By Bonnie Jenkins, Advanced Natural Wellness

I’m not much of a traveler, but my husband and I recently splurged on a trip to San Francisco for our wedding anniversary. While the trip itself was wonderful, the weather wasn’t, especially for a couple of desert rats. We left temperatures that topped 105° only to find ourselves freezing in the fog and mist of the city by the Bay.  Predictably, this 50° drop in temperature sent our sinuses into a tailspin. Day 2: Both of us woke up with postnasal drip and sore throats. Fortunately, I had packed a variety of natural health remedies for just this type of vacation-busting catastrophe. Within a day, we were back to sightseeing.

If you are planning a trip—or even if the economy has limited your vacation to a “staycation”—it’s wise to plan ahead for the common maladies that can ruin your holiday. And that means bringing along natural solutions for the most common maladies that afflict travelers.

An alcohol-based sanitizer helps kill germs on the road, and it’s essential when soap and water aren’t available. Apply it to your hands before every meal, after a trip to the bathroom and after petting animals. If plane, train or bus travel is on the agenda, bolster your immune system by taking Echinacea five days before your trip. Keep taking the herb while you are gone and for five days after you return. It’s also wise to pack some black elderberry supplements. Israeli research finds that this extract binds to several types of influenza virus, which helps to prevent them from replicating.

To fight off motion sickness and support healthy digestion while traveling, pack ginger lozenges or ginger tea bags. Research finds that ginger prevents motion sickness by constricting blood vessels and controlling blood pressure. It also prevents changes in normal gastric rhythmic patterns. Before you head out to sea, drink ginger tea or take 500 mg. of a ginger supplement every two hours to reduce nausea and shorten recovery time.

Sleep is often a casualty of traveling across the country. There’s nothing like flying through the night, changing time zones, and then having to navigate your way around a strange city to start a vacation off on the wrong foot. Instead, support your internal clock by taking a few simple steps while in flight: Avoid caffeine and alcohol, drink plenty of water and use an eye mask, pillow and ear plugs to snag a few hours of sleep en route. Calcium and magnesium tablets can help you doze. Then, the first morning at your destination, walk around your hotel in bright daylight to reset your internal clock.

If you are traveling internationally, try melatonin to ease jet lag. Extended plane travel can interfere with the production of melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate our sleep-wake cycles. Taking supplemental melatonin, however, can help counteract the effects that flying has on getting a good night’s sleep. When traveling to points east, on the day of your flight, take 1 to 3 mg. of melatonin between 6 and 7 p.m. your time (you may have to take the melatonin on the plane). On the day you arrive and for the next four days, take one dose of melatonin at bedtime. If you will not be staying in this time zone for four days and will instead be traveling further east, take one dose of melatonin on the day before flying onward, again between 6 and 7 p.m. local time (but not at bedtime). On the day of arrival at your second destination, take one dose of melatonin at bedtime (local time) and for the next four days.

If the western skies are calling, things are a little bit different. For one, melatonin will not help much if you travel less than five time zones to the west. No big deal—you’ll sleep on the beach anyway, right? For you long-distance westward travelers, on the day you arrive, wherever it is you’re going, take one dose of melatonin at local time bedtime and continue to do so for the next four days. Sound familiar? If you’re traveling further west in less than four days’ time, take melatonin at bedtime the night before leaving. Then repeat the whole schedule again at your new sunny spot on the planet.

Wherever you’re headed—from the shore to the mountains—be prepared for insect bites with herbal pest repellents that are free of DEET and other potentially toxic chemicals. Neem is useful for fighting off pests, as is tea tree oil. If you’ll be out in the sun, look for a combination of natural sun protection and a DEET-free insect repellent. The safest, most effective sunscreens are based on zinc oxide and titanium oxide instead of estrogen-mimicking chemicals. Make sure to apply liberally and often for the best protection.

Whether you are the action-adventure type who likes to scale peaks or someone who prefers to relax by the pool with a fruity drink, packing these vacation savers can help you arrive at your destination relaxed and healthy. Happy trails!

References:

Barak V, et al. The effect of Sambucol, a black elderberry-based, natural product, on the production of human cytokines: I. Inflammatory cytokines. European Cytokine Network. 2001;12:290-296.

Cohen M. Traveller’s ‘funny tummy’ – reviewing the evidence for complementary medicine. Australian Family Physician. 2007;36:335-336.

Herxheimer A, et al. Melatonin for the prevention and treatment of jet lag. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2008, Issue 1. Art. No.: CD001520. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD00152