funtotravel.info TIPS: How to stay healthy while you're travelling

The nature of independent travel means that at some point you are likely to get sick. A lot of backpackers travel to exotic countries, cover a lot of ground in the time they’re away, carry around a heavy bag, spend a lot of time on night buses and trains and some indulge in strenuous activities like treks, kayaking trips, long bike rides etc. For this reason, tiredness tends to set in frequently making you more susceptible to illness.

For information on inoculations and injections, please see our upcoming blog on that very subject.

Cocktail buckets, Thailand: a lot of fun, but not such a good way to stay healthy!

To keep yourself fighting-fit, we suggest the following tips:

• Get a decent amount of sleep – if you’ve been on an overnight or just a very long bus or train trip, give yourself time to recover, even if you feel like you slept during the journey – it will catch up with you!
• When you’re in what you would objectively consider to be a less-developed country, avoid tap water and stick to bottled or filtered water instead. Try to avoid creating over-excessive waste by re-using water bottles where possible – many hostels and guesthouses will now refill your bottle for you. Also avoid drinks with ice that may come from tap water in similarly undeveloped areas, though in heavily touristed destinations they are used to making ice from boiled water, which is fine. If in doubt, avoid ice.
• Yes, your mother was right, eat as many fresh fruits and vegetables as you can to boost your immune system. The exception to this rule is if you are in an area where the tap water is unsafe to drink. Eat only fruit that you’ve peeled yourself as you won’t know whether it has been washed in untreated tap water. Boiled vegetables though will be fine since any bacteria will have been killed by the boiling process.
• It may seem like overkill, but take (and use!) anti-bacterial handwash – it will prevent the spread of harmful bacteria that could see you confined to your bed for days at a time.
• If you are travelling somewhere where you are unsure of the freshness of the food/availability of refrigeration, avoid meat as you never know quite how long it has been sitting out, particularly in hot climates.
• Be cautious (though not overly so) of buffet food, particularly at service stations or road-stops – it is likely to have been sitting for a long while and can be a haven for bacteria.
• Make sure all of your inoculations are up to date before you leave home.
• Ensure that your travel insurance covers you for any doctors appointments or medicines you require should you be unfortunate enough to get sick.
• Take a small but adequately stocked medical kit with you, complete with plasters/small bandages, rehydration salts in case you get sick, painkillers (useful for hangovers if nothing else) and any other personal medication you require.
• If you are in hot climates or doing a lot of physical exertion, keep yourself well-hydrated and aim to drink at least 2 litres of water (bottled if tap water is unsafe) per day. This will help keep you feel in shape and healthy.

Try and eat a balanced diet and never be afraid to try local food or taste regional specialities (bearing in mind the above tips though!) – if it’s good enough for the locals, it’s good enough for you. The last thing we would want any of the above tips to do would be to put you off trying any dish offered to you because trying the local food is one of the great pleasures of travel; all we suggest is that you use your common sense.

Stay well-rested, well-hydrated and in good shape physically and you will most-likely avoid sickness during your trip.