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10 Handy Tips to Gear Up Your Body Before Traveling

By Joseph Benson

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Boost The Immune System

One of the best ways to prep your body before traveling is boosting your immune system. Your immune system is the system in your body that fights diseases and “keeps you healthy” (along with some help from the other systems). And these tricks will help you to make sure that your immune system is working at its very best to help you fight and avoid illness while you travel.

Giving your immune system the fuel it needs is key in boosting it. Eating foods that have antiviral, antibiotic, antioxidant, and antibacterial properties will help you to strengthen your immune system. Certain foods have properties and nutrients that serve your immune system well. Some good foods to help build a strong immune system are garlic (antibiotic/antiviral/antioxidants), elderberry (immune boosting/antioxidant), probiotic foods (gut health, in turn, immune health), beets (antioxidant), and superfoods like spirulina and chlorella. There are countless other foods that boost the immune system.

Can’t quite fit all of these immunity-boosting foods into your diet? There are different supplements you can take. Vitamin C and vitamin D are both great for maintaining proper immune health. Colloidal silver is a great supplement with immune-boosting properties that you may be missing from your diet. And taking a probiotic supplement can help to improve your gut health. With a healthy gut, you will be able to better absorb the nutrients from the food you eat.

Fruit-piece with the different colorful pills and tablets.

(Safely) exposing yourself more

When I’ve been prepping to leave on a long trip far from home, I’ve found that living a little dirtier than usual around my local area for a bit before leaving has helped me to get my immune system more active. When you travel, you will be exposed to all sorts of potentially harmful organisms and bacteria. And sometimes you won’t be able to wash your hands or maintain a level of ‘clean’ like you want to. And so, you’ll be relying on your immune system to fight off these potentially harmful things. Living a little dirtier while you’re home allows your immune system to build immunity and become more active. Think of it as practice for your immune system. This does not mean to completely throw all health concerns out the window. Live to the standards that you hold for yourself.

Don’t forget that you can get vitamin D from sunlight. Want to boost your immunity? Soak up some rays!

Develop Traveling Habits 

Start doing what you’ll be doing while you’re traveling. It’s one of the best ways to prep your body before traveling. Get your body used to what it will be doing while you’re traveling. Whatever you plan on doing during the course of your travels, start doing it locally. Doing this prevents you from 1. feeling lost when you start on your travels and 2. feeling behind. This way, when you get to where you’re going you’ll already be at full speed and able to make the most of your time away.

If you are going for trekking or hiking on your travels, then start hiking locally. Find some local hiking trails near you. Get into a habit of hiking and taking walks in the woods so that you don’t find yourself winded after your first day in the mountains. When you get to the mountains, you can spend more time enjoying the views and less time struggling to put one foot in front of the other.

If you plan on a lot of sleepless nights, get your rest in now. But, dedicate a night when you can on staying up later than usual. Then experiment with ways that help you get up the next day. Find different techniques and foods that help you to not lose productivity the day after staying up late.

If you can foresee a lot of walking during your travels, start walking now. Every day, go for a walk around your neighborhood. Get in the habit of walking every day and slowly increase your distance. Then, when you’re abroad, all that walking will be natural and you’ll be able to spend days walking and sightseeing without a worry.

Timezones & Adapting Your Schedule 

This is one of the best ways to prep your body before traveling. It’s also something that can wait until just before you leave. Look up which timezone your destination is in. Find out what the difference in time is between where you are and where you’re going. Then, right before you travel try to adjust your sleep schedule as close as you can to where you’re going.

If you are traveling to a place that is 6 hours ahead of you, try going to bed and waking up earlier than you usually would just before you leave. Figure out what your personal schedule, while you’re traveling, is going to be (doesn’t have to be exact) and try to adapt to it a bit so that you can be ready to go when you get there.

Keep Yourself Hydrated

Drink your water! Get into a habit of drinking plenty of water before you leave on your travels. This will make it easier to keep the habit of drinking the water you need while you’re traveling. One of the last problems that you want to run into while traveling is dehydration. Hydration=health.

Going along with this point is doing your research ahead of time to see what sources of water you should trust in your destination. ex. don’t drink the glass of water at the restaurant in India.

Something else that’s helped me: get a reusable water bottle that you can keep with you while you move around. Only put water that you know you can trust in it and always keep a tab on where to get clean water. This has always been my go-to while traveling. Whenever you find good water, load up!

Go For Extensive Research

Research the area that you’re traveling to so you know what to expect when you get there. Take some time before you leave to get the scoop on where you’re going. Find out what the climate is, what illnesses are predominant, and what kind of interactions you’ll have. It will make a difference. This is where you’ll find the best ways to prep your body before traveling for your specific trip.

Figuring out the climate is a mixture of location and time of year. Some places have a dry and a rainy season. If you go far enough, your destination could be experiencing the opposite season as your home. Pack accordingly. Ex. if you’re going to India during the monsoon season, make sure to pack your raincoat and more weather resistant clothes than you would if you went during the dry season.

See which illnesses and diseases are the most rampant in the area. Find out how they spread. Find the causes. By the time you get there, you should have a gameplan on what you will avoid and what’s okay. Look up different ways that 1. the locals use to avoid said illnesses and 2. other travelers have done to avoid getting sick. It’s easy to get sick in a foreign country if you don’t know what to avoid. And getting sick far from home is never fun.

Again, boosting your immune system can help you fight off what you do get exposed to.


Gather The Necessary Items

One of the best ways to prep your body before traveling is by preparing for your body’s potential needs. It certainly is a good thing to get your body ready for traveling. But don’t forget to make sure you’re prepared to keep your body working at 100%.

Packing a first aid kit is definitely in your best interest! Whenever you travel, wherever you travel you should bring a first aid kit. You can and will come across some unforeseen circumstances where it will come in handy. It doesn’t need to be the biggest, but as long as you have the necessities. Some of the must-haves I recommend in a first aid kit are bandages (of different sizes), gauze, medical tape, scissors, needle and different ointments (anti-itch, burn, antibacterial). All of these have certainly come in handy for me throughout my travels.

Probiotics can be key if what you’re eating is all new to your digestive system. They can help your body to digest foreign foods easier. And as I mentioned earlier, they can in turn help to increase your immunity.

Don’t forget to stock up on your prescription medications before you leave! This doesn’t apply to everyone, but should you have certain prescriptions make sure that you have enough to get you through your time away from home. Another thing to keep in mind after you’ve left is figuring out a way to get more should you run short on what you’ve brought with you.

Lastly, get a list together of all the other items you think you may need. Brainstorm more for your individual needs on your trip. Get something to help ease diarrhea, vitamins, and whatever else you feel you need based on location.

See The Doctor

Another one of the best ways to prep your body before traveling is to get a check-up. This will help you to see what your body is lacking in or if you have any existing health problems. This should show you what you need to improve physically so you can make sure that you’re running at 100% when you leave. Or it could bring peace of mind in knowing that you are already healthy and ready to go. This helps you to enjoy more and worry less.

Experiment With The Diet

Try some of the foods that you’ll be eating at your destination. See what doesn’t really bode well with your stomach and what does. Find out what foods you think you should avoid while you’re traveling so you don’t get stuck on the toilet when you should be out exploring.

Relax & Lie Low For The First Few Days

Don’t plan to do anything crazy your first couple of days when you get to your destination. Allow yourself to relax and let your body adjust to the new environment at your own pace. It’s easy for your body to feel beat up after a long trip to get somewhere. Catch up on whatever sleep you may have lost.

Use this time to experiment with the atmosphere and soak in the location. Get a feel for wherever you traveled to. If your plans call for you to exert yourself, plan rest and downtime around it.

Granted, this is a suggestion aimed more at those who plan on traveling for extended periods of time. For those who will only be abroad for a short term, I understand the need to get right into the action. Try to find ways to rest before and during your travel so as not to lose any sleep. A well-rested body is a ready body.

Approach Your Preparation Methodically & Peacefully

Don’t forget the reason you’re traveling! I don’t think that you’re traveling just to stress yourself out, so don’t. All of this prep is just part of the details along the way. Take these steps with presence and don’t forget why you’re doing it in the first place.

Remember to have fun! Make sure that you feel confident in your preparation. If you’re confident that you’ve taken the steps necessary, then there’s nothing left to do but have a great time. Just take caution when you feel you need to.

Finally, don’t under-prep because you’re afraid that you’re going to stand out when you get to where you’re going. You’re going to be a tourist anyway, you will stick out no matter what. So go with what makes you comfortable and be willing to adapt as you move around.

This list is more than enough to help get you (and your body) ready for travel! But, I know that there is more out there to help get ready for travel. What are some things that you do to prepare for traveling? I’d love to know, leave a comment below.

(Joe Benson is the owner and content producer for letsjoetravel.com. So far, he has visited a total of 5 countries outside of his home country USA (India, Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam, and England). He is a nature lover and is always aspiring to discover new locations. With adventure always in mind, his life is one of great excitement.)

 

 

 

16 Comments
  1. Lisa at Following the Rivera says

    You’ve listed some useful tips here. I didn’t think about adapting to different timezones before reading this, but it would be good to do before traveling.

  2. Cedric Noronha says

    Very good post. Highly informative for travellers. Keep up the good work.

  3. Mybookguide says

    Fantastic tips you mention…that is helpfull to everyone befor they were travell to gear up body n other necessary things.it makes us tottally enjoy our travell mentally as well as physically both…👍👍

  4. Komal patel says

    Superb tips to follow ….and amazing idea you gathered before travell pack up

  5. Linda (LD Holland) says

    I totally agree with boosting your immune system before travel. Even before travel became more dangerous, it has always been hard on my body. So being prepared has helped. Walking a lot before we travel has become part of our travel prep routine too. We find we walk so much more when we are travelling so need to get some endurance built first. We always say we are going to get on the right time zone. But most times fail. And suffer for it the first few days away. All good tips.

  6. Excellent tips! I think that once we’re able to travel internationally again, these are going to be even more important than ever. Especially for those of us who have been staying indoors and also being more sedentary than in the past! I’m definitely going to work on boosting my immune system and getting back to walking and hiking before any long-distance travel.

  7. Santhosh says

    Very good information and keep on going further

  8. Jan says

    Good tips! Getting into the habit of walking everyday is very important if you foresee a lot of walking and hiking in your holidays. Boosting your immune system before a holiday is another great tip to keep fit and healthy.:-)

  9. Eric Gamble says

    Great tips on how to get your body in sync or just in general ready for your next trip! I think checking out and researching what shots you need and getting your body relaxed and boosted is great. Even though it can be exciting, prepping for travel is also stressful and that can easily lower your immune system.

  10. Mayura Amarkant says

    Very useful article, especially now when things are slowly opening up and people are getting more and more open to traveling in the pandemic.

  11. Ritobroto says

    This article does have all that is needed to know before you start travelling. The most important point to note was immune system booster, which at present time is really a necessity. Overall I liked it a lot and hope to keep the points in mind the next time I travel

  12. Sundeep says

    Thanks for sharing this useful article with us. And one needs to read this article before travelling. These days boosting immune is very important before traveling anywhere.

  13. Sandy N Vyjay says

    These are really practical and sensible tips for preparing before travel. Research of the destination is very important. For us, as we are vegetarians, we do our research about the availability of vegetarian food, especially, when we are traveling to overseas destinations which we know, do not have much availability of vegetarian food.

  14. Nidhi Gupta says

    Tis is a great list… almost got into travel groove and started dreaming of my next travel and prepping for it.

  15. Pamela says

    Great tips on how to get your body in sync or just ready for your next trip! I think researching what shots you need and getting your body prepared is the most important thing. Great writeup

  16. Mrinal Kiran says

    These are some really important tips for travellers. My bestie loves to travel. I will share this with her!

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