How to Stay Healthy While Traveling

At one time or another on your travels, you've likely been hit with the sniffles. Unfortunately, traveling takes a toll on our bodies and can make us more susceptible to catching a virus – especially when traveling by plane. To help you stay healthy on the road, we offer the following tips.

Bring Hand Sanitizer

Hand sanitizer with at least 50 percent alcohol content will keep your hands clean when a bathroom isn’t close by. Use it often during your time in airports and after touching ticket kiosks, ATMs, security bins, and before eating.

Choose Healthy Options

Airplane bottles (sometimes known as 'nips') may seem like a cute and fun way to kick off a vacation, but experts advise to limit alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and salty foods both before and during a flight. Eat a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, add some supplemental vitamin C and D, and you'll arrive at your destination in top form.

Drink Water and Use Nasal Spray

Staying hydrated is necessary when fighting off colds. Drinking water keeps your respiratory tract moist, which boosts your protection against germs. We also recommend using a saline nasal spray. Similar to your respiratory tract, dry mucus membranes are more susceptible to germs so using a nasal spray will keep them moist. Use it an hour before your flight, then at regular intervals during the flight.

Get Some Rest — the Right Way

If you can sleep on planes, do so. Sleep provides an opportunity for your body to recharge and build strength to fight off germs. Of course, good sleep comes when your body's circadian rhythm is synced up with your destination, so find out how to beat jet lag and get rejuvenating shuteye upon arrival.

Exercise Before, During, and After Your Flight

Boost your blood flow, heart rate, and blood-oxygen content by engaging in light to moderate exercise before your flight, and after you land. There are even a few workouts you can do mid-flight, whether it's stretching your legs for a stroll around the cabin or raising your toes and heels intermittently while reading or watching a movie.

Close or Redirect the Air Vent

Once you are seated on the airplane, either close the overhead air vent or point the vent towards your knees instead of your face. This keeps microbes away from the most vulnerable spots – your eyes, nose, and mouth. Note: Access to the air flow controls may not be available on larger, wide-body aircraft.

Notify Flight Attendants

If you are sitting next to, behind, or in front of someone on your flight who is noticeably ill, notify a flight attendant and ask if you can be moved to another row (if there are available seats). If the ill person is displaying signs of a respiratory problem, the flight attendants can give him or her a face mask to protect the surrounding people from catching a potential virus.

Wear Glasses

Keep the contact lenses in their case. Contacts can dry out your eyes, making them receptive to germs in the air. Along with this, you are less likely to touch your eyes if you wear glasses, which is how viruses are often spread.

Put these tips into practice on your next small group tour!