Are you planning to travel soon? Do you know what to do to stay as healthy as possible while away from home?
Depending on where you're going, you’ll want to be sure your health insurance coverage is up to date before traveling. However, it’s even better to stay well, so you don’t need to use it. The following tips can help make that a reality.
Prepare Your Immune System
You can start strengthening your immune health even before traveling. Several vitamins and minerals are essential for this system’s maintenance.
Your immune function depends on adequate amounts of vitamins B6, C, D, and E. Zinc is also critical.
In the days and weeks before your trip, consider increasing your intake of these foods that are high in vitamin B6:
- Banana
- Chicken
- Chickpeas
- Kale
- Potato
- Tuna
To increase your vitamin D intake, choose beef liver, sardines, egg yolks, and cod liver oil. If you think you need more of these nutrients than you’re getting from your food, you may want to consider supplements.
It’s also an excellent idea to take vitamin C along on your trip. This supplement plays a role in killing harmful microbes and can help colds go away faster.
Consider a formula containing both vitamin C and zinc, a powerful combination for immune health. Pharmacies typically carry several options.
Choose Healthy Food and Drink When Dining Out
When you travel, you often need to eat out more frequently than usual. Make sure your food choices include vegetables.
Salads and vegetarian dishes are excellent options for healthy eating. You may even choose to purchase fresh veggies or pre-made salads from a grocery store. Visit a supermarket and buy fruit to eat for breakfast or snacks.
If you have access to a kitchen, you may want to consider preparing your meals. Even if you don’t, you can still make sandwiches or salads. A picnic in the park might be a pleasant change of pace.
Beverages can be a significant source of empty calories. Alcohol and sweetened drinks are the worst culprits.
If you choose to drink alcohol, do so in moderation. If you go overboard, you can disrupt your sleep, which may already be less than ideal due to being away from home.
Have Plenty of Water
The human immune system uses nutrients from the blood, which is approximately 80% water. Because of this, fluids are essential. If you don’t drink enough, your vital organs won’t get the nourishment they need.
Proper hydration also helps your body detoxify itself. When you drink enough water, lymphatic drainage increases, facilitating the removal of waste products. Increasing your fluid intake also helps flush out invaders like bacteria and viruses.
If you don’t drink enough, your body starts to shut down. Symptoms of dehydration include tense muscles, digestive problems, headaches, and low serotonin production. These cause significant discomfort, keeping you from enjoying your trip.
Get Adequate Rest
It’s often difficult to get enough sleep while traveling. You can experience jet lag if you cross time zones. Some people also have trouble resting when not at home.
Try to get as much sleep as possible, ideally at least seven hours per night. Adequate rest keeps stress hormones at bay. It also maintains blood sugar at a more stable level and improves mood and memory.
Sleep is key to immune system function. More specifically, it strengthens T cells that fight infection, enabling them to stick to disease-causing particles and destroy them.
Stay Active
If you maintain a regular exercise routine at home, try to keep at it during your trip. Many hotels provide facilities for guests to use. Alternatively, you can work out in your room or buy a temporary pass to a local gym.
If you choose to exercise in your room, the following exercises can help you stay active without equipment:
- Pushups
- Situps
- Jumping jacks
- Yoga
If you don’t usually work out at home, you can use your free time on vacation to exercise a bit more. Jogging or walking in the neighbourhood you’re visiting is an excellent way to familiarize yourself with the area. Simple choices like using the stairs rather than the elevator or walking instead of calling a cab can help you get some extra steps in, too.
Stretching is another critical component of an active lifestyle. It helps your muscles recover from exercise and stress-related tension.
You might take a few minutes to stretch each morning before your activities begin. Consider using short breaks throughout the day to extend tight muscles in your shoulders, back, and neck. Doing so before bed aids in relaxation, which can help you sleep better.
Take Breaks
When you’re in a new place, it can be tempting to overdo it. You may dream big and plan to see the whole city in a day. Perhaps you hope to explore for hours each evening after your business conference.
If you can control your trip’s length, consider staying a few extra days to go at a slower pace. In this way, it’s possible to see all the sights while still having time for some breaks.
Breathing exercises can help relieve the stress of travel. You can practice them anywhere by inhaling, holding the air in, then exhaling.
Clean and Sanitize
When you travel, you typically spend significant amounts of time in public. As a result, personal hygiene is more critical than usual. You’ll want to wash your hands as often as possible while sightseeing.
Lysol wipes and hand sanitizers are ideal items to take with you on any trip. You can use them when there’s nowhere to wash your hands.
Make sure you clean up before eating or touching your face. You can also use antibacterial wipes on public surfaces, so you know they’re safe to touch.
Stay Connected
Keeping in touch with loved ones while traveling can help you feel better. Just knowing they’re doing well while you’re away may ease your mind and reduce the stress that compromises your immune system.
Counterpath’s UC solution, Bria, can help you stay connected with friends, family, and business associates. There are options for both individuals and teams.
The pandemic has increased demand for collaboration features such as video conferencing, messaging and screensharing options, and Bria is an excellent choice for personal or business needs. Should you get sick, you can even use it to connect with an online doctor.
Conclusion
When you’re traveling, you want to stay as well as possible. You can start right by preparing your immune system beforehand and eating healthy during your trip. Drinking plenty of water, getting enough rest, and staying active are also essential.
Take frequent breaks, and sanitize everything. Keeping in touch with family, friends, and colleagues through a softphone or team collaboration solution can also lower your stress level. Doing all of this will ensure you stay as healthy as possible while traveling.
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