If you travel a lot, be it for work or for pleasure, you’ve likely experienced getting sick either in the middle of your trip or as soon as you get home. This usually happens because you’ve had changes to your environment, be it a reduction in your focus on your health or exposure to new germs that you’re not used to. But luckily, there are things that you can do to hopefully keep this from happening to you as often.
To help you see how this can be done, here are three things to do when traveling to reduce the chances of getting sick.
Focus On Your Sleep
One of the most important ways to keep your body and your mind healthy is to get enough sleep. Otherwise, your immune system can become weakened. But for many people, traveling can make it very hard to get the sleep that their body needs and is used to. Especially if you’re going to be on the road a lot, sleeping in an unfamiliar place, or nervous about the big work presentation you’re going to be giving, it can be easy not to prioritize your sleep as much as you should.
To combat this, you’ll want to try to get as much sleep as you can before you leave so that your body can hopefully compensate for getting a little less sleep while you’re traveling. And, when you’re picking a place to stay on your trip and packing your bags, make sure you think ahead about how you’ll ensure you’re getting the restful sleep you need. This could include packing your own pillow, getting an eye mask, wearing ear plugs, bringing blackout curtains and more.
Take Care With Commonly Touched Surfaces
During travel time, you’re going to be touching a lot of surfaces that other people have touched before you. And since you can’t be certain how clean or healthy these other people are, you need to take your own measures to protect yourself.
Even with items that may have an antimicrobial coating like some appliances, you’ll still want to sanitize high-touch surfaces before you touch them. And even then, just avoiding high-touch surfaces in general might be a better idea to help keep yourself from getting sick.
Think About What You’re Eating
Along with sleep, the food that you fuel your body with can also have a big impact on how well you’re able to fight off germs that might try to get you sick. Knowing this, you should make sure that you’re eating healthy foods that have been safely prepared. This will help you to avoid things like foodborne illnesses as well as make sure your body has the energy it needs to keep itself healthy despite what you might be exposed to.
If you want to give yourself the best shot at staying healthy while traveling for work or for pleasure, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you in doing this.
