Staying Healthy: Travel Tips

Since Sherry gave everyone a great guide to eating healthy, I'm gonna talk to you about tips to staying healthy while traveling!

Traveling can be tiring, stressful, and very chaotic at times so health is not always the first thing on your mind. But getting sick can absolutely ruin your time traveling. No one appreciates anything around them if they're too busy throwing up or lying in bed with a fever, but this doesn't have to happen if travelers take several precautions...

Pre-Departure Precautions:
Become familiar with the place your traveling too and any measures that you will need to take. Make sure your insurance covers where you are going or need to get travel insurance to make staying healthy a little less stressful. Always, make sure to check (http://www.cdc.gov/) Center for Disease Control and Prevention, they have up to date reports on what diseases or health precautions are necessary per country and region so that you can decide what vaccines or medicine you should be bringing with you. It's recommended that if your traveling to the third world to bring along some antibiotics like ciproflaxacin or a z-pack so that if you do get really sick you can rely on those instead of being stuck in a random foreign hospital. So before your trip, research your destination, check with your doctor or CDC, and then get the necessary medications. 

While Traveling:
Drink plenty of water! Wether your in a hot climate or not, drinking fluids is vital for staying hydrated and stress free. Not staying hydrated is the leading cause hurting your immune system and becoming susceptible to health issues. 
Give time for sleeping. Although being in  a new city is exciting and you will want to stay up all night partying then walk around and see the sights the next day, your body will catch up to you eventually and you won't be able to do either. So party all night and sleep the day away or see sites all day and go to bed at a reasonable hour. 
Be smart. As long as your thinking straight and don't think that being in another country will make you invincible you should be fine. Don't drink another shot of absinthe, stop playing with the pack of stray dogs, and remember street food is both delicious and deadly. 
Traveling can be overwhelming and it's easy to forget about health, but with simple mindfulness most people are fine. 

Eating Abroad:
Firstly, know the water supply your tapping into. Chances are if your in a developing country then the tap water is no good. In this case, specify everywhere you go that you need bottled water, make sure things aren't washed with tap water, and when you buy bottled water make sure the caps are still sealed because a common scam is to sell tourists refilled bottled water. 
If your in Europe or North America then the food is probably delicious and mostly fine to eat. You may want to be careful of exotic dishes or raw seafood in many cultures which could upset your stomach, but you can largely play by the rules that you already to in the States. If your in a poorer country then you have to be very careful. Almost all street food is very dangerous, so it is advised that you only go to fairly reputable restaurants for your meals. A common rule is if it's not cooked, boiled, or peeled don't eat it. Therefore, fruits are good but don't eat the skin and make sure they are washed first.

 Despite the many precautions and wariness you may have eating in other countries the truth is that you can never completely be safe so don't get to hung up on it. Try new cuisines and traditions because not only is it good manners but if your traveling in a interesting place you want to completely immerse yourself in their culture to get the full experience. 

Hopefully with these idea's in mind, your next trip will be a little less sickness free. So don't let the idea of being unhealthy stop you traveling, it's something that is very avoidable and worth it for the overall experience. Happy Travels!