How to Stay Healthy When You Travel

One simple way to ensure you remain healthy on holiday is to take sensible precautions when you travel.

Airports and planes are not particularly healthy places - the air is recycled and you are in close proximity to other people so it is easy to pick up low level infections, it can be stressful and flying for most of us means sitting in a small seat for a considerable amount of time. Fortunately there are some easy to follow rules that will help minimize the likelihood of falling ill on your way to your holiday destination.

One useful piece of advice is to seek to reduce the stress of air travel. With the almost inevitable longer security check in times you can avoid a lot of angst by making sure you give yourself plenty of time. Equally if you want to travel with just hand luggage, then make sure that the contents obey the relevant rules and restrictions (and remember these vary - the author was allowed to take an ice axe on a plane in Kyrgyzstan in the late 1990s).

Another source of stress for some of us is a fear of flying. If this causes you real distress then it maybe an idea to see a counselor or take one of the courses offered by some airlines.

Beyond this, common advice is to wear comfortable loose fitting clothes (remember that you are going to have to sit for hours in that too tight pair of trousers otherwise). Dehydration is another problem and something that can be made worse by drinking alcohol (both before and on the flight). So a night of alcoholic excess followed by a long flight is not a good idea. In the main when flying stick to water and fruit juices and some sort of skin spray might also help.

Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) is potentially serious and is triggered by sitting in the same space for too long. It is important, especially if the flight is over four hours, to move around (assuming it is safe to do so) and some experts advise wearing elastic flight stockings to ease circulation.

Reduced air pressure in the plane should not be a particular problem unless you have an existing heart or blood disease. If you plan to go diving on holiday you are advised to wait for 24 hours so as to minimize any subsequent problems with decompression.

In the main keeping healthy on the way to your holiday destination is easy enough and a matter of common sense. Avoid eating heavy food (remember you will be sitting down for quite while) and too much alcohol will help a lot. Drinking lots of (non-alcoholic) fluids and wearing comfortable clothes will make things easier too. Finally, as far as possible, try to organize your journey so as to minimize stress (a 30 minute flight connection at a busy airport with immigration to negotiate is never going to be easy or stress-free).