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Practicing healthy habits while traveling amid the coronavirus can help boost your immunity. ’Tis the season of coughing, colds, the flu, and (UGH) the coronavirus! The news is hitting hard with the outbreak of the coronavirus. What started in Wuhan, China has now spread to different parts of the world.
What do we know to be true about the coronavirus?
Well, it’s making people sick, and in some cases (not unlike the yearly flu) some elderly folks, young people, and individuals with compromised immune systems are facing graver outcomes.
When the news is hard hitting with constant notifications, it can feel safer to just stay home and not risk contracting any sort of illness, but during the regular cold and flu season, most of us press on with our daily lives and continue to travel.
While it is always up to each individual whether to travel or not, for those who plan to fly forward, we put together some considerations to help boost your immunity while flying this season!
1. Stay Well Rested Before Flying
To prevent any sort of illness, it’s essential to make sure you’re getting enough sleep to keep your body’s natural immunity high. If you know when you’re flying, two days before flying try to avoid diuretics like coffee, tea, and alcohol so that you can get to sleep early and sleep through the night. On the plane, make sure to wear comfortable clothes, so you can rest while in air.
2. Reduce Stress Before Flying
Anxiety and stress are a normal part of daily life. When stress is elevated in the body for long periods of time, you can trigger your fight-or-flight stress response, and release a flood of hormones and chemicals into your body, which in turn can weaken your immune system making you more vulnerable to viral and other infections.
For minimizing common life stresses, try incorporating 10 minutes of meditation into your daily routine. Apps like Calm have a wide variety of mediation sessions to help address whatever type of anxiety or stress you are feeling.
Also, try incorporating at least 20 minutes of exercises into your life daily. 20 minutes of daily exercise reduces levels of the body’s stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. It also stimulates the production of chemicals in the brain and endorphins that are the body’s natural mood elevators.
3. Pack an Extra ‘Health Bag’ When Flying
Pack a small ziplock with hand sanitizer, tissues, disposable gloves, sanitizing cloths. This way when you get to your seat, you can wipe down the table tray, air vents, seat handles, seat back pockets, magazines, buckles, and the window near you. Touch as little as possible before touching your face (ears, nose, eyes).
4. Wash Your Hands & Avoid Exposure to Coughs and Sneezes
Offer a mask to a coughing friend or family member, or if someone else around you is coughing without wearing a mask or covering up, use a mask yourself.
Health officials suggests that the best way to prevent any contagious mucus of another infected person from entering your body is to wash your hands. So if a mask is not for you, just be sure to sanitize before snacking or touching your face.
5. Drink Water and Reduce Alcohol and Caffeine
The air on a plane can be extra dry which in turn dries out your mucus membranes, which can prevent them from catching/trapping germs. Hence why it’s so important to stay hydrated. When the drink cart comes around, opt for water, juice, or another hydrating beverage vs. coffee, tea, or alcohol which are all diuretics and can dehydrate you.
If traveling right now is in your heart, or even remotely in your mind we encourage you to map your idea flight route and go embrace the world as you would! Our team of travel pros is here to support whatever decision you want to make.
Onwards, fearless flyers! As the age old saying goes: “This too shall pass.”
