Essential Tips for Staying Fresh, Clean, and Healthy While Traveling

You might not be a germaphobe, but you must have realized at some point that traveling can make it difficult to stay fresh and clean. 

Just think about how dirty transportation is - planes, trains, buses, and other forms of transportation are also some of the dirtiest places. And then put the hotels and rental rooms into the equation, and the situation isn’t much better. 

However, all of that shouldn’t stop you from traveling. Quite the contrary, you should travel, but at the same time, you should retain a certain standard of cleanliness while doing so. 

If you’re struggling to keep fresh, clean, and healthy while traveling, these couple of essential tips will come in handy. Let’s check them out.

1. Wash and disinfect your hands whenever possible

Traveling makes you exposed to numerous germs and contaminants because of all the public places you go through. From train stations and airports to museums, hotels, and other very public and unsanitary places.

Washing your hands with soap and disinfecting them regularly is the best way to stay clean and healthy. However, when traveling, hand washing isn’t always possible. 

Whenever you get the chance, wash your hands with soap and water. And if you’re not able to, use wet wipes and alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

2. Disinfect surfaces

To protect yourself from germs and other contaminants, you should also disinfect surfaces when traveling. Door handles, buttons, tables, and chairs on transportation and other public places are swarming with germs. 

So, to deal with this, when you are at a restaurant for a meal, wipe down the table with disinfecting wipes. When you’re in an elevator, press the button with your elbow instead of with your hand. Never sit on toilet seats in public or shared restrooms.

Everything you touch with dirty hands and fingers should also be disinfected. Your phone screen, your watch, eyeglasses, jewelry, and so on, can be cleaned and disinfected with the help of small travel-friendly ultrasonic cleaners. These devices will make sure your items are thoroughly clean and ready to be used.

3. Make sure you have a travel first-aid kit

Your travel first aid bag should be well stocked and it should contain all the necessary first aid kit supplies. 

Some of the items you should have in your travel first aid kit include band-aids, gauze, bandages, surgical tape, pain relief spray and meds, antibacterial creams, insect repellents, disposable gloves, and so on.

4. Keep toiletries in a plastic bag

Make sure you pack your toiletries in a plastic or toiletry bag. This way there won’t be any risks of your shampoo exploding, or spilling and making a mess in your luggage. The plastic or toiletry bag will contain the disaster.  

Inside the toiletry bag, you should pack all your personal hygiene items such as shampoo, body wash, moisturizer, sunscreen, toothbrush and paste, hairbrush, lip balm, and so on. You can also include things such as tweezers and small scissors.

Also, don’t forget to bring a bag for disposables. We need to protect our planet. 

5. Pack a bag with disinfecting supplies

In addition to your toiletry bag, you should also pack a bag with disinfecting supplies. This bag should contain things such as backup hand sanitizer, detergent, disinfecting wipes, or spray, then on-the-go clothing detergent, a Ziploc bag, a stain-removing pen, and other supplies that will help you stay clean on your travels.

For instance, some travelers like to pack their pillowcases, slippers, cutlery, and reusable water bottles. If you want to make sure that you’re sleeping on a clean pillowcase and eating with clean cutlery, you can bring your own as well.

6. Have a separate bag for dirty laundry

Clean and dirty laundry should always be separate whether you’re traveling or not. And when you’re traveling dirty laundry tends to pile up pretty fast. That’s why you should always carry a bag for dirty laundry.

With a separate dirty laundry bag, it will be easier for you to organize and keep track of what’s dirty and what’s clean. This way, your clean laundry stays clean and smells fresh longer. So, don’t forget to pack a bag for dirty laundry on your next trip.

7. Separate your shoes from clothing 

When packing your suitcase, you should always separate your shoes from the clothing. Our shoes are the dirtiest items we have to pack, so it makes sense to place them in a bag or somehow separate them from our clean clothing. 

A simple bag or a Ziploc bag will do the trick. Simply place the shoes in the bag and you won’t have to worry about the smell or germs from shoes getting to your clean items.

Bottom Line

If we let germs and bacteria keep us down, we would never travel. That’s where these several essential tips can help you out. When traveling, do everything you can to stay healthy and clean.

Wash your hands as often as you can and sanitize them regularly, disinfect surfaces, pack your suitcase appropriately, and always have a first aid kit ready.