Rollerbag Goddess Global Communications

Traveling for the holidays? Here’s how to stay healthy.

A friend of mine just got back from a trip and confessed he’d caught a nasty bug.

It’s something that happens to all of us who travel. Get us in an airport, load us onto a plane, and hand us a tissue on our way out.

After predictably coming down with a cold days after every trip, I decided to change my ways. The price of being lazy and trusting was far too high. So here are my top travel hacks for avoiding catching a bug on planes.

1. Drink lots of water in the days leading up to your flight and throughout your journey.

Water helps your body flush out the bad stuff. Drink lots of it! Bring your own empty water bottle and fill it at the airport, once you are past security, to save $$ and the planet.

2. Consider taking vitamins and maybe immunity-supporting probiotics before your flight.

Some people swear by Airbourne as a supplement, but I think anything that boosts your body’s ability to fend off the bugs is good. I’ve had good luck with Emergen-C as well as high-potency vitamins.

3. Don’t let yourself get rundown.

That includes the days leading up to your trip, during your trip and afterward. Slow down, get enough sleep, and avoid the temptation to push, push, push and try to do it all.

4. Eat plant-based before and during your flights.

I find the flight is much more comfortable and it’s easier to get good rest in transit if my belly isn’t full of animal products.

5. Bring sanitizing wipes with you.

I always bring a bunch of these and I immediately wipe down arm rests, windows, plane walls, vents, seat screens, seat belts, tray tables and storage pouches, as well as any buttons, switches or handles I will be touching during my travels. No one else is doing this, and you’ll notice that when you look at the wipes afterward. I’ve seen people put dirty bare feet on armrests, bare children’s bottoms on tray tables and more. There’s a lot of ugly stuff out there; take care of yourself.

6. Carry hand sanitizer.

Sounds duplicative, right? But if you’re handling tickets other people are handling, taking trams between terminals, sitting in the airport and eating after pulling out a chair for yourself, using the drinking fountain, or using railings to steady yourself, you’re picking up germs of other travelers. Minimize the risk of picking up whatever bugs they have too, by sanitizing your hands whenever you touch something.

7. If you or your loved ones are sick, be diligent about keeping germs to yourself.

We’re all in this together, and what goes around comes around. Sneeze and cough into your arm. Wash your hands after touching your nose, eyes or anywhere on your face. Wipe down surfaces where you or your children may have spread germs, so that others don’t pick up your bugs.

Throngs of us are traveling over the holidays. Hopefully these tips will help you, and all of us, stay healthy for the journey!

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Charish Badzinski is an explorer and award-winning features, food and travel writer. When she isn’t working to build her blog, she applies her worldview to her business, Rollerbag Goddess Global Communications, providing powerful storytelling to her clients.

Posts on the Rollerbag Goddess travel blog are never sponsored and have no affiliate links, so you know you will get an honest review, every time.

Find Charish on Twitter: @rollrbaggoddess, on Facebook at @rollrbaggoddess, and on Instagram at @rollerbaggoddess. You can also read more about Charish Badzinski’s professional experience in marketing, public relations and writing.

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Rollerbag Goddess travel blog by Charish Badzinski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

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