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5 Tips for when you feel sick or down while solo traveling

5 Tips for when you feel sick or down while solo traveling


When I wrote the post below, I was halfway through a three week trip and had my second cold in less than two weeks. Despite implying in the post that I thought about and opted against cutting my trip short, a few days after writing the post, I slipped and injured my ankle and foot badly enough that I did go home almost a week early. I've never done that before, but numerous factors led me to this decision, including several that had nothing to do with illness. My injury was my final straw -- I may or may not write about that in the future.

(Please note: I am not a healthcare professional and these are merely tips that have helped me. If you feel ill or in crisis, please seek out professional medical help whether at home or away.)

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To be honest, I'm not at all happy right now. I feel frustrated, a bit depressed, and I'm second guessing everything about the rest of my trip. 

As I was scrolling through Facebook, I saw a post in a group for highly sensitive people regarding travel. As I read the post and typed out my reply, I realized that although I am actually sick with this second cold, I am also allowing myself to sink into a pity party and making my situation worse. 

I let myself sit with that realization for a little bit, then decided to take a day off from my trip. 

Sounds weird, right? How do you take a day off from a trip when you are in the middle of the trip?

I just really needed a break, and decided to give myself one. Below, I'm sharing five tips for doing the same when you feel sick or down while traveling.

1. Drink some water and eat some produce and protein
It's easy to forget to drink water at home. It's even easier when you're abroad. I brought my own water bottle with the best intentions of filling it and drinking from it throughout the day. Have I actually done that? Hardly at all! Yesterday and today, I've been making an effort to take in more water. It's definitely helping my headache.

I also realized I'm not eating much protein nor fresh produce. I made myself brunch with some groceries I bought yesterday -- toasted bread with tomato tapenade, avocado, and smoked salmon; fresh radishes; cherry tomatoes; and mixed olives and beans. I definitely feel a bit more energized and mentally clear after having a nourishing meal. 

2. Allow yourself a day to do nothing and go nowhere
This won't really work if your trip is short, but mine is three full weeks! Today, I'm allowing myself the luxury of staying at my vacation apartment. I haven't even gone out to the tiny courtyard today! 

3. Feel the feels
Earlier in the day, I was feeling a lot of big feelings -- sadness, grief, a bit of anxiety, jealousy, anger, and more. Some of these were directed at myself, but a few were felt towards others. Ultimately, I let myself feel the feels for a bit and even cried for a few minutes. Sometimes you just need to let your emotions out. This apartment has a terrific shower and it was a great place for a morning cry!

4. Tidy your space and belongings
I think a lot of us tend to get a little less tidy than usual when we're traveling. This afternoon, I took some time to tidy up the vacation apartment. I folded and put away clean clothes and started a load of laundry (I'm lucky enough to have a washer/dryer combo machine in the apartment). I picked up some miscellaneous trash and recycling, put away leftovers from breakfast (I have a kitchenette too!), organized my vitamins and medications, made the bed, and so on. My mind felt quite a bit clearer after the space was tidied! In fact, I would not have the mental bandwidth to work on this blog post if the apartment were still messy.

5. Indulge in something you enjoy at home
I love to read and collage. I've spend a few hours today reading (The Leavers by Lisa Ko -- contemporary fiction and excellent!) and have plans to use pages from a few magazines I picked up earlier in my travels to make some collages (I bought a glue stick and scissors at a Flying Tiger store in Amsterdam a few days ago). 

I'm using today as a sort of reset day and to reframe my thoughts and emotions. Earlier today, I was ready to throw in the proverbial towel and move up my return home by almost a week. I was just exhausted, overwhelmed, depressed, and done with feeling sick in a city that isn't home. After going through the five above steps, I'm feeling a lot better emotionally and my thoughts are much more upbeat and ready for the rest of my trip. I'm still sick (I went to a pharmacy yesterday for medication), but I'm getting better. 

Even though you probably paid or invested a lot for your trip, be sure to give yourself the gift of a reset day (or even half day) if you're feeling down, overwhelmed, sick or are just having a hard time enjoying the experience. You deserve it!

Leave a comment and let me know how you cope when you feel out of sorts or down while traveling!
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