The past years I've been diagnosed with all this crazy illness. From the stupid gastric problems to mutantly skin disease. I'm grateful though that I'm still lucky than most people with worst health conditions.



Anyways, through in and out of Doctors visit, I came to learn that understanding my own body is important. Not only for the fact to be healthy -- mentally and physically, but also to perform better, to become better and healthier individual that can interact perfectly normal with others.

My love of traveling often comes with a risk with my health condition. When I skipped a meal, my gastric would usually act up. When I travel outdoors, I would pack up extra hot oils or insect repellent just in case my skin redness come out. It's a good thing if you finally understand how your body reacts to certain conditions. Which made taking care yourself during traveling easier and less stress it would make for your travel companions.
Here are a few tips and tricks to understand your body to help you during your travels:

1. Allergies? 

Watch your body when you eat or when you made skin contact to nature, especially when you're outdoors. Be ready with medications if you're aware of food allergies you already have. Pack anti-diarrheal medicine and mint candies in case you suddenly get food poisoning (which you hopefully won't ever when you travel. It's the worst!).

2. Be hygienic

My body would react weirdly against sand and plants at times. I used to get red bug bites-like all over my feet and legs when I spend too much time at the beach and wore my bathing suit for too long. Even outdoor sandals could possibly harm your skin when in contact with too much salt water. So try to keep your hygiene in check whenever possible. Change your clothes when you no longer want to go back into the water or when your sweats are no longer tolerable. Rinse any clothing item with fresh water whenever possible before putting it back in contact with your skin.

3. Sunblock and hat goes a long way! 

I hated wearing sunblock. But overtime i came to understand how important it is for our skin. Especially for the face! So never leave the house without it. Trust me, you'll thank your younger self when you hardly see any wrinkles on your face by the time you're 40ish. All thanks to a simple sunblock! Hat is also important. And I never learn my lesson when I thought the tropical sun won't get through my head scarf. Almost got heat stroke when I was riding all day in Ho Chi Minh City in the striking sun, and earlier yesterday when I went to Pulau Seribu. Wearing a hat under the crazy sun will keep you out from feeling feverish the day after your adventures.

4. Exercise for the sake of your health, not to lose weight. 

Listen to your body and what kind of exercise you need for yourself. We all need to exercise for the sake of our health and balancing our body intake after all the lovely culinary tour during our travels. My favorite kind of exercise is swimming and have recently adore yoga. I realized I don't fancy tough work outs, so yoga and swimming is perfect for me. Yoga is the perfect balance to ease physical and mental fitness, because not only it allow your body to do hard core exercise in a softer way, but it also clears your mind with the meditation exercise. It's lovely! I recommend you follow my yoga teacher here. She updates her blog regularly and you can learn so much from it!

Overall, it's never too late to learn about your body and what your body needs, especially when you're an active traveler. Listen to your body and start taking action when you feel your body is acting up. I often try to cure my sickness mentally without having to take medication. Positive thinking goes a long way, drink lots of water and sleep soundly is another way to be healthy. Good luck!

[caption id="attachment_2249" align="alignnone" width="3120"] Stay fort strong through out your travels by listening to your body[/caption]