WHere?! Nomad Local Blog

“There’s a McDonald’s that’s open 23 hours a day, you’d better go there,” a man told me in the middle of the night in Frankfurt, Germany. That day I hadn’t found a place to stay. His advice seemed the most convenient when I asked his for options. “But it closes an hour for cleaning,” he reminded me.

During my travels, I rarely got sick. Even though I found myself in extreme situations more than once. Like sleeping in train stations, dealing with London’s rains, or the cold winter in Slovakia. Despite all that, I got sick more at home than on those adventures.

That day, after being kicked out of McDonald’s at 3 am in the cold (-5°), I went to the train station. I bundled up in all my sweaters, and slept as best as I was capable. In the end, I spent the night outside and didn’t catch any flue. Why did I get sick more at home than when I was away?

Emotional Control as a Traveler

I have written before about how a Cultural Travel requires physical and emotional training. Sometimes it can be as demanding as any other discipline. Whether it’s the miles we’ll have to walk, the weather, or the emotional challenges we face.

Articles have shown that when we feel emotionally down, we are more likely to get sick. This can be because when we feel bad, our immune system, like a wall, cracks and our defenses drop. This mechanism makes us more susceptible to illness.

Also in WHere?!: The Secret to Become a Polyglot: Learning Languages with People in a Cultural Travel

Despite everything, the day I slept outside in sub-zero conditions, emotionally, I felt fine. This could help perhaps. So, if we feel good, does that mean we’ll never get sick while traveling? It depends…

We’ll always need a certain amount of strength to prevent burnout when traveling. It’s key taking care of our emotions, even when it seems unnecessary. In others experiences, you can feel emotionally vulnerable when something bad happens. For example, when losing a passport, money, getting robbed, or missing a flight. Not knowing what to do next can throw you off balance.

“When I am busy, I feel better.”

For me, this happened when I went to the Mexican embassy in Vienna. There they informed me couldn’t give me my student visa, because I was three days short of the required 90 class days. This meant that I had to return to the university in Prague after the summer break. And they became three months outside of Schengen area so I could have again my touristic visa.

At first, this seemed like a problem since I didn’t enough money for traveling more than six months. In the end, I stayed positive (told you how to do it in this article), and knew I would make it through. I kept calm and started looking for solutions. I looked for volunteer works, budgeting, and researching countries outside the Schengen zone to go. This helped me to get busy. “When I am busy, I feel better.”

“El Mal de Moctezuma”: The Inevitable Travel Illnesses

“El Mal de Moctezuma” is a famous phrase in Mexico. It’s used to describe the body’s reaction to transitioning from foreign food to the Mexican cuisine. Usually it causes stomach issues that can leave you with a long meeting in the bathroom. If you what I mean.

Mexican food is spicier, which often causes stomach problems for those who aren’t used to it. I’ve had to help more than a few friends that I hosted from other countries deal with this issue. This happens often.

“One key is taking care of our emotions, even when it seems unnecessary.”

So, there will be times when, even if we’re emotionally stable, we’ll still get sick. Nevertheless, these illnesses are more about adaptation, and once your body adjusts, you’ll be fine again. And even if they are not mistakes, we learn from this situations to avoid them.

That’s why it’s always a good idea to be prepared and have medicine for stomach issues and colds. Even if you don’t use them, it’s good to be ready, as medication can be more expensive in some countries.

In conclusion, for the inevitable things, just be prepared and see a doctor if necessary. But in general, to stay healthy during a Cultural Travel, the best is to keep an emotional well-being. “A healthy mind comes with a healthy body.”