How to prioritize your health while traveling

Health should always be one of your top priorities if not your absolute top priority. If you neglect your health, literally all your other priorities will fall away.

If you’re like us, you love to travel – and travel has rightfully earned a spot near the top of your priority list. But if you want to preserve your health while traveling, you’ll need to keep some special considerations in mind.

Unique health considerations for travelers
There are several unique health considerations that travelers need to address:

• Healthcare availability. First, you need to consider healthcare and medical treatment availability. Not every country has readily accessible hospitals, and those that do may have specific bureaucratic processes that need to be followed before you can receive treatment. If you’re not familiar with these limitations and barriers, and you find yourself experiencing a medical emergency, you may not know what to do.
• Health insurance. Second, your health insurance policy may not apply to you while you’re traveling. This is primarily a concern for international travelers. If you don’t have active insurance, and you don’t have a way to pay, you may not get the treatment you need – or you may end up in a very precarious financial situation.
• Different regulatory environments. Going to a different area means introducing yourself to a totally different regulatory environment. In the United States, we have laws and regulations to protect us from a considerable range of risks – but those protections may not extend to other countries. For example, consider mesothelioma, a rare and deadly form of cancer that almost exclusively develops in response to exposure to asbestos, a hazardous material. Asbestos has been properly identified as a hazard and has many legal controls to discourage its open use in the U.S. – but other countries may not have these regulations, or may be especially lax with them.
• Unknown variables. There are also unknown variables that could impact your health and wellness when you travel. For example, other countries may not have readily available access to clean drinking water or could be experiencing a localized pandemic.
• Extra risks. Finally, traveling exposes you to additional risks. You’ll encounter more people, you’ll be in close proximity with other people who might have contagious illnesses while traveling on a plane or bus, and you won’t have access to all the comfortable amenities you have at home.

How to prioritize your health while traveling

So what are the best strategies to prioritize your health while traveling?

• Get to know your destination. Before you travel, spend some time getting to know your destination. First, check for travel advisories. There may be information about current health risks associated with your destination. Aside from that, do some research to figure out if there are any particularly noteworthy hazards you should avoid or prepare for. The better you know the area, the better you can protect your health there.
• Talk to other travelers (and locals). It may also be in your best interest to talk to other travelers, and potentially even locals from the area. Ask questions to clarify any ambiguities and determine if there are any unknown or rarely acknowledged risks in the area.
  Verify insurance coverage. Read your insurance policy carefully and determine if it will apply to your destination. If it doesn’t, consider purchasing traveler’s health insurance coverage or make alternative financial plans for how you’ll cover medical costs in your destination.
• Come up with emergency plans (and backup plans). What happens if you experience a medical emergency? Come up with a plan for how you’re going to get the care you need. It’s also a good idea to create multiple backup plans, just in case your primary plan fails for any reason.
• Take extra medications. If you rely on specific medications to survive or remain healthy, be sure to take extras with you. This way, if you end up in a limiting situation, you’ll have plenty of medication to keep you going. Just be sure to research laws in your destination to ensure that your medication is legal there.
• Bring a first aid kit. Depending on where and how you’re traveling, it might make sense to bring along a first aid kit. This is especially true if you’ll be hiking in the wilderness, camping, or partaking in other activities that separate you from civilization. A first aid kit has the potential to save your life if you know how to use it.
• Get sleep. Even if you have trouble sleeping while traveling, make sleep a priority. Go to bed earlier, relax with meditation exercises, and do whatever is necessary to get the recommended 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night.
• Get exercise. Similarly, try to get at least some exercise every day, even if it’s just a brisk walk.
• Watch what you eat and drink. Also, drink plenty of water on your journeys and make sure to eat plenty of vegetables. It’s too easy to eat like garbage if you’re not paying attention.
• Wash your hands frequently. Washing your hands is arguably the best way to reduce the spread of infectious diseases. Make it a point to wash your hands regularly throughout all your traveling.

Following these strategies won’t guarantee that you won’t contract an illness or that you won’t be hurt while traveling. But you’ll be in a much better position to remain in good health – and fully enjoy your trips the way you want.

The article How to prioritize your health while traveling first appeared in TravelDailyNews International.