Maintain Your Health While You Travel

Travel Health - Don't have a disaster honeymoon by getting sick! Here are tips for to keep you feeling good throughout your vacation.

Basic Travel Health

• Eat a balanced diet from all the food groups.
• Try to get a variety of nutrients.
• Take a multivitamin to make up for the loss of any nutrients.
• Drink plenty of water to prevent heat exhaustion or dehydration, especially if vacationing in a hot climate.
• Pack medicine and supplies in case of sickness or injury.
• Refer to the list below and bring medicine that you may not normally need, like anti-diarrhea pills. If you are accustomed to certain medicines, it is better to bring those and take them as soon as the problem arises rather than trying to hunt down similar medicines when feeling badly.
  

Jet Lag

Trying to adjust to a new destination, especially if it crosses many time zones, can be very difficult. This is usually referred to as jet lag and can take on numerous symptoms. Regulating your body’s cycle as quickly as possible to your new destination will reduce jet lag. It can actually be easier to adjust when traveling west than when traveling east, because you are lengthening your day and not shortening it. Caffeine, alcohol and sleeping pills can cause jet lag to get worse, so if jet lag is a big problem for you, stay away from these substances at least while your body regulates itself.
To help adjust more rapidly:

• Drink a lot of water; before, during and after your flight.
• Try to eat and sleep at your destination’s normal times.
• Minimize alcohol intake on the airplane or drink a lot of water at the same time to stay hydrated.
• Try to expose yourself to as much sunlight as possible during the day for the first few days of arrival.
• Take Melatonin in the evening – between 2-5mg depending on your body weight. Start this on the first day you arrive.

Vaccines/Immunizations

Schedule a visit with your doctor 3 months before your honeymoon to determine what medicine, shots or vaccinations would be useful to you while on your honeymoon. Make sure your regular vaccinations are up-to-date. Make sure you know what kind of activities and environment you will be staying in before you speak to your doctor so that a good diagnosis can be determined. Assess with your doctor if certain required or recommended vaccinations would be beneficial. If you have trouble with traveling or eating in foreign destinations, find out if any prescriptions would be useful.
Mosquito Bite Prevention!

• Wear light-colored clothing
• Limit outdoor activity at dawn and dusk
• No scented soap, shampoo, hair spray or other body products
• Avoid evening walks near water
• Use air conditioning at night instead of opening windows
• Use repellants with DEET – they last longer and deter more mosquitoes
• Citronella or other oils are not as effective but can be used if reapplied every 2 hours
• Massage with lemongrass oil instead of fruity/floral smelling oils
• Electronic repellants that emit high frequencies and taking vitamin B supplements have not been found as effective

Traveler's Stomach Sickness

Getting an upset stomach is common while traveling. The more severe form of stomach sickness is often known as traveler’s diarrhea and occurs in more than 30% of travelers. Certain locations and resorts do not have safe water or food. Find out what kinds of warnings are in effect for drinking water at you destination at the Center of Disease Control and Prevention. A good resort should have a filtration system for all the water they use, unless their local water supply is safe. If in doubt or outside of your resort, please take heed. Traveler’s diarrhea can last a week or more, which could be your entire honeymoon.
Stomach Sickness Prevention:

• Drink bottled water from a known brand and make sure the bottle has its safety seal intact. Some vendors are known to refill bottles with tap water.
• Don’t eat fruit unless you peel it.
• Don’t eat raw vegetables, fish or meat. Make sure all food is cooked to kill off the bacteria and is served hot.
• Don’t drink the water, fruit juice, milk or ice.
• Stay away from shellfish, even steamed, unless the establishment looks very reputable.
• Clean your teeth with purified water.
• Bring either a water filtration device or tablets with chlorine or iodine. If you need to purify your water: Boil water for at least 5 minutes.

Female Health

Air Travel Tips - Deboard the airplane feeling your best.

Honeymoon Air Travel Tips

There are many things to take into consideration to plan for good post-wedding air travel. Here are some suggestions on how to have the best airplane travel experience while on your way to your honeymoon destination. If you are not a regular air traveler, take extra precautions while preparing for your honeymoon.

Seat Assignments
All of us have a preference on seats: aisle, window; But there is really a lot more to consider. When reserving your tickets, make sure you get your seat assignments right away. If the plane has any seat combinations for 2, definitely try to snatch those. Pick your preferred location, aisle or window and the other seat for your honey. Other important and often ignored preferences deal with where you are seated in the plane. Don’t get seats within 4-5 rows of the bathroom, especially in longer flights. You don’t want to start off or end your honeymoon with sewage smells or overflow. Also, airplane air can fluctuate, so it’s better to sit nearer to the front or back of the airplane and not in the dead center. The air in the center of the plane can be warmer and have less airflow, plus you may feel more claustrophobic with people surrounding you. If you are prone to airsickness then choose a seat by the airplane wing.

Eating & Drinking
The first thing you will want to do after the wedding is relax. Once you board the plane, try to stay away from drinking alcohol and caffeine. The altitude and dehumidified air will dehydrate you and the alcohol or caffeine will heighten this reaction. Drink plenty of water or fruit juices. If you really want a drink, drink 3 times as much water. This will also help prevent jet lag. Hydration can prevent feeling even more worn out once you deplane. Also, don’t eat too much airplane food, since it tends to be heavy and the added sugars can increase dehydration. Eat lightly or bring your own healthy snacks.

Sitting Comfortably
Wear comfortable clothes and shoes that allow you to stretch. Stay away from tights or panty hose that can decrease your circulation. Try not to put your bags under the seat in front of you so that you can stretch throughout the flight. Place a pillow behind your lower back to decrease back soreness. When allowed to take off your seatbelt, stand and walk about the cabin to keep your blood circulated.
Stretching and hydrating can help prevent Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), blood clots in the legs. Symptoms of DVT include one ankle swelling a lot more than the other, calf/thigh pain or tenderness, heart palpitations or chest pain. If you have circulation or blood clotting problems, consult a doctor before traveling. They may suggest taking asprin to help with circulation.

Exercise your legs and arms

• Rotate your feet in circles
• Flex and point your feet
• Raise your knee to your chest and back to the floor
• Rotate your arms in circles
• Slowly arch and curl your back