If you are headed abroad this summer and suffer from allergies, be prepared!

European hotels commonly use down pillows and comforters.  You can contact the hotel in advance and see if anything else is available, but if it isn’t be prepared and bring your own AllerSoft cotton dust mite pillow cover. I recommend the cotton, because it is lightweight (won’t add bulk or weight to your suitcase) and some airline’s baggage fees cost almost as much as the ticket. Pretty soon it will just be cheaper to buy your suitcase the seat next to you!

Make sure you have plenty of your allergy medication with you.  Figure how much you take on the worst day and assume that every day will be the worst.  Its better to have too much than not enough. Make sure your medication is in your carry-on bag.  If you travel with prescription meds or an Epi-pen, make sure you have your prescription and a note from your doctor with you. It will help out during security screening and customs clearance.  If you need a nebulizer to take your medication, make sure to have a battery operated unit (rechargeable batteries of course) or that you have the proper adapter so you can use your machine with foreign voltage and plugs.  Its a shame to blow up your hair dryer, it is life threatening to blow up your nebulizer!  If you can find a model that runs off the car battery (like the Devilbiss Traveler), that is universal and you should take advantage of it.

Even if you don’t have allergies, it is important to stay hydrated on long flights.  Drink plenty of water.  Antihistamines are dehydrating and if taken when flying you will dehydrate even faster.  Let’s say it again, Drink Plenty of Water. If your trip is taking you to a higher altitude than that to which you are accustomed, be sure to drink plenty of water. It will help offset altitude sickness.

If you have particular food allergies, make sure you can communicate the name of that food in the language of every country you are visiting. If you aren’t comfortable with your language skills, then have it written on a card you can carry with you and show to every restaurant you visit “Hi! My name is  American Visitor and I am allergic to peanuts and the nuts from trees.  My food cannot have any nuts in it and it cannot be cooked in the oil of nuts or I will be very sick”  You can show this to any server or restaurant manager and they should be able to understand your need.  You will want to take your own food on the plane.  You can call the airline in advance and request special meals to accommodate your food allergies, but are you going to trust them to get it right?  Even if you do request special meals, its best to have a back up in your carry on.  Better safe than starving!

If you suffer from summer hayfever, you might find that you get a holiday from your allergies.  Because so many of the plants are different, your body won’t have been previously exposed (if you are visiting a new area) to these pollens and your symptoms might temporarily disappear.  But, don’t count on it.  Make sure you have plenty of medication.

If you are traveling to an area with heavy smog or air pollution, you need to take a mask. My mother told me that when she visited China everyone referred to the smog as “the mist”.  They would say things like “The mist is heavy today” or “The mist is very light today”.  She told me she was so astonished that in the beginning she tried to tell them “Hey, that’s pollution its not mist” but somehow they all just felt better calling it “the mist”.  You can call me “tuna fish sandwich” but it doesn’t make me turn into one and you can call it “mist” but it is still pollution and if you don’t want to breathe it take along some form of protection. Something like the N95 mask will provide protection against those really tiny lung damaging particles as well as protecting against bacteria and viruses.

If you are allergic or sensitive to soaps with fragrances, take along your own soap bar and just remember to carry it from place to place.  You don’t have to make a special purchase.  As the bar you have starts to get smaller, just let it dry out, put it in a plastic bag and it will be ready to leave on vacation when you are ready to leave on vacation.

There’s a great big world out there..  Go out and don’t let your allergies hold you back.

Til Next Time!

Cheryl
The Allergy Store