How to Stay Healthy on Your Travels

There’s pharmacies in every country I’ve visited, but save yourself the trouble of reading foreign ingredients or trying to find them. The medicine can be pricey and you’ll sacrifice more of your time aiding a sick body. Instead, focus on prevention rather than bandaid solutions to an illness already gone too far by beginning in the first place.

I spent 2 months traveling around China in Tibetan towns at high altitudes and in the middle of winter. Twenty degrees below zero and in bitter snowstorms literally at every turn on the road, and I never got sick.

This is what helped me:

Raw Garlic

Oil of oregano is great when you’re at home, but carrying it around for emergencies is futile. Not that it adds much weight, but it does add space in your cosmetics bag. Further, some people hate the taste and others get sick from it.

So instead I always recommend raw garlic as the master substitute. It can be found at any street market in China for cheap along with a small purchase of peanuts. Garlic consumed with nuts is helpful because the natural fatty acids aid in digestion and help draw out the healing properties that make garlic effective. Crush it with your palm or a pocket knife and chew thoroughly without letting it touch your tongue to avoid a strong taste. Eat it in the morning as it’s terribly difficult to digest at night and if your breath smells, eat an apple afterwards. That’ll kill any sign of bad breath.

Consuming 1-2 pieces everyday as a ritual before going out of my hostel was my cure-all during those bitter cold months.

Raw Ginger

A nice counterpart to garlic, raw ginger has many of the same benefits as garlic (though less pungent). I’d eat it raw with fruit, or cut it up and add it to my tea. It also helps with: nausea, preventing and healing mucus build up from colds and with motion sickness.

Eating about a thumb size piece every other day is recommended.

Tea

All over China you’ll find kettles. Inside reception waiting rooms, in your hostel room or in a random hallway. So buy a cheap insulated canister and brew hot tea. I generally stuck with warm/hot water poured over raw ginger, occasionally adding goji berries I bought from the market to add sweetness that complemented the bitter herb.

NOTE

*These are preventive measures. If your sickness begins, spreads or becomes uncomfortable, please see a doctor.