopher, 8—with husband Chris Ivery. Pompeo mentioned she is a little bit of a nervous flier, particularly these days, and although she appreciates that pilots are popping out and making an attempt to talk extra to passengers about anticipated turbulence, she nonetheless loves having her household there as her major type of help. “I like to carry my children’ fingers after I take off, which might be just a little egocentric, and so they’re most likely feeling my nervousness, which most likely is not the perfect factor to do,” she mentioned. 

And as soon as they get to the vacation spot, Pompeo is a contented camper. “I like any form of journey so long as my children are with me. I get just a little bit anxious after I journey for work with out my children, however after we’re all collectively, we attempt to do all of it and provides them a superb combine [of types of trips]. It is a privilege to have the ability to journey with these children and produce them locations, so I attempt to simply have quite a lot of gratitude for that and present them as a lot as I can.“ The entire household went to Hawaii for Stella’s fifteenth birthday, and when Pompeo was doing press for her new Hulu miniseries Good American Household, she took her daughters to London and Paris. “In the event you’re fortunate sufficient to have the chance to journey with children, it is the perfect schooling there’s, as a result of I do not know who’s utilizing algebra of their each day lives.”

Touring with household can take extra group, so Pompeo’s technique is to be a minimal packer. She says her husband, who she says is often the perfect dressed within the room, typically tells her she must pack extra for journeys. “And I am like, ‘No, no, I need fewer choices!’ And he is like, ‘You want extra choices.’ And so I am all the time making an attempt to get him to pack much less, and he is all the time making an attempt to get me to pack extra.”