The world is now slowly starting to open again, but many of us are still a bit wary of traveling. Once it is finally safe to travel both for leisure and work, we’ll be embarking on our journeys with a new sense of awareness of our health. Here are some useful tips you can keep in mind before you go on your trip.
Make Sure to Get Good Sleep
Jet lag is quite common for first-time travelers. If you don’t want to waste your trip staying in bed on your first day, you have to treat your body well before your flight. Feeling excited before your flight can make you stay up all night, or you could find yourself partying with friends. This isn’t a good decision, though, because being tired, hungover, or sick can worsen your jet lag.
If you are traveling to a different time zone, adjust your sleeping pattern so you can match the place you’re going to. For example, if you are going to a country that’s three hours ahead of yours, you have to sleep a little earlier so you won’t end up wide awake in the middle of the night there.
Plan Your Day to Avoid Overfatigue
While being spontaneous can be fun, limit it to smaller options, such as which restaurant to go to or which museum to visit. If your entire trip is too loose, you might end up trying to do more than you can handle in a day, or you might be setting yourself up for some catastrophic failures that would stress you out too much.
Before visiting a new place, make sure to be familiar with your routes and itinerary so you don’t have to worry about missing a train or bus along the way. This will also help you create your own schedule, including what time it is best to go out and what time you should be ready to head back to your hotel. If you plan on bringing home a substantial souvenir, such as a special piece of furniture from a shop or a large painting from a local artist, it’s best to have it shipped to your home address instead. This saves you from the hassle of dealing with transportation, ultimately tiring you out.
Pack Healthy Meals
Even if you’re the adventurous type who’s always up for some street food, prepare meals that you regularly eat so your stomach won’t be shocked. Pack partially cooked healthy meals, something that you can reheat in a microwave oven. If your method of travel doesn’t allow bringing packed lunch with you, you can contact a meal preparation company that specializes in healthy food to have it delivered to your hotel or location.
Add yogurt to your grocery list as well. Yogurt is known to have probiotics or good bacteria that are good for the gut. Eating yogurt before trying out local food may be a good idea to help prepare your stomach for unfamiliar food.
Bring Your Own Water Bottle
Staying hydrated is very important if you want to stay healthy during a trip. Bringing your own water bottle will not only help you save money (water can be pretty expensive in tourist places), but it will also give you an assurance that what you are drinking is safe, healthy water. If you do plan to bring your own canteen, go for a bigger bottle so it will last you an entire afternoon or the whole day.
Don’t Forget Your Sunscreen
Traveling might expose you to harmful UV rays, so it’s smart to always have sunscreen on the go. Especially if you like to travel outdoors in the middle of the day, putting on sunscreen can help protect you from the harsh sun that can damage your skin, lower your skin cancer risk, and prevent sunburn. Even if you’re not going to the beach, you’ll still be thankful that you’ve packed sunscreen.
To make sure you don’t forget to pack a bottle of sunscreen, make sure you have even just a small bottle in your luggage. Have one in your hand-carry, your backpack, and other luggage you may have. This way, no matter what you grab and go, you can be sure that you have a way to apply skin protection while outside.
Traveling is fun and exciting, but we have to stay vigilant and take care of ourselves in unfamiliar environments. The more we’re prepared, the less likely we are to be at risk. As they say, prevention is better than cure.
