9 Tips to Stay Healthy During Holiday Travel

Can you believe next week is the start of the holiday season?  In just a few days, millions of people are starting to travel near and far for Thanksgiving and the holidays. While this is a beautiful time to see our families, it is important to stay healthy during this season because nobody wants to have their vacation ruined by getting sick and bringing back a memento they didn’t count on.

Studies show that if someone is contagious and close to you on an airplane, you are a 100 times greater chance of catching their cold.  Realistically, there is no way to predict who around you is hosting some kind of bug, so here are my nine strategies for staying healthy during holiday travel.

1. Bring several scarves or a mask with you. While masks are now required on flights, you can use the scarf to cover your neck, mouth, and nose to keep your mucous membranes moist. You can also use the scarf to open up bathroom doors and other surfaces that are loaded with germs. Roll up a scarf to support your lower back on long flights.
2. Probiotics are high up on my list of what to take while traveling. Select a special multi-strain probiotic that does not need to be refrigerated when you travel. Probiotics are essential to good health, immunity, digestive health, regularity, not to mention helping fight off infections while traveling.
3. Ginger helps avoid air sickness and mitigate nausea and vomiting. It is great for coughs as well and my number one “go-to” when I travel. Ginger also helps with gas, bloating. dry throat, bad breath, and airsickness.
4. Another personal fave is peppermint for overeating, indigestion, and heartburn.
5. Stay hydrated for immunity and skin health. It is easy to get dehydrated while flying and traveling. I always recommend drinking hot herbal tea which keeps you hydrated and the warm steam keeps nasal passages open especially on airplanes.
6. Prepack healthy snacks for the trip instead of snacking on airport food.
7. Limit caffeine consumption. While hot herbal teas are great, caffeine can leave you dehydrated making you more susceptible to getting sick and drying out your skin.
8. Start taking vitamin C several days before you travel. Begin with 1500 mg of vitamin C broken into 3 doses of 500 mg/3 x a day. Take this for the entire duration of your trip.
9. Utilize elderberry chews. Take several every few hours while traveling to keep any 🦠 at bay.

I am all too familiar with a holiday cold, but after years of practicing, I’ve developed travel kits to help mitigate any cold you or your family may catch during the holiday season. If you are interested in one send me a message or contact me here.

Happy Holidays