How not to get sick on Holiday

One of the worst things that can happen on holiday is falling ill. You looked forward to the trip, planned everything you must do and see, spent all this money…. only to be bed ridden in a 2 star hotel away from the things you took for granted back at your own house. So to help and avoid this from happening, here’s a few tips:

1. Food Poisoning

We have personal experience from this one. Our first big trip through South East Asia included 3 days of exploding bowels and mouths. Yes we were struck down by a dodgy fish in Nha Trang, Vietnam. Nothing we could do except sit in our hotel and wait for the food poisoning to pass.

Here’s a few tips to avoid such a situation:

• Does the restaurant have a sanitation (health) rating score. Usually these are on the window, but if they have a bad score, they will try hide this fact. A quick google can help.
• Easiest test is to ask yourself “does it look clean?” if its gross in the restaurant itself, just imagine what the kitchen looks like.
• If you’re in a country where meat isn’t likely to be the most fresh, think about whether you want to order it. In our Vietnam scenario above, restaurants would be drying out their fish at the front where flies would be all over it…. and yet we still ordered fish? (beer googles i suppose).
• Don’t order things that likely aren’t popular at that restaurant. This is especially relevant to those horrible restaurants that have a billion things on the menu. The food likely isn’t’ fresh and more likely to cause you stomach problems.

2. Wash your hands

Something we learnt during Covid is that you should be washing your hands. Even more so on holiday where you’re in contact with so many new things, people, and germs. So carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer with you and use it regularly. This is especially important before handling food.

3. Appropriate clothing

Dress for the occasion. This is applicable to life in general, but certainly matters on a trip away. Don’t hike through a jungle in flip flops, and don’t walk around Sweden in the middle of winter in a singlet. Think about the weather and dress appropriately.

4. Bring Medicine

If you’re susceptible to certain conditions, prepare by taking precautionary items with you. This includes headache medicine, hay fever tablets, insect repellent and whatever you’ve experienced before. You can trust me it truly sucks when you’re walking around a foreign pharmacy half dead (if you can find one) and then you cant even read any of the bottles.

5. Act Fast

When I was leaving for a trip to the Spanish Islands I had a funny feeling in my throat. I assumed it was nothing, and carried on. What this led to was me discovering 2 days in that I had a terrible case of tonsillitis and was stuck in a hotel wishing I was back home.

So if you’re feeling something come on, act fast and don’t leave it up to hope. Fuel your body with what is needed to get you back on track.

6. Watch what is going into your body

Now i’m sure everyone has been guilty of this before. You get on holiday and straight away stuff your face with all kinds of sugary foods and copious amounts of Alcohol. A few days of this and you end up spewing your guts our or not being up to actually going out and enjoying wherever you’re at. You’re getting older (yes you!) and you can’t get away with day on day eating Hot Chips and Bloody Marys and still claim you’re eating your fruit and veg. Listen to your body and think about the next day.

Good luck!!!!!!!