Now Take A Few Minutes To Do The Most Important Travel Planning Of All--Learn How To Stay Healthy While You're En To Travel

By Abrahamson Owen

Healthy Travel

• Important Note: Traveling and Illness

As you are preparing for tarvel, please be sure to continue to
focus on measures to ensure your good health: eat a balanced
diet, get plenty of rest, avoid smoking and be sure you are
effectively managing any ongoing health issues. In the unlikely
event that you become ill with a fever or respiratory illness
the day prior to your scheduled departure date, please see your
doctor to determine whether you are healthy enough to travel and
participate in the event. Your health as well as the health of
participants is important to yourself.

• Your Travel "First Aid" Kit

Be sure you bring the following to ensure a safe, health and
convenient travel experience:

Your prescription medicines (enough to cover your days away
from home), in their original containers with clearly
identifiable labels.

If you are generally in good health, there are some typical
minor ailments that travelers frequently encounter which may
necessitate use of non-prescription medicines.

Consider bringing a few doses of medicine if you are prone to
the following:

diarrhea
upset stomach
headache
sinus congestion
motion sickness

• During Travel

Bring enough of any required medicines in carry-on bag.

If seated next to a person with respiratory symptoms on the
plane, contact the flight attendant for a change in seating if
available. When a change is not possible: avoid direct contact
(face-to-face); avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth; be
conscious of the surfaces you touch and wash your hands
frequently.

Drink plenty of fluids (preferably water) before, during, and
after your flight. Not only will you feel better, but keeping up
your fluid reserves also helps your body fight illness and risk
of jet lag. If need be, use moisturizer and lip balm to combat
the dry air in the flight cabin.

If you wear glasses, don't fly with contact lenses -- wear your
glasses instead. Contacts will only dry out and further irritate
itchy or burning eyes.

Take frequent walks in the aisles, stretch and exercise your
lower limbs while seated to keep blood your blood flowing and
prevent conditions attributed to sedentary positions (swollen
ankles, muscle cramps). If you can take aspirin safely, a low
dose (81 milligrams) taken on the day of departure can be
helpful in preventing clot formation.

Try to get as much fresh air and exercise as you can between
flight connections.

Clear your head with a hot, steamy shower after you land. Avoid
smoking areas while you wait for a connecting flight and when
you reach your destination.

To minimize the discomfort of pressure building in your ears,
here's how to make them pop: pinch your nostrils closed and
inhale deeply. Then exhale through your nose, blowing out in
short, firm bursts until you feel your ears pop. Yawning,
drinking liquids, and chewing gum also helps.

• jet lag

Anyone who's suffered from the fatigue of crossing time zones
can attest that it's no fun being bleary-eyed and groggy for the
first couple days of and after your trip. There are ways of
minimizing the effects of jet lag, so take note:

Adjust your sleeping and eating patterns to the new time zone a
couple days before your flight -- usually one day per time zone.

Upon boarding the plane, change your watch to the destination
time zone. Drink plenty of fluids, keeping yourself as hydrated
as possible. While trying to knock yourself out with a couple
glasses of wine or wake yourself up with coffee may seem like
good ideas while flying, think again -- alcohol and caffeine
dehydrate the body, making your even more tired when you arrive
at your destination.

If it's daytime in your destination, take a walk after you get
settled. The exercise will stimulate your body and help convince
it to stop producing sleep-inducing hormones.

Use earplugs and blindfolds to help dampen noise and block out
unwanted light while sleeping.

A variety of over-the-counter products are available that
purport to ease jet lag or encourage sleep on lengthy flights.

Fortunately, your adjustment in New Zealand will likely go
smoothly as you will be getting plenty of exercise!!

Stay heallthy

Focusing on these key areas will help you to "Stay Health"

1. Pay attention to personal hygiene and handwashing
2. Eat a balanced diet and drink plenty of water
3. Be physically active
4. Get plenty of sleep
5. Manage strees
6. Avoid smoking
7. keep immunizations current
8. Manage any ongoing health issues

Eating a balanced diet is perhaps the most direct action you
can take to nurture your immune system

- The immune system requires a balance of nutrients to function
properly
- Without this balance,you can become sick more easily and have
a longer recovery time
- Ensure your daily meals include:
- vegetables(especially leafy green)
- fruits
- whole and fortified grains(any food made from
wheat,rice,oats,cornmeal,barley or other ceral grain)
- dairy products,with small amounts of fish and meat(or
alternative protein sources)

Your body requires a minimum amount of daily fluid intake to
maintain health

- Fluids help to keep mucous membranes moist enough to combat
viruses on contact
- Requirement 6-8 cups (1.4-1.9 liters) per day
- Avoid drinks like coffee, tea, and colas with caffeine;they
deplete your body of fluids

If you are exercising and sweating, drinking water is doubly
important

- 1to2hours before exercising: 10 to 14 ounces of cold water
(about a cup and a half, or 295 to 414 ml)
- 10to15 minutes before exercising: 10 ounces of cold water
(about a cup and a half, or 295 ml)
- While exercising: 3to4 ounces of cold water every 15 minutes
(about a cup and a half, or 89 to 118 ml)