In the tens of thousands of words worth of travel health tips and information on this website, there is one piece of advice that is often overlooked, or worse, never considered.
The idea is simply this: if you are traveling in a developing world area, or more simply, on a tight budget, or if you have a hectic itinerary that has you rushing from one attraction to the next, then it is worthwhile to splurge every now and then on a nice hotel room.
There is the obvious psychological benefit to this. You will feel comfortable, refreshed, excited at the change of pace, and you can genuinely let your mind rest for a day or two. We are not saying that you need to spend your trip traveling in hotels like this. Rather, it is important to give yourself a break.
There is also a physical/health benefit to this idea. From this piece in the New York Times:
Chronic stress and illness are intertwined. It is well known that psychological stress raises the risk of heart disease, cold and flu, and even allergies.
That article goes on to explain the science behind this claim. The hormone cortisol, mentioned extensively in the article, is what steps in to give your body that necessary boost of energy (to deal with whatever is causing the stress). This same hormone has a suppressive effect on the body’s immune response system.
But most of us don’t even need to see the science, because we can think of anecdotal examples from our lives, instances where we have been stressed and run down and we came down with illness soon after.
When you think about it logically, stress is putting more pressure on your body. You are elevating your heart rate, your blood pressure and the neurons in your brain are firing at an abnormally high rate. Something’s got to give. In other words, you are simply more vulnerable.
Traveling can in some ways add to that vulnerability as you may find yourself coming up against different environments and bacteria. One of the best ways to stay healthy is by building quality rest into your trip, and one of the easiest ways to find such rest is by throwing down on a nice hotel every once in a while.
Of course, there are also less financially taxing ways to bust stress. Alternatives, some of which we have talked about on the site previously, are spas and massages, visiting a gym or simply going for a run, doing some meditation or spending a day in a hammock reading a book.
If you are considering a Luxury Hotel in London, the St. Ermin’s Hotel who made this post possible may have what you are looking for.
Photo credit: flickr user novotelhk
Why it’s Worth it to Splurge Every Now and Then is a post from: Sick on the Road