Guest Blogger Bobby D. on Vacation Sickness

Ways To Avoid Vacation Sickness

There are any number of things that can put a damper on your vacation: lost luggage, high-priced restaurants, overcrowding at attractions and bad weather are some common culprits. But illness is probably the worst; getting sick during a fun time can be a serious roadblock for all your plans, and dishearten the most optimistic of tourists.

If you get sick, all the time, money, and preparation you put into your trip may have been for nothing, and there will be nothing to do but hole yourself up in a hotel room and try to get better before the flight home.

But it doesn’t have to be like that! There are a few quick, simple things you can do to stay away from sickness during your vacation.

Most Common Sources of Viruses on Vacation

Unsurprisingly, the two biggest sources of vacation virus are airplanes and hotel rooms, so it’s important to take extra precautions when flying and when settling into your room.

In a plane, all of the air in the cabin is continuously re-circulated. This means that any germs that other passengers may have brought on board stick around, and gradually spread through the cabin as the flight progresses.

As you can probably guess, longer flights present the greatest risk of germ exposure; the longer flight gives germs more time to spread, permeating all the corners of the cabin, and to infect passengers.

When flying, remember to wash your hands frequently, and try as best as you can to keep them away from your eyes, nose, and mouth. Frequent hand-washing is hard on airplanes, so bring some alcohol-based hand sanitizer in your carry-on, and use it every hour.

Stay hydrated during travel, which means drinking plenty of water and avoiding caffeine and alcohol. These substances contribute to dehydration, which is bad for your immune system.

On a normal day, at home, you should be aiming for drinking 60% of your body weight in ounces of water – in other words, if you weigh 100 pounds, drink about 60 ounces of water every single day. But, while traveling, your body tends to get dehydrated much quicker due to stress and activity – aim for drinking 70% of your body weight in ounces of water during trips!

Viruses can linger for up to 18 hours, which means that if a sick person has recently stayed in your hotel room, there may still be virus in the room when you check in, particularly on faucet handles, remote controls, light switches, telephones, and doorknobs. If the hotel staff doesn’t do a good enough job of cleaning up your room, there’s not much you can do.

What you can do is wash your hands frequently. Also, it’s a good idea to leave your room for a few hours immediately after checking in. Leave a window open. Hopefully, by the time you return, the room will be virus free.

Avoiding Other Illnesses

Motion sickness is a problem for many first-time cruise passengers. For some, it lasts only a couple of hours, while for others it doesn’t go away until they get back on solid ground. Most cruise ships have doctors who can give you motion sickness medication, and you can also use anti-histamines or motion sickness disks. Also, some sufferers of motion sickness say that green tea and ginger can be helpful.

E. coli, or traveler’s diarrhea is no fun, but fortunately it usually passes within a day or two. If you want to avoid it, only eat food that is thoroughly cooked, drink bottled water, and – stay away from ice cubes.

If you’ve ever had a severe sunburn on vacation, you already know how crippling it can be. The key is prevention: Any time you’re going to be out in the sun, slather on as much sunblock (SPF 30 at least) as you possibly can. Repeat application regularly throughout the day, and if you do get burned, drink plenty of water and use aloe lotion until the pain passes.

About The Author: Bobby DeMuro is the Founder of FusionSouth, a personal training/sports conditioning firm in Charlotte, NC. He is also the Executive Director of NoFizz Charlotte, a non-profit dedicated to bringing awareness on the importance of proper hydration. He resides on Lake Norman with his 2-year old boxer, Dakota.

Ball Canning Discovery Kit Winner

Thank you to Ball for a great event and for allowing MommyB Knows Best to do a review and giveaway! Wow, we had an amazing response from you readers. I may even have to do another giveaway by Ball soon…hint, hint!

Thank you to everyone who entered, I know the person who won will really put hers to use, congratulations to Paula B from Bell’ Alimento YUM!! I’m emailing you right now, please be sure to respond within 48 hours.

Like I said since there was such a great response I may have some other Ball goodies up my sleeve in the near future, so keep checking out MommyB Knows Best.

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In a dream world Baby C would have rose smelling poop that needed 1 wipe to clean up and only poop in the comfort of our home, but it’s reality folks. If you’re a real mom like me your baby poops whenever and wherever you are, and even occasionally has a fun and exciting diaper blow-out. Now if you don’t know what a blow-out is for diapers then you may want to google it because it can be, well, just plain nasty.

Unfortunately, I’ve had the opportunity to deal with several blow-outs from both girls, which is why I carry an extra set of clothes for both Baby C and myself…because, well you never know! That’s why I love award winning Dipe ‘N Go, because you never know when you’ll need a changing station. [Read more]

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Now in a perfect world I’d get up at 10:30 and the whole family would be ready to head out the door by 11:00 right? Not with us, not only did I need to get myself around, I needed to feed Baby C, get her dressed, dress Little Miss A, and then, dum…dum…dum…Mis A’s hair….this is an entity in itself. Often times I find myself wondering why I prayed for daughters with curly hair, and I love the look when it’s all pretty and done up, but it sure does take some energy, time, and product! After all of us getting ready plus 30 minutes for two puffy piggies, we were finally out the door…at lunchtime?!?! [Read more]

Sand Gone Winner

Just in time for more Summer fun I’ve picked the winner for the Sand Gone Giveaway.

Thank you for everyone who entered, some of your favorite summer smells are freshly mowed grass, salt water, and ripe fruit. Congratulations to the winner this time, Sarah L!!

I’m emailing you, please be sure to respond within 48 hours to ensure your very own conatiner of Sand Gone. Check out MommyB this week for a fun trip to the Farmer’s Market, Diaper Changing wonder, and even some sure-fire tips on how to stay healthy on vacation. Also, be sure to enter my Ball Canning Giveaway that’s running for the next couple of days too!

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