Travel Blog

Nothing is worse than being bedridden on your holiday.

You look outside and the sun is shining on a beautiful city or town that you’ve probably never seen before. The streets are filled with new sights, sounds, people and adventure, and here you are feeling just plain yuck, or dare I say in a bed, feeling the worse for wear!

No, thanks.

Although getting sick is sometimes a part of life, there are certainly ways that you can help avoid this situation. Holidays can be a difficult time to stay healthy. You’re outside the comforts of routine and habit, you don’t know where to go to get healthy food and staying physically fit can be challenging, depending on where you are.

To assist you, here are 11 top tips to help you stay on top of your health, no matter where you are in the world.

1.Before you leave, gear up your fitness routine.

A few months before you go, try to get in some good workouts. Building on your cardio and strength will help when sightseeing, carrying your luggage and it’s also a great way to strengthen your immune system before a long flight!

2. Do some research before you get there.

Learn a little about the area you’re traveling to. Find out if your hotel has a gym. What outdoor activities are offered? What local gyms or exercise classes are in the area? Find some areas to walk and jog that are safe and scenic. And prepare the same way in terms of nutrition. Scout out healthy eateries in the vicinity, before you reach your destination.

3. Pack your own gym.

Even if your hotel has a gym, it could be crowded, closed during certain hours, and possibly not have the equipment your workout calls for. That’s why it pays to bring your own “gym”. Some easy to travel with equipment like training bands can be useful. However, the best way to keep fit anywhere is to learn some great bodyweight exercises. Push ups and squats can go a long in keeping your central nervous system active and healthy and can be done anywhere anytime! There are also so many great apps that you can download and use while you are away.

• Sworkit – comes in a free version or a nominal fee for custom programs
• MapMyRun – If you’re a runner can help you plan a local run, even enabling the inclusions of special interests e.g “Art Run”

In other words, try and keep your regular routine going.

4. Don’t leave it to chance.

Instead of always having to resort to fast food or something from a vending machine, prepare your snack food before you head out. Particularly important if travelling with kids. Head to the local markets to get some great local produce. It will also open you up to some local delicacies. Nuts and fruit are great healthy snacks that can easily come with you wherever you go. Just remember to eat or ditch any leftovers before returning home.

5. Get outside and enjoy yourself.

It's all about balance, along with lying on the beach or heading to the restaurants... it’s also good to be active on your holiday. Not only will you have a blast doing something out of the ordinary, you’ll be getting in some exercise, as well! E-scooters and E-bikes are available in so many places these days to help with those hills, just get out there.

6. Drink water and stay hydrated

One of the easiest things to forget about when travelling is hydration. Carrying a water bottle and drinking lots of water ensures that you will stay hydrated and energised throughout the day. Try to drink at least a cup of water for every hour that you’re flying to help with jetlag, as well as increasing water intake on the days before and after flying. We should say to avoid drinking alcohol whilst flying as this is a major dehydrator... but let’s be real, it is still a holiday.

7. Respect your body

Travelling is physically and mentally exhausting and it’s important to take care of your body. Make sure you get plenty of sleep, and make sure to include in your itinerary a good balance of active and relaxing activities, to ensure your body is well rested throughout your holiday.

8. Travel Vaccinations

Since COVID the topic of vaccination has been on everyone’s lips. Every country has their own requirements. The majority will now allow non-vaccinated people to travel based on certain criteria, so it's still important to check.  But, there has been vaccination recommendations and requirements for travel for many years. These protect against diseases such as hepatitis, typhoid or malaria. In fact, some countries legally require travellers to have certain vaccinations, such as yellow fever, with some requiring advanced planning, so make sure you check well in advance with our team to ensure you are prepared.

9. Prepare for your flight

Think about it before you even book! If typically you don’t sleep on long flights, see if there is a flight that arrives late so you can go straight to bed as soon as you arrive at your destination. If that isn’t possible and you arrive early in the morning, TRY YOUR HARDEST not to go to bed straight away on arrival. You need to acclimatise with the local time zone as soon as you can.

While on-board be comfortable. You can look smart and be comfortable for a flight at the same time. Even pack a tracksuit to change into onboard.  Some airlines offer travel packs, even though they are becoming more scarce, so take your own earplugs and eyeshades if this will help block out the inflight noise.  Remember how we tell our kids not to be looking at their phones before they go to bed, same thing for us on a flight. If you plan to sleep, try and avoid smartphones, tablets and laptops, as the blue light omitted restrains the production of melatonin.

10. Medications

Bringing us back to the image we started with, picture yourself sick in bed in a foreign country. Do you really want to be finding a pharmacy, then add to that, uncommon brands and languages. It's a good idea to travel with a small emergency pack of medications that you are familiar with. Better to have it and not need it, than the alternative. Just keep in mind that some countries do have restrictions with Opiods (Codeine), so please check this before arrival.

11. Hygiene

Ask any 3 year old and they can tell you that if you don’t wash your hands, you might get sick. Why is it as adults we forget this simple fact. Take hand sanitiser and use it, try not to touch hand rails on escalators with your hands (pull down your sleeve or use your elbow).  This simple task has always been important but now more than ever. We should all be experts post-COVID.

Many airlines, countries, cities, venues etc around the world are still at times implementing the wearing of masks. Make sure you take some KN95 masks with you and keep one handy.