Travel Health Care by Jane Thurnell-Read

The thought of travelling for a gap year or just on an intercontinental holiday is exciting but it can be daunting too. All sorts of things can go wrong; your health can be affected by travelling, so what can you do or take to take care of yourself while you’re travelling?

The first and perhaps most important thing is your attitude of mind. If you want things to be safe and predictable, then home is probably the place to be. Accept that part of the fun of travelling is meeting (and dealing with) the unexpected. When things are going wrong, remember that it will make a great tale to tell your friends on your return home. Take with you a bottle of the Australian Bush Flower Emergency Remedy. This small bottle will easily fit in a pocket when you’re out and about. They are all purpose remedies for stress, bad news, accidents and upsets. In a way they’re a whole medicine chest in a bottle. Great for travel emergencies, and can be used with babies and small children too. If you’re the parent of a child going off on their gap year travels, you might want to keep one of these Emergency remedies handy for you – take it if you get upset when they leave, or whenever you worry about them. They are easy to take – for the 5 Flower Rescue Remedy put 4 drops in a glass of water and sip throughout the day.

If you are travelling internationally or generally get an upset stomach when you travel, try taking probiotics before you go to boost your intestinal health. Probiotics are the healthy bacteria that inhabit our gut. By taking specific strains of probiotics you can line and protect your gut with healthy bacteria. This makes it much less likely that you’ll be affected by digestive upsets when abroad. Lactobacilus rhamnosus Rosell-11 is able to bind strongly to the intestinal cells, so is a great one to include for this specific purpose.

Another probiotic to take with you is the strain Saccharomyces boulardii. This has been shown to be as effective against diarrhoea as Imodium, but it’s not a drug. It’s a natural way of supporting your intestine, helping you to get rid of your travel diarrhoea while getting healthier too. Extensive scientific clinical research has repeatedly shown its ability to flush out pathogenic bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella and its therapeutic benefits against diarrhoea.

But diarrhoea isn’t the only problem you might encounter, so a homeopathic travel kit greatly enhances your ability to take of your health while travelling. Homeopathy is a great travel first aid system. Compact homeopathic travel kits are available. These usually come with an explanatory booklet allowing you to use the homeopathic remedies with confidence, even if you’ve never used homeopathy before.

If you have a problem with insect bites, you may find the B complex vitamins help. The theory is that when you take the B vitamins, a smell is exuded from your skin that mosquitoes and similar creatures don’t like so they stay away from you. In case you were wondering, this smell is undectable to humans so doesn’t keep them away from you!

Remember travel is exciting and exhilarating. It can broaden the mind, and build peace and friendship. But travel and health can be a problem together. So, take this travel health advice and go prepared so that you can relax and enjoy yourself.