Those planning to travel during the year-end holiday season should take the necessary steps to ensure their trip is a safe and relaxing one.
These travel tips from Hong Kong-based health experts will help you and your travel companions stay healthy and happy and get the most out of your time away in this busy period.
1. Take care of yourself before you go
Besides keeping your immune system strong with balanced meals, regular exercise and good-quality sleep, avoid consuming alcohol in the weeks leading up to your trip.
“Alcohol is dehydrating and can make you feel irritable, give you brain fog and cause problems from heartburn and migraines to anxiety and skin inflammation,” says Ally van de Pol, a health coach and naturopath at Hong Kong wellness centre Dragon Fitness, Coaching & Healing.
Monica Xu, a naturopath at the Integrated Medicine Institute in Hong Kong, recommends taking multivitamins and minerals with zinc throughout the year to bolster the immune system.
2. Pack health essentials
If you fall ill on holiday, it helps to have herbal remedies at hand in dried form, extracts or supplements. Xu says to take them once you start feeling under the weather.
Echinacea, olive leaf extract and astragalus, for example, may shorten the duration of a cold or flu and reduce the severity of symptoms.