WHAT DO YOU DO TO STAY WELL WHILE TRAVELLING?

The vitamin C (not mega doses, but one or two tablets) and Airborne are good ideas, and some would suggesst echinacea, but more important is to keep well hydrated and to moisten your nasal and sinus passages if needed (use a saline spray). When they dry out, they don't filter germs well and then the germs get into your system. Drink LOTS of water for several days prior to and then during your flight. Rest well before the flight, and as much as you can during the flight, as fatigue reduces your body's ability to fight of germs, too.

There was just an article about this somewhere; I think the NY Times. Anyway, experts they talked to said just do the basics; wash your hands a lot and don't touch your mouth or eyes if you can help it. I've read wearing a mask is completely ineffective. Here it is: "How Not to Get Sick From a Flight"
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/03/06/travel/06prac-germs.html

If you keep your blood alcohol level high enough you don't have to worry about germs - or maybe you just won't care.

Before I retired, I used to have to work extra hard at my job in order to take the time off. Lack of sleep and stress I believe weakened my immune system thus I would get sick on the trips. Getting plenty of sleep ahead of time and managing the stress has helped me to overcome this.

I would agree with all above. I too have always caught a cold on the flight over and am very healthy otherwise. Maybe we just need to get sick more so that we can withstand all the foreign bugs! As for the plane itself, drink loads of water, minimize people touching your drink (hopefully you're not in the middle of 5 seats and it has to be passed down), and turn off the vent as soon as you board the plane!! The airplanes recirculate the air of course so there's a good choice you in row 22 will catch whatever person in row 5 has. Wash hands, bring some purell or cleansing towelettes for before meals.

My last trip through an airport I used an antiseptic wipe and went over the armrests and tray table. EVERY time I went to the lav I used a wipe afterwards. For the first time in 14 years of moving through airports I didn't get sick. For the last 14 years I've ended up on antibiotics eventually and missed out on most of an entire SEASON (yes, 3 months of my life)...No exaggeration. I can post the medical records...I'll always have a large box of antiseptic wipes in my house, in my purse, my travel daybag, stapled to my hip... REST before a trip is extremely important, I believe. If you're already physically run-down, and stressed, and stuffing things into a bag at 3:30am before your 7:45am flight to Europe...ouch. Travel is stressful, too - different germs, trouble sleeping, you're probably much more physical than normal - pushing yourself pretty hard, foods are different...I'm determined to do better next time. Dammit. AND the other thing I'm going to do next time is the 'Jeff Method of Healthy Travel' - keep that blood alcohol level up just a bit higher...;-) I've done the whole 'hit the Vits/Vit C hard' thing several times before; FOR ME, I really think I just need R.E.S.T. More of it both before and DURING my trips. Unless you have a really fancy-schmancy mask, they do no good. Drives me crazy to see people wearing them. If someone got in your face and sneezed on you...OK, maybe, if you immediately changed masks for a new one, then scrubbed everything that he/it touched. Most people can't hold their breath for that long. On my first trip to Europe - not even a single aspirin for 5 weeks...

The best and simplest thing you can do to stay healthy is to wash your hands OFTEN with soap for at least 20 seconds. Air planes are one of "THE MOST COOTYIZED" environments on the planet and the bathrooms on air planes are a mecca for MRSA, a virulent form of staph which most antibiotics can not kill. Try not to touch your mouth or face with your hands unless you have recently washed them, the arm rest, tray tables, etc. are encrusted with microscopic vermin. Remember some of these air planes travel to lands where sanitation is not prevalent. Having said all that; relax, eat healthy, get enough sleep, exercise, drink good wine (preferably red) and don't be afraid of a few germs. Enjoy your vacation, just take a few precautions.

I'm a fan of a supplement called EmergenC. Mix it with half a bottle of water, and you get an immune system cocktail that gives you energy. Of course, Jeff's idea is much better. Prost! Jess

I do what Eileen does with antibacterial wipes, but I take it a step further. As soon as I enter a hotel room (or any other kind of room that others stay in) I wipe down every surface. Every door knob, light switch, the remote control,...well you get the idea. Anything someone may have touched gets a wipe down. Some people think I am a germ-a-phob, and they are probably right. All I can say is I am a pretty healthy germ-a-phob. I am in a hotel room in San Francisco right now, and I am also working on Jeff's method. It can't hurt!

I disinfected on the inside, by consuming a lot of alcohol.

I use Clorox wipes (no they don't contain bleach) and wipe down everything I'll touch on the airplane. Seat belt buckles, tray table and don't forget the latch, arm rests, seat back button (remember to be kind and don't fully recline), entertainment do thingy. The seat back storage pocket in front of you...cootie heaven. I stuff a jumbo zip lock bag in there and then put all my stuff inside it. Keeps you from leaving stuff on the plane as well! Plane lavs and their water - studies show not so good. Use handy wipes each and every time you leave the loo and before you touch stuff in your seat. Use a saline nose spray. If all this like a bit much it takes about 1 minute to accomplish and I don't get sick anymore. Of course always start a trip well rested and do drink lots of bottled water or juice.

What Jerry said. Pretty much the only thing you can do to reasonably lower (but not completely eliminate) your chances of catching a respiratory virus while traveling is to keep your hands clean. Everything else, vitamin C, supplements, prophylatic antibiotics, etc that has been adequately studied has not shown any preventative benefit. A surgical mask (or anything you might buy in a drug store) will only lower the chances that others won't catch what you have, it won't protect you at all. A properly fitted N95 respiratory mask is very effective, but I can almost guarantee that you wouldn't want to wear one of these for the duration of your flight.

When you go to a new land, you are being exposed to a whole new set of germs, thus, you are going to get colds here. It isn't the air on the planes: http://airtravel.about.com/od/healthandcomfort/qt/swinefluflight.htm http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Health/story?id=1213901&page=1 Getting enough rest before you go and doing things to toughen your immune system to begin with, may be helpful. People are coddling themselves too much, using anti-bacterial household products, using too many anti-biotics, living in houses that are always perfect temps, going in perfect temp cars to perfect temp working spaces and perfect temp stores, so that our bodies don't have a good fighting system in place. We need a certain amount of germs on a daily basis to keep our immune system strong and in top fighting health. (obviously, if you already have a illness or a comprimised immune system, please disregard my post. I am talking about the average, healthy adult here)

I'm very healthy too but have noticed that when I do get a cold, I've had a few nights of inadequte rest prior to getting sick. I think we're exposed to germs all the time but when I'm extra tired, my immune system doesn't fight them as effectively. So I will echo the others who recommend getting enough rest/sleep before and while traveling.

I take lots of pills at home. I take all of them with me while traveling. I stay at hotels located where I can go "home" for a mid-day siesta. Lots of rest, hand cleanliness, eating a nutritious diet, and limiting exposure to crowded places - these all help.

Three words-Zicam zinc lozenges. My family gets irritated at me for pushing it when they get a cold. If they'd listen to me I wouldn't have to nag. My hubby recently had a gawdawful 10 day cold that he was nice enough to share with me. Mine was over in 4 days and never got that bad. When he commented on mine not being as bad as his, I said, "Duh, Zicam." Btw, we should all remember that good health is not a reward for being virtuous and clean-living. Good health is a blessing that can change at any time for any of us. Sermon over.

I will take Karen's zicam recommendation on step further. I take a zinc pill every day of the year. Never get a cold. Everyone around me gets colds, I never do.

I agree with the many posters who recommend lots of water during the flight, and plenty of rest ahead of time. I take a plethora of vitamins and herbal supplements every day, when everyone else at work is fighting a cold I manage to stay healthy.I attribute that to drinking a lot of water every day and taking echineaca
daily. You might try taking a neti pot with you for rinsing out your sinuses when you are at your hotel.

Thank you all for your ideas. What the heck is a neti pot?

Neti pot: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVJRctHhyrQ

I always try to drink lots of water on the plane. When I get there, I try not to stay out all night and get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. I am also careful about washing my hands. I am not a germophobe, but I try and wash my hands whenever the opportunity presents itself. Other than that, I just roll with the punches. If I get sick I go to the Pharmacy as soon as symptoms start showing up. If I have to, I sacrifice a day of sight-seeing to just rest and relax in the hotel room.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jckly-BKiiE&NR=1&feature=fvwp This would be me with the neti pot.

Before air travel I have regiment of eating fresh horseradish starting a few days before traveling. I am not sure if it keeps any germs away but it completely prevents the ear pain from air travel...I have no idea why and I discovered this by accident...but it works.

Faith, I used to have the exact same problem as you; within 5 days of my first flight I was usually deathly sick. This happened after EVERY vacation flight, and I got tired of it. Sometimes it even triggered an asthma attack. A few years ago I was discussing this problem with my youngest brother. He said that he used to have the same problem, until he took his boss's advice. Drink as much water(bottled), soda water, etc., as possible on the flight! It worked! Best advice I was ever given. I have not been sick, after any flight, in the last ten years.
When they come around and ask if I want water, soda water, etc, I always ask for two. When they don't bring it around, I go to the back of the plane and ask for some. I go one better, and my wife and I both take an Airborne tablet right before we climb on the plane. And I take along some chewable Vitamin C, and more Airborne, just in case. (Airborne and Zicam are awesome!) Drink up! (I save the copius amounts of alcohol for the vaca...I find it dries me out too much during the flight. I can't sleep on a plane, but this problem does not seem to affect me; i.e. cause me to get sick.)

It must be frustrating to get sick in the middle of your vacation! I take a crowded rush hour train every day and work with the public every day, so the germs on the plane aren't anything I'm not exposed to already. But a trip can take a lot of you! The advice to get enough sleep before the trip is good, but of course I'm too excited to sleep much before traveling. I try to eat extra healthy before the trip and moderately so during. I believe that eating yogurt every day helps. I don't take zicam because of the FDA warning that it was linked to loss of smell in some people: http://www.fda.gov/NewsEvents/Newsroom/PressAnnouncements/ucm167065.htm but it seems to work for a lot of folks. I take the emergen c packets--could be a pyschological benefit but I think they work for me. Hope your next vacation is a healthy one!

I usually get sick during a trip, too. I usually dose up with airborne prior to leaving and I still get sick. For my last trip, I decided to not only dose up 1 week prior to my trip but take some every day of my trip. And guess what? I did not get sick this time around.

First of all, we exercise every day in some form, either walking 3 miles or working out at the gym. Seriously, I can't remember taking a day off from exercising in over 10 years! This seems to help me during flu season and while travelling. Plus, we eat very healthy (except TG, Christmas and Easter, lol), and also take Vitamins. Extra rest before a trip, lots of EmergenC (on plane as well, plus before), lots of water during flight as usual, and Clorox wipes + Purell for the times I'm not wiping things down, haha It sounds like paranoia, but at least I don't end up sick after a flight. Oh, I use saline spray for nostrils during flight! Yep, I try to do all I can to keep healthy before, during and after flying. Then I come back home, and it takes me at least 5 days before I feel like myself again. But that's okay. As long as I don't feel like crap over there, I'm cool with that. Another thing...while sightseeing, we keep hands clean, drink lots of water, eat lots of fruits every day, and try our best to eat healthy meals in between. Good night's sleep is important also. Best of luck. You can do a lot to keep well.

We start taking EmergenC (or the Target generic) daily for two weeks before leaving on a trip then take it faithfully every morning while traveling. Also use Euphorbium nasal spray on the plane and then every day. The EmergenC also keeps our energy up so sometimes have that again later in the day if we are on the go. Stay hydrated and use handi-wipes as everyone has stated.

Another vote for emergenC. I also try to get lots of sleep before the trip, but it is so hard as I am so excited! Also I wash my hands religiously and use antibacterial wipes in case I am not by a sink.

I have heard so much about Airborne that I decided to ask my Internal Medicine Physician about
it. When I did he shook his head and said "It's garbage" will not prevent colds or viruses. I am not buying it!

The last post before the preceding one was a couple of years ago.

Yogurt

Hand washing has already been mentioned, but I will repeat as it is so important. How many people daily ride the trams and subways while standing up and holding on to the post, or escalator rails, then put hands-to-mouth eating something?
http://www.cdc.gov/features/handwashing/