Tips for Staying Healthy on Your Sabbatical

I used to come back from vacations feeling like I needed another vacation. It’s an awful cliche, but maybe you can relate? I’d spend a week or two moving nonstop, packing as much as I could into every day, sometimes with more alcohol in my system than sleep. And that would work fine for a week or two. But then I would take that rundown immune system and walk through an airport, full of humans and their germs. It was a terrible equation. Staying healthy on your sabbatical isn’t much different to staying healthy at home. Here are a few basic precautions will help stave off the sniffles.

Don’t just get vaccinated for the scary stuff, like yellow fever. Make sure all your routine vaccines are up to date. Talk to a doctor before your trip about what immunizations or medications you might need.

Pack a mask. This isn’t just a pandemic-era safety measure. Anytime you’re feeling a little sniffly or you’re wary of a respiratory disease in a crowded area, a mask is great, easy protection.

Hand washing or at the very least hand sanitizing needs to be a constant part of your routine.

Carry a basic first aid kit in your day bag. (Read more here about my favorite day bag for solo female travelers on sabbatical and everything you should keep inside it.)

Bug spray and sunscreen are also your friends. I prefer to pick these items up in my destination rather than packing them. It’s fewer liquids to worry about in transit, plus with bug spray, it often seems like local formulas work best against local bugs.

Stay hydrated! I swear by packing a SteriPEN and a collapsible water bottle, so fresh, safe water is never far away. (And remember, in destinations where the tap water isn’t potable, that also means you want to avoid ice or eating fruit with the skin on.)

I’m going to rip off a lil’ band aid now: you are going to get diarrhea at some point during your trip. It’s basically inevitable. In most cases, it will run its course and you’ll only lose a day or so. Try not to stress about it, even if you’re mostly staying in hostels. Most backpackers have been in the exact same scenario before and will be sympathetic.

Get plenty of rest. Fortunately, on a sabbatical, when you have more than a week to enjoy your travels, that time feels less like a going-out-of-business sale, and you won’t be so tempted to forgo sleep to squeeze in extra sightseeing.

Most importantly, staying healthy on your sabbatical is about pacing yourself! On my own trip, I planned that for every day I spent working or doing something else active, I would spend another day relaxing. There are a lot of benefits to slow travel, but I think among them is the chance to travel healthier.

What about diet? When you’re constantly on the move, eating healthy is a tricky balancing act. Read more here.