Besides losing your passport, or missing a huge connecting flight, there is nothing worse than being sick while traveling. You have none of your comforts, you don't know where the nearest pharmacy is, you don't know how to speak the language and all you want to do is call your mom and tell her you want to come home.
Here are a few tips to surviving the plague while traveling the great ends of the earth.
1. Carry your go-to medications with you while traveling.
If you are prone to allergies carry a good allergy medicine, if you know you get motion sickness–that's me, literally every time–carry anti-nausea medicine. In addition always, always, always carry aspirin, NyQuil and immune boosters. None of these take much space, and they all come in either powder or pill form so you can take them on all your flights. Oh, you have an unbeatable immune system? Ok. Don't call me when you're crawled up in a ball on the top bunk of your hostel during monsoon season in Koh Samui and you're being quarantined by the (formerly) nice Thai owner to avoid getting everyone else sick.
2. Always air on the side of caution.
Sure, let's try all the weird bugs on the side of the road being roasted on an open-air fire pit, and let's eat the mystery meat being offered to us–oh it's cold? Even better. Literally everything can get you sick when you are traveling. Your immune system is shot–you've had one too many buckets of alcohol, your skin is crisp from hours of sunbathing, and your body aches from searching for the one special waterfall. Always wash your hands before eating, whether it's with soap and water or hand sanitizer–another thing you should always carry with you. Never eat food that is cold, or has been sitting for a long time. And the best rule of them of all, go to where the lines are. If you go to a food stand or restaurant that is packed or where there is a wait, chances are this place is reputable and won't kill you.
3. Don't let the chances of getting sick ruin your adventures.
To be honest, I have never traveled with hand sanitizer, and although I had a small first aid kit on a few of my trips, nothing in them served me any purpose except to help other people–because I'm always the mom of the group. Don't be afraid to try something new for fear of getting food poisoning. The worst thing that can happen to you is you spend the next 6 to 12 hours on the toilet or over a hole in the ground (or you die, but let's not get that dark). Chances are you'll be fine, and you'll regret not trying all the local foods when you're back home in your warm suburban neighborhood with white bread and bologna as far as the eye can see.
