Holidays don’t come around all that often, so it’s important to make the most of them when they do. However, this is easier said than done if you’re constantly getting struck down by the multitude of illnesses that you can catch while abroad. You can avoid wasting even a single day of your holiday through illness, though, just by taking some simple steps to avoid it.
Even before you leave for your holiday, you can take start preparing to stay healthy on your trip. Jetlag can ruin your first couple of days abroad; however, you can avoid it by adjusting your sleep pattern a few days before your flight. If you’re travelling west for your holiday, try going to bed a bit later, but if you’re due east, go to bed earlier.
Before you leave, you also need to make sure that you have the right vaccines to prevent yourself from catching any diseases while you’re away. This is particularly important if you’re going somewhere with a lot of stray dogs like South America, Africa or South East Asia.
You can find out which vaccines you need to get from your doctor. If you’re going to subtropical or tropical climates, then you should also think about asking your doctor about taking malaria tablets.
The last check you need to do before setting off is on your travel insurance. Make sure that you’re covered for all the activities you might be doing. This is particularly important for things like water sports or snow sports. Holiday cover will not only give you peace of mind, it will mean that you’re covered in the event that you need to claim holiday compensation.
When you arrive on your holiday, the last thing you want is to immediately get struck down with an illness. However, this can happen quite quickly if you’re not hydrated. Dehydration can sneak up on you, especially if you’re holidaying in a place that’s a lot hotter than the climate you’re used to.
Usually, we need to drink around two to three litres of water a day, however, if you’re in a hot place then you’re likely to be sweating more so you should increase your intake of water.
However, you need to watch how you rehydrate yourself, the tap water in some places, like most countries in South America and even in parts of France and Spain, isn’t safe to drink. If you’re not sure about whether the tap water is drinkable where you are, don’t risk it.
Hand hygiene is very important when you’re abroad. Unfamiliar countries harbour unfamiliar germs, and they’re easy to transfer to the mouth or eyes, so it’s important to keep your hands clean.
A lot of the countries in Africa and Asia are undeveloped and don’t always have places to properly clean up, so it’s a good idea to carry a pot of alcohol hand gel around with you. You don’t need water to use the gel and it dries without a sticky residue.