I always get sick on holidays

If you’ve travelled overseas a few times there’s a good chance you’ve spend at least part of one of those holidays feeling less than healthy enough for a full day’s sightseeing. Barricading yourself in your hotel room, within dashing distance of the toilet and puzzled by how it is you can be shivering and sweating all at once is no way to spend your previous annual leave.

While there’s not guaranteed way to avoid getting sick overseas, there are things we can do to lessen the chances. Taking more care with your food and drink is a big part of staying healthy. Travellers diarrhoea, Giardia, Salmonella, Shigella, Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis E, typhoid fever and cholera can all be caught from contaminated food or drink. Here’s a few things to watch out for when putting things in your mouth.

• Always wash your hands before eating and keep fingers and thumbs out of your mouth at all times.
• If you’re drinking water, make sure it’s been boiled first.
• Unless you’re 100% certain the tap water is ok to drink, don’t drink it.
• Canned and bottled water and other drinks are usually pretty safe. Just ensure the seal hasn’t been tampered with or the container hasn’t been refilled from an unknown source.
• Avoid ice in drinks unless you are sure it’s been made using boiled or bottled water.
• Avoid using tap water to brush your teeth.
• Avoid uncooked, undercooked or reheated food.
• Don’t eat salads with fruit or vegetables without peelable skin.

Lastly, try acclimatising your body to the kinds of food you’re likely to eat overseas. A sudden change in climate plus the added shock of a radically different diet can leave you feeling a little off for a day or two.