School is out, warm weather is here—it’s vacation time! While it may be your first getaway in over a year, maintaining your health throughout a vacation is very important. It’s a tale as old as time. You pack, you board the plane, you get to the hotel, you are enjoying your vacation and then boom! You notice a headache start to creep in, or maybe you spot those few extra pounds that decide to join you on your hips.
All of these come down to the fact that when you’re traveling, you expose yourself to an abundance of different new germs, food preparation techniques, weather patterns and sanitation tactics. We are also coming down from a treacherous global pandemic, so keeping your body healthy and prepared on your next vacation is something to pay attention to at all times. Here are 10 tips to keep your body strong and healthy on your next sunny excursion.
- Schedule a Consultation Before You Leave
Prior to leaving for your trip, schedule an appointment with your doctor to make sure you are up to date on all of your vaccinations—including the COVID-19 vaccine. Many places actually require certain vaccines in order to enter, so making sure you’re up to date is critical. Your doctor can also provide you with medications to prevent certain issues and to fight against any bugs you may encounter on your trip. You can never be too safe!
- Bring Your Own Snacks
Packing your own healthy snacks for car or plane rides can help avoid impulse-eating snacks prepared in different ways that could be harmful to you. Focusing on fruits and vegetables, paired with snacks of high protein and high fiber, can help reduce boredom snacking and avoid overeating. Choose easy to pack snacks that don’t take up much space. Need an idea? Check out these three quick and healthy trail mix recipes from the popular blog Eating Bird Food. These mixes are perfect for any road trip or plane ride:
Ingredients:
OMEGA MIX
¼ cup almonds
¼ cup pecans
¼ cup walnuts
¼ cup pepitas
⅔ cup dried cherries
¼ cup dark chocolate chips
MONSTER MIX
1 cup peanuts
⅔ cup raisins
¼ cup M&M’s
¼ cup chocolate chips
POPCORN TRAIL MIX
½ cup cashews
½ cup almonds
⅔ cup dried cranberries
½ cup popcorn
¼ cup pepitas
Directions:
- Mix and combine all ingredients together in a bowl.
- Store trail mix in a sealed jar or reusable storage bags. The omega and monster mix should keep for about one to two weeks. The popcorn mix is best kept for one to two days because the popcorn may lose its crunch.
- Stay Hydrated
Keeping hydrated is just as important on a beach as it is at home. When you’re on vacation, it is very easy to get caught up in activities, food and alcoholic beverages. According to the Mayo Clinic, the average woman needs around 11.5 cups of water daily, and men need around 15.5 cups daily. Staying hydrated keeps your energy up, your body working properly and your skin looking refreshed. Start your morning with a big glass of water before beginning any daily activities, and be sure to drink at least one glass of water during each meal and any breaks in the day.
- Keep Your Surroundings Clean
Away from home, you come into contact with a lot of new germs, bacteria and people. Maintaining sanitation from the airport to the hotel to a restaurant is extremely important to keep you from getting any sort of illness on your trip. It can be the difference between laying on the beach and laying in your hotel room with a nasty bug. Keep disinfectant wipes with you to wipe down any surface you may encounter such as handles, tables and utensils. Bring hand sanitizer along with you on each adventure to keep you and your loved ones’ hands clean after coming into contact with new objects and people. Specifically, it is definitely in your best interest to take advantage of the airline wipes that they provide you with upon entering the plane. Use the disinfectant wipes to wipe down tray tables, the seat, the buckles, and even the cards in the front seat pocket to avoid any germs that the many people before you may have left. Though airline staff clean the plane in between flights, they do not wipe down the individual items around the seats.
- SPF is Your BFF
By now, sunscreen has become routine in our everyday vacation lives. Just about everyone in today’s world has heard about the dangers of UV exposure along with the negative effects of sunburns. Adding sunscreen of at least 30 SPF to your trip’s packing list is the best idea you will have all summer! Sunscreen helps avoid painful sunburns, protects from developing skin cancer and prevents premature aging. It can be easy to forget to apply more than once throughout the day, but remembering to apply more than once is extremely important.
Studies have shown that 90% of all non-melanoma skin cancers (and 65% of melanomas) develop after prolonged exposure to UV rays. This means sunscreen is the most effective method of skin cancer prevention that we have today. Aside from being a vital factor in avoiding skin cancers, it’s also great for replenishing moisture that the sun has removed from your body. Wearing sunscreen is essential in keeping your skin safe and healthy on your next vacay!
- Get Up, Get Active
By now we have all heard the phrase “take the stairs,” and on vacation that seems like the last thing, we would want to do. Wrong! Getting up and moving on vacation is a major key to staying healthy and on top of it all. Whether you’re staying at the beach or lodging in the mountains, staying active is a great way to enjoy your surroundings. Book an excursion to explore a new site, take a long walk on the beach or visit the resort gym.
- Don’t Forget To Rest
Even though staying active is important, staying rested is just as important. Contrary to the popular saying, sleep is not for the weak—especially on vacation. Vacations at times can be go, go, go! It can be easy to try and fit in all of your activities all at once even at the cost of sleep. This does more harm than good. When your body is tired and overworked, it becomes susceptible to many illnesses and other issues. Whether resting means taking a quick nap or just laying out by the beach, rest is just as important as it is at home, so take advantage of the spare time you have and recharge for your next vacation activity! The last thing you want is to get home from your trip sore and exhausted just to have to get up and go to work the next day, so get some rest!
- Dress for the Occasion
Getaways are the perfect time to showcase your style and best outfits. Half the fun of getting ready for a trip is choosing outfits, getting your belongings together and packing up. Dressing for the weather is actually more important than you think it is. Overheating is a serious health issue that can be directly caused by not dressing properly or overdressing. In cold environments, layers should be worn and encouraged to avoid any serious health issues including hypothermia or frostbite. When planning a vacation, and the activities you may be doing, make sure to check the weather as well. This will help you stay informed and prepared to protect your overall health.
- Have Insurance & Vaccination Cards Handy
Before you venture out on your trip, you will want to make sure all of your vaccinations are up to date and your insurance card is updated as well. Keeping your insurance card handy and updated is crucial on a trip to avoid any unexpected issues. Insurance cards offer quick and easy medical access when you are away from home. Many cards also have emergency lines and travel help tips to keep you safe and aware.
Right now, many countries and states are requiring you to be vaccinated for COVID-19 in order to travel freely through their community. Because of this, keeping your vaccination card with you at all times is just as important right now as keeping an ID with you. The website for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has an entire section of their website dedicated to domestic and international travel COVID-19 guidelines. To ensure you’re on track for your trip regarding COVID-19 guidelines, check out their website here.
- Keep Up With KC Wellness
Staying on top of all these tips is easier said than done, especially after you just got home from a trip full of fun, sun and adventures. As soon as that after-vacay exhaustion kicks in, keeping up with your routine can be difficult. KC Wellness is here to help! Here at KC Wellness, we offer many services to help kick your daily routine back into gear. We have weight loss services including supplements, injectables and coaches. Our IV vitamin therapy is perfect to replenish any nutrients that may have washed away on your getaway. Through the use of IVs, we replace all the lost nutrients on a day-to-day basis back into your body for instant energy and relief. For more information on how you can maintain your health this summer after your next trip, call us at 816-214-5276 or click here!