How to Stay Healthy while Traveling

If you don’t know me or haven’t spent much time on my site, hello! I’m Danielle, and I have been a Registered Nurse for 12 years. I’d like to think I know a thing or two about being healthy thanks to nursing school and working in the hospital. And thanks to the 3 day a week nurse schedule and my desire to explore, I have also spent a lot of time traveling.

While some of these tips on how to stay healthy while traveling may seem obvious, it’s surprising to me how easy it is to not do the simple ones. I find myself not always doing the best job at staying healthy, especially when I’m rushing to catch buses and am focused on immersing myself in a new place. It’s tough!

Hopefully this will be a great start to staying healthy while traveling. And some will just be nice reminders. We all know that trips are WAY more enjoyable when they’re not spent feeling ill, forced to be in bed or on the toilet, etc. Let’s give each trip our best shot at being our healthiest selves.

How to Stay Healthy while Traveling:

#1. Wash your hands.

Always, always, always wash your hands after using the bathroom and before putting anything in your mouth. I have been given the stats on how good hand hygiene can prevent the spread of illnesses in healthcare more times than I’d like to count. And good hand hygiene is the easiest and best way to stay healthy while traveling.

There might be different bacteria floating around while you’re in another country, you touch bus seats and things in a market, and you shake new friends’ hands. You don’t want any of that to end up in your mouth.

Wash. Your. Hands. And if you don’t have access to soap and water, keep a little thing of hand sanitizer with you at all times.

ENJOY the cultural food, but make healthy choices too

#2. Try your best to eat healthy.

I don’t expect you to not eat pizza while in Italy. Or to not eat an absurd amount of tacos while in Mexico. Or to not sample the local fare wherever you go. You should eat delicious food. It’s one of my favorite parts of traveling. But maybe throw in a vegetable every now and again. If you’re on day 5 of your trip and you can’t remember the last time you ate anything green, your body isn’t going to feel the best, nor is it going to be getting the right nutrients.

Healthy also means trying to avoid contaminated food. If the water isn’t safe where you are, avoid salads or fresh fruit that you aren’t personally peeling. Be wary of places where you can’t see the food being prepared or places that are serving raw food like sushi. Buffets are also not ideal. Basically, think about the chance of bacteria growing in the food you are about to consume. Go with your gut – no pun intended – and skip it if it seems sketchy.

#3. Drink water.

This is basic, okay? But it still needs to be said.

Drink a lot of water. Plane rides, being out in the sun, exercise, alcohol, diarrhea from foreign food – all these contribute to dehydration. Drink more water than you normally do. Bring an empty water bottle in your carry-on and fill it up once you’re through security. And then use it. A lot.

I am notorious for not taking water with me, and I have hopefully learned my lesson. My friends have rolled their eyes when I’ve said things like “oh, we’ll be fine on this 6 hour hike without water” and then begged them to let me drink out of their Nalgenes. Don’t be me. Be prepared, and drink a lot of water.

I try to be environmentally-conscious, so I highly recommend bringing a refillable water bottle and using it when possible. This brings me to my next tip.

#4. Drink SAFE water.

Research whether or not it’s okay to drink the water wherever you are going. Keep in mind that locals can be okay drinking the water, but you may not be. If you’re hiking, filter your water even if it looks like the most refreshing stream of all time. What if someone just peed upstream?

If the water isn’t safe where you’re going, you’ll have to buy bottled water if you’re in a bind, or use a water filter.

Water filters are becoming increasingly easy to use and so accessible. LifeStraw sells water bottles with the filter built in. It couldn’t get any easier.

I thought I was doing a great job in Chile, but I still ended up with 5 days of travelers diarrhea. I’m still not sure where I went wrong, but this was miserable with long bus rides and hiking. Do your best to avoid this experience.

#5. Keep a first aid kit with you.

You never know what is going to happen. Whether you are in the wilderness or in NYC, something unfortunate might occur. It’s best to be prepared. I wrote a whole post about first aid kits, why they’re important, and how you can make your own.

And if you have a first aid kit with anti-diarrhea medicine, you’ll be more prepared than I was.

Tent sleeping isn’t for everybody but try and get some decent shut eye.

#6. Get enough sleep.

We all feel crappy when we don’t get enough shut-eye. I’m cranky if I get less than 8 hours, and this happens frequently while traveling.

Again, do your best. Sneak a nap in when possible.. on a train, on a plane, once you check into your hostel, etc. Bring earplugs! Especially if staying in hostels. If you know you’re going to be short on sleep some nights, try to plan for a better rest the next night. Don’t run on fumes for your whole trip; you won’t enjoy it as much.

Hiking is a fantastic way to get exercise and see more of your destination.

#7. Stay active.

Walk everywhere. Go for a run and explore your new surroundings. Do a youtube workout from your hotel room. Rent a bike. Anything!

I am a firm believer that Running while Traveling is an awesome way to spend your time, so I wrote a post about how to do just that!

This is important on planes as well. It’s rare, but there are cases when people have developed blood clots from sitting for too long on flights. If you have a long one, walk around the plane, go to the bathroom, and stand up and stretch. Keep that blood flowing!

#8. Protect yourself from the sun.

This is another one that I suck at, and I end up with a miserable sunburn. Bring sunscreen with you and apply it whenever you will be in the sun for extended periods of time, not just when you are lying on the beach. Re-apply it every couple hours.

Back to the drinking water – drink extra if you are in the sun, and be aware of signs of heat exhaustion. If you feel dizzy or off, take some rest from the sun.

#9. Drink alcohol in moderation.

Besides the awful hangover you might get, ruining the fun day you had planned, alcohol is a lot of empty calories. I definitely crave it more when I’m traveling than when I’m home, but be mindful of how much you are consuming.

#10. Get your vaccinations

Each country is different. Check its website to see if any vaccinations are required or recommended and get them before you go. Don’t mess around with this one.

If you are confused or at all unsure about whether or not you are adequately vaccinated, visit a travel health clinic. The workerss at somewhere like Passport Health (in the US) are experts in knowing what you need and keeping you healthy.

#11. Medication

Don’t forget the medication that you normally take.

And if you do everything on this list and still end up getting sick, it’s good to have some remedies on hand.

I always keep pain relievers like Ibuprofen or Acetaminophen with me.

I usually bring some sort of cold medicine. Colds aren’t typically life-threatening, but they are a pain in the butt, especially when they affect the enjoyment of whatever trip you’re on. Keep some pseudoephedrine with you or your cold medicine of choice.

Stomach medicine. I usually keep a few Tums handy, but I also suggest that you keep anti-diarrhea medicine with you. I had a bad case of travelers’ diarrhea when I was in Chile. Usually, you want to let the diarrhea run its course, and I don’t suggest taking anti-diarrheals. But on this trip, I had some long bus rides without bathrooms. We went to a local drug store, fumbled through a Spanish explanation of what was wrong with me, and ended up with some anti-diarrheal medicine that I later googled and discovered was only approved for dogs in most countries.

How to Stay Healthy while Traveling – Disclaimer

Of note, this advice is from a nurse but is not medical advice. I obviously don’t know you personally, so a trip to your doctor or a travel health professional is always a good idea.

By following this advice, you can decrease your chance of getting sick while abroad and stay healthy while traveling. If you do end up severely ill or in need of medical attention, find the local medical center or urgent care and get checked out. You don’t want something to get worse because you didn’t want to see a doctor while abroad. Take care of yourself, always.

Did I miss anything? Are you a lucky duck who has never gotten sick abroad? Drop a comment below; I want to know more.

If you are a nurse reading this post, have you ever considered Travel Nursing?

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