This page is general information. If you have a health condition, are pregnant, take regular medication or are traveling to a region with specific health risks, speak to your doctor or a travel health clinic before the trip.
Protect your sleep
Sleep is the first thing to go on a work trip and the thing that most affects how you perform the next day.
- Ask for a quiet room, away from elevators and ice machines, when you check in.
- Pack earplugs and an eye mask. Hotel curtains and corridors vary.
- Keep a short wind-down routine you also use at home, such as reading for a while before lights out.
- Set the room a little cool if you can. Most people sleep better that way.
- Leave the work dinner at a reasonable hour when you have an early start.
Drink water
Cabin air on planes is dry, and long days of meetings make it easy to forget to drink. Carry a refillable bottle, empty through security, and fill it after you pass through. Easy on the alcohol and caffeine, especially on flights.
Move on long journeys
Sitting still for hours on a long flight, train or drive raises the risk of blood clots in the legs, known as deep vein thrombosis. For most healthy travelers the risk is low, and simple habits help:
- Get up and walk around the cabin every hour or two when it is safe.
- Flex and point your feet and circle your ankles while seated.
- Choose an aisle seat so it is easy to get up.
- Avoid sitting with your legs crossed for long periods.
If you have had a clot before, are pregnant, have had recent surgery or have other risk factors, ask your doctor before a long journey. They may suggest compression stockings or other steps. Swelling, pain or redness in one leg, or sudden shortness of breath after a trip, needs urgent medical care.
Eat steadily
Work trips swing between skipped lunches and large dinners. A few habits help even things out:
- Pack a couple of simple snacks for travel days and long meeting blocks.
- Have a proper breakfast if the hotel serves one, since lunch may not happen on time.
- At group dinners, it's fine to order lightly and skip the dessert or the last drink.
- If you have allergies or dietary needs, tell your host ahead of catered events.
A short hotel room routine
You don't need a gym. Ten or fifteen minutes in the room, or a brisk walk outdoors, helps with stiffness, mood and sleep. A simple sequence many people use:
| Move | Amount |
|---|---|
| March or jog in place | 2 minutes |
| Squats or sit-to-stand from a chair | 2 sets of 10 |
| Push-ups against the desk or wall | 2 sets of 10 |
| Lunges, alternating legs | 2 sets of 10 |
| Stretches for hips, back and shoulders | 3 to 5 minutes |
Go at your own pace, and skip anything that hurts. If you have a health condition, ask your doctor what kind of exercise suits you.
Travel with medicine safely
- Pack medicine in your carry-on bag, never only in a checked bag.
- Keep it in the original labeled packaging, and bring a copy of the prescription or a letter from your doctor for controlled medicines.
- Take a few days more than you need, in case of delays.
- Some medicines that are legal at home are restricted or banned in other countries. Check with the embassy or official health authority of your destination before you travel.
- When crossing time zones, ask a pharmacist how to time doses that must be taken at set intervals.
Look after your mind too
Frequent travel can be lonely and tiring. Keep in touch with people at home, get outside in daylight when you can, and say so if the travel load is too much. Many employers offer an employee assistance program with confidential support, and your manager may be able to adjust a schedule that isn't working.
Where to get travel health advice
For international trips, check your government's official travel health guidance for your destination, and book a travel health appointment several weeks ahead if vaccines or preventive medicine may be needed. Check what health cover you have abroad, through your employer or your own insurance. The documents and safety guide has more on insurance and emergencies.