How to Deal with Getting Sick During Solo Travel

Since you have nobody to rely on, dealing with illness appropriately during solo travel may be even more important than usual. Hopefully, your illness will pass in a day or so, but until it does, you should relax, stay hydrated, use some over-the-counter medications to treat your symptoms, and seek medical attention if necessary. Get in touch with your family and let them know that you’re ill. Before setting out on your solo travels, get travelers insurance and consult your doctor to get a battery of vaccines and antiviral drugs as needed.

Method 1 - Coping With Illness

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→ Know when you should see a doctor. In some cases, your first stop should be a doctor’s office. Consider your symptoms and recent activity to determine if you should see a doctor. See a doctor immediately if you:

→ Are suffering from diarrhea and a fever above 102 degrees Fahrenheit.

→ Have noticed blood in your stool.

→ Have flu-like symptoms while visiting an area that is known for malaria outbreaks.

→ Have gotten a bite or scratch from an animal.

→ Were in a car accident or have been injured in some other way.

→ Have been sexually assaulted.

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→ Take it easy. If you’re sick when traveling alone, you should not aggravate your condition by expending unnecessary energy. Doing so could delay your recovery. Instead, give yourself time to heal by staying in bed, sleeping, reading, and generally kicking back until you start feeling better.

→ While taking it easy is the best course of action if you are sick while traveling solo, there is no right way to decide what to do if you have tours booked and activities planned. Sometimes the fresh air will do you good. Other times, your sickness will only get worse when you decide to soldier on. Analyze your own condition and make decisions using common sense and your best judgment.

→ If you have any doubts about your ability to enjoy a tour or outing, cancel it. After all, the point of going on a tour is to have a good time, and you won’t have much fun if you’re excessively ill.

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→ Get appropriate medicine. If you haven’t packed a prescription or an over-the-counter medicine that can help you, check out the local pharmacy. Many pharmacies have over-the-counter medicines available that could help your symptoms. If possible, obtain over-the-counter medicine and use it as directed. For instance, if you are coughing, visit the pharmacy and get some cough syrup.

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→ Eat foods that are gentle on the stomach. If you are suffering from nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, stick with BRAT foods (bananas, rice, apples, and toast). Simple carbohydrates like porridge and plain noodles in broth are good options, too. These foods are unlikely to upset your stomach or make your condition worse.

→ Additionally, take some probiotic foods in small amounts (yogurt, milk, and/or probiotic tablets).

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→ Stay hydrated. Only drink water that you are sure is clean and safe to drink while traveling. If necessary, boil the water or use purification tablets. Purification tablets are chemical additives you can drop into water you suspect harbors harmful bacteria to avoid illness. You can obtain them online, in large department stores, or at any hiking/camping shop.

→ Avoid drinking sweet sodas and alcohol.

→ Bring purification tablets along with you if you'll be traveling in areas where the water may not be safe to drink.

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→ Reflect on the cause of your illness. If you ate something that you don’t usually eat, or found that a certain dish tasted a bit off, you might recognize that dish as the cause of your illness. Undercooked meats, eggs, and unpasteurized dairy and juices can pose a risk of food poisoning. Once you’ve identified the culprit, do not repeat your mistake by eating it again (or, at least, avoid the restaurant where you received the particular version of the dish that made you ill).

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→ Don’t be afraid to go to the doctor. If your pain or sickness lasts more than 24-48 hours, you should see a doctor, even if the symptoms are not serious. Only a trained medical professional can provide an accurate diagnosis of whatever is ailing you.

→ If you do not speak the local language, going to the doctor might be more complicated. Use your phrasebook and pocket dictionary to communicate what you’re feeling. Point to key phrases in your phrasebook such as, “I am ill” to describe your situation.

→ Another communication solution is to mimic your symptoms. For instance, if you have a cough and a sore throat, pretend to cough, then clutch your throat to help the medical personnel understand that your throat hurts.

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→ Don’t make any rash decisions. If you have tickets to travel to another destination, or have a tour booked, do not cancel or seek a refund as soon as you fall ill. It’s better to wait it out and see if you’ll recover than to immediately cancel your future plans.

→ It is not uncommon to get sick while traveling, when you’re exposed to new pathogens, bacteria, and environments. But except in rare cases, you’ll recover after 24-48 hours.

→ Even if you’re sick while traveling solo, do not miss flights unless absolutely necessary. Getting a refund or waiting until a future flight has an available opening are your only options, and both can be difficult.

→ If you have a fever, it will probably go away in a few days. However, if your fever exceeds 103 F (39.4 C), seek medical attention.

→ If you have sinus pain, the pressure of the airplane cabin could make it worse. Reschedule your flight if you have sinus pain and/or a sinus infection.

→ If you have the flu, you really shouldn’t travel.

Method 2 - Improving Your Mood

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→ Get in touch with someone who cares for you. Being sick while traveling solo can make you long for home and hearth. Even if you’re far away, it can be comforting to talk to someone who knows and cares for you when you’re sick. Call your parents or another close friend or family member. If you can’t call, send them an email.

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→ Let room service know you’re sick. If the hotel staff knows you’re ill, they might be able to get you medicine that can help. They might also take pity on you and provide you with perks like cups of tea. If you’re in truly dire straits, they might call a doctor for you.

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→ Be gentle with yourself. Stay in bed. Treat yourself to more comforting activities like reading a book or relaxing in front of the TV. If you’re feeling up to it, head out to a café and just relax, enjoying the rhythms of local life.

Method 3 - Avoiding Illness on the Road

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→ Do your homework. Before heading out on a solo trip, investigate what sorts of bugs, illnesses, and viruses are common in the area you’re headed. Use the CDC’s Travelers’ Health database to search for information about wherever you plan on traveling. Write the names of the common illnesses on a list.

→ The CDC Travelers’ Health database is available at https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel.

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→ Talk to your doctor before leaving. Armed with the list of illnesses you might encounter in your travels, ask your doctor to administer all recommended vaccines. Additionally, request a round of antiviral drugs that you can use if they become necessary. Ask your doctor if they have any additional recommendations regarding your specific health circumstances.

→ If your doctor prescribes antibiotics or other medications, use them only as directed.

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→ Pack some over-the-counter medications. In addition to whatever the doctor gives you, you should pack some general pain reliever (ibuprofen, for example), lozenges, and cough syrup. Additionally, take a pack of multivitamins with you. Take at least one each day you’re traveling solo to ensure you’re getting all recommended minerals and vitamins.

→ Additionally, you might pack some charcoal tablets. These tablets can help you detox. But don’t use them if you’re taking an antibiotic, as they will negate the antibiotics’ effect.

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→ Find out what you can do to safeguard your health. Beyond getting vaccines and medicines from your doctor at home, there are often things you can do (or avoid doing) once you’ve touched arrived at wherever it is you’re traveling. For instance, you might need to boil the water before drinking it or avoid hiking in swampy areas with lots of mosquitoes. Follow travel tips and warnings for areas you’re traveling through solo.

→ To find out what you can do to protect yourself in-country, visit your local public library and check out a few recent travel guides for wherever it is you’re headed. Read the guide carefully, scanning for information pertaining to health and wellness.

→ Travel guides often also list local medical facilities you can go in the event of a truly dire illness. Make special note of medical facilities in the area you’ll be traveling so you can locate them quickly if necessary.

→ If you’re traveling solo through an area with questionable water, don’t eat the ice in beverages, shower with your mouth closed, and use bottled water to brush your teeth.

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→ Avoid foods that might cause illness. Be wary of drinking tap water in certain countries. Avoid eating meat and fish that have not been thoroughly cooked. Avoid eating fruit picked right off of trees without washing it off in clean water.

→ Meat should be brown all the way through, without any pinkness to its color. Never consume raw meat or fish.

→ If possible, check to ensure proper sanitation guidelines are being followed during your food’s preparation. For instance, if you’re browsing street food stalls and see that the chicken-on-a-stick maker is handling raw chicken and cooked chicken with their bare hands, look elsewhere.

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→ Get a room of your own. Having real peace and quiet can do wonders for the health. If you’re feeling a bit under the weather and have been staying in hostels packed with other travelers, consider springing for a private room to get some serious rest.

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→ Get travel insurance. If you get sick on the road and have to see a doctor, you might end up with a large medical bill. But with travel insurance, any medical costs you incur (up through your policy limit) will be covered. Read your policy thoroughly before signing so you know what you’re getting and how to use it if need be.

→ Before heading out on your solo trip, get a list of hospitals and doctors that your travel insurance covers. Bring the list with you. Only use one of the supported hospitals.