How to Never Get Sick While Traveling: The 20+ Things I Actually Do

This summer, I am traveling for a full month, which means half my carry-on is supplements. I wish I were exaggerating.

Here is the thing. I did not become this person overnight. After going through breast cancer in my early twenties and healing with a combination of conventional treatment and deep functional medicine work, I stopped treating my immune system like an afterthought. Travel is one of the hardest things you can put your body through while technically having fun: less sleep, more stress, recycled air, foods it does not recognize, and a few time zones for good measure.

Most people just accept that they will get sick while traveling. I do not. And after years of refining this, I almost never get sick on a trip, whether I am at home or abroad (I have a separate guide for staying well in general, but this one is all about travel). Has my family watched me do red light therapy in a hotel room with my legs up the wall, simultaneously doing breathwork, and questioned my life choices? Yes. Have I spent a single vacation in bed with a fever? No.

This is the full protocol, everything I actually do, organized from the basics anyone can start tomorrow to the deep biohacker tier.

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sofia traveling in the south of france — Somewhere in the south of France

How Do You Avoid Getting Sick While Traveling? (The Quick Answer)

To avoid getting sick while traveling, you’ll want to:

Support your immune system starting about five days before departure (immune supplements, anti-inflammatory meals, good sleep)
Stay aggressively hydrated with electrolytes on flight day
Skip alcohol and heavy airplane food
Wear compression socks
Protect your sleep and circadian rhythm on arrival with morning sunlight and no naps.

The rest is layering: the supplements and tools below take it from “less likely to get sick” to “basically never.”

Why Travel Makes You Sick in the First Place

It is not bad luck. It is biology.

Your immune system runs on sleep, and travel wrecks sleep first: early flights, new beds, time zones. Add stress, and not just the running-through-terminal-C kind. Your body registers dehydration, altitude, and disrupted routine as stress even when your mind is on vacation, and chronically elevated cortisol measurably suppresses immune function.

Then the environment piles on. Cabin air runs at 10 to 20 percent humidity, drier than most deserts, which dries out the mucous membranes in your nose and throat, your literal first line of defense against airborne pathogens. You are also sitting for hours in a sealed tube with a few hundred strangers and their germs, and at least one person who has been coughing since boarding, touching surfaces that get a quick wipe between flights at best.

So the protocol below is not random tips. Every item targets one of those four levers: sleep, stress, hydration, or exposure.

What I Do Before the Trip

supplements and red light therapy panel laying in a hotel room bed — Only a fraction of what goes into my carry-on

1. I start immune support five days out

Beta-glucan and extra vitamin C, daily, beginning about five days before the flight, plus zinc, turkey tail, and AHCC.

Immune supplements need time in your system, and if you want the everyday version of this and not just the travel one, here is my full guide to boosting your immune system naturally.

Vitamin C and zinc both have research behind shorter, milder colds, and zinc’s evidence is actually strongest for cutting a cold down once it starts, which is exactly the emergency I am pre-arming against.

Turkey tail is one of the most studied medicinal mushrooms, rich in the same immune-supporting beta-glucans. AHCC is my far-end pick, with early human research on immune cell activity, and you know by now that I will always tell you which column a supplement lives in.

One more that plays by different rules: vitamin D. Low vitamin D levels are consistently linked to getting sick more often, but levels take weeks to months to move, so this is a year-round project. If you are the person who gets sick on every single trip, testing your vitamin D level might quietly be the most useful thing on this entire list.

2. I eat anti-inflammatory and stop eating out

The week before a trip, I cook at home and keep meals clean and anti-inflammatory.

Here is the thing about eating out that nobody wants to hear: restaurants are not optimizing for health, they are optimizing for flavor and profit. That means more seed oils, more salt, more sugar, all of which quietly crank up inflammation. Not to mention, restaurant fryer oil gets reheated over and over, sometimes five to ten times, and every reheat creates more oxidized oil.

And before you roll your eyes at the seed oil mention: I know that debate gets messy, and I am not here to relitigate it. Here is the part nobody disputes, though: oxidized oil exposes your body to free radicals and toxic byproducts that are linked to chronic inflammation and oxidative damage to your cells. Over years, that kind of low-grade, constant inflammation is associated with bigger problems, the cardiovascular and metabolic kind, because chronic inflammation and cellular damage sit underneath so many of them.

I am not saying one order of fries will do this. I am saying it adds up.

At home, I control the oil and the ingredients. At a restaurant, I am hoping the salad I ordered is as healthy as it looks. Just kidding, I always get the fries.

The goal is boarding the plane with a calm body, not one already fighting low-grade inflammation from a week of meals designed to be crave-able, not good for you.

3. I prioritize sleep

Sleep is the most important thing; it’s when you consolidate memories, when your body repairs itself. Walking onto a red-eye already sleep-deprived is how you hand the germs a head start.

4. I add melatonin around the flight

Most people know melatonin as a sleep aid. It is also one of your body’s most powerful antioxidants, and research has explored its protective effects against radiation-induced oxidative stress, which is why my functional doctor has me take it around medical imaging like CT and PET scans, and why I use it around long flights, where you are exposed to slightly elevated cosmic radiation at altitude.

I want to be clear: this is my functional medicine protocol, and the radiation exposure from a flight is small. However, because I fly often, I do everything I can to mitigate the risk. Melatonin is cheap, well-studied, and it helps me sleep on the plane anyway. Two jobs, one supplement. Here’s the one I take, no unnecessary additives.

What I Do on Flight Day

5. Electrolytes, immediately

I buy a big bottle of water after security and add electrolytes to it. LMNT is my pick if I am buying, one of the cleanest formulas out there, but a pinch of high-quality sea salt genuinely does the job. Plain water alone will not keep up with cabin dehydration.

6. I do not eat on the plane

Airplane food is a sodium bomb, and your body is genuinely bad at digesting at altitude. The lower cabin pressure and oxygen actually slow your digestion down and leave you bloated and sluggish, so a heavy in-flight meal just sits there.

I treat long flights as a fast. If I am hungry beforehand, I eat at the lounge, and my no-lounge fallback is the cleanest protein bar I can find. Sometimes that just means Quest. Perfect is not the goal; better is.

This is also the tip I have spent years failing to sell to my Hispanic mom, who insists on getting her money’s worth and will finish every single tray she is handed at 38,000 feet.

7. Compression stocks always

Here is the part most travel articles skip: this is not just about puffy ankles.

Sitting motionless for hours raises your risk of deep vein thrombosis, a blood clot that usually forms in the leg. People assume clots are an old-person problem, but the risk is real for young travelers too, and it is meaningfully higher if you take estrogen-containing birth control.

The 15 to 20 mmHg compression level is the sweet spot for flights. I bought a three-pack on Amazon and keep pairs in both Florida and New York so I never travel without them.

8. No alcohol at altitude

I do not drink anyway, but altitude makes alcohol a different animal.

Cabin pressure already lowers your blood oxygen, and a 2024 study from the German Aerospace Center found that people who drank and then slept at simulated cabin altitude saw their oxygen saturation fall to levels that would concern a doctor at sea level, with elevated heart rates all night.

If you wear an Oura ring or any tracker, you have already seen this crime scene the morning after a regular night out: resting heart rate up, HRV in the basement, sleep score plummeted, and a gentle note about elevated stress, as if the ring is personally disappointed in you. Now run that exact experiment at 38,000 feet with less oxygen. The data does not get better.

9. Sleep mask

I sleep with one every night at home, and on a plane it is the difference between resting and marinating in cabin lights for eight hours.

10. I get up and move

Every hour or two. Your lymphatic system has no pump of its own; it only moves when you do. This also pairs with the compression socks on the clot front.

11. Mouth tape for overnight flights

I already tape my mouth at night at home for better sleep and recovery (what a sexy sight for my future husband), and overnight flights are no exception.

You do not need the $40-a-month brands. I use Nexcare sensitive skin tape, around $8 on Amazon, and a little square is all it takes. Same benefit, fraction of the price.

The Travel Wellness Kit I Never Fly Without

I have never been a light packer, but becoming a wellness girl took it to a whole new level. This is the supplements-and-tools layer. I take over 30 supplements a day, which means I am fully aware of what it looks like when I count out a small handful of pills at an airport lounge table. People stare. I let them. My bloodwork is doing great.

Everything here earned its spot in my carry-on, and I will be honest about which items have strong evidence and which are my personal experiments.

12. Monolaurin

Monolaurin is a compound derived from lauric acid (the good stuff in coconut oil and breast milk), and immune support for exactly the situation travel creates: out of routine, surrounded by new pathogens.

The way it works is genuinely cool: monolaurin can dissolve the protective lipid coating that surrounds certain viruses and bacteria, and once that envelope is disrupted, the pathogen falls apart and your immune system has a much easier job. I take it up to twice a day when I’m traveling for extra immune support.

13. Magnolia extract

Magnolia extract was recommended by my functional doctor for travel stress, and not just the psychological kind.

New bed, new time zone, dehydration: your nervous system cannot tell the difference between a missed connection and a bear, and magnolia helps take the edge off that whole cascade.

Here is how it works: the active compounds (honokiol and magnolol) interact with your GABA receptors, the same calming system that most anti-anxiety medications target, just far gentler. They also help take the edge off cortisol, your main stress hormone. The result is a calmer baseline without the sedation, which is exactly what you want when you are trying to stay functional in a new place.

14. Creatine

For ATP production, because travel days are long and my brain and muscles both need to show up. If you think creatine is just for gym bros, I wrote a whole piece on creatine for women, and it’s worth a read.

I get this exact one from Thorne, it comes in individual packets, which makes it perfect for travel.

15. Magnesium glycinate

I take 400 mg of magnesium glycinate daily when traveling, and some days, when I’m extra tired, I will double it to protect my sleep.

The official supplemental upper limit set by the NIH is 350 mg per day, loose stools are your body’s signal that you have overshot, and anyone with kidney issues should not play with doses at all.

I sometimes do my own experiments, so this is not a prescription, and no, you cannot fix jet lag by swallowing the whole bottle. Talk to your practitioner about your dose.

16. Digestive enzymes

I carry Nutrizyme by American Nutritionals, and this one is for the fun part of travel: the food.

Enzymes help you break down meals your body is not used to, heavier dairy, more gluten, unfamiliar seasonings.

I am Peruvian, and I always think about people trying our cuisine for the first time. Delicious, and a lot for an unprepared gut. Enzymes are how you say yes to the local food without spending the next day regretting it.

17. Activated charcoal (with a big caveat)

Activated charcoal is my emergency tool for traveler’s stomach: something did not sit well, things are moving too fast, charcoal binds it and calms it down.

The caveat matters: charcoal binds everything, including your medications, and yes, that includes oral birth control. Take it at least a few hours away from any medication or supplement you need to actually absorb. And skip it entirely if your travel gut problem is the opposite one; charcoal will make constipation worse. For that, hydration, coffee, and a different form of magnesium (citrate, not glycinate) are your friends.

18. Argentyn 23 silver hydrosol spray

Silver hydrosol is part of the immune protocol my functional doctor put me on, and full transparency: the mainstream evidence here is thin and I know it. It is low-risk, travel-sized, and it makes me feel armored walking through airports.

This one is filed honestly under “things I do with my practitioner that science has not caught up to or may never.” I will always tell you when something falls in this category.

19. My mini red light panel

red light therapy panel and supplements in a hotel room nightstand — My nightstand at a hotel somewhere in France

My most prized possession. If you knew me in real life, you would notice I find a way to weave red light therapy into every conversation. Got a headache? Try red light therapy. Feeling sore? Red light therapy. Your boyfriend broke up with you? You guessed it: red light therapy. I am only half joking, and I wrote a full deep dive on everything red light therapy actually does if you want to fall down that rabbit hole.

I have done red light therapy for two years, including through my chemo sessions, and I bought the Hooga mini specifically for trips: three pounds, fits in a carry-on, and lets me keep the routine anywhere.

Fair warning: once in a while, it earns my bag a TSA bag check. Worth it.

20. Gua sha and a dry brush

For lymphatic drainage, because after eight motionless hours you will land looking like a slightly inflated version of yourself. Your lymph has no pump of its own; the gua sha and dry brush are the pump.

21. Blue light blocking glasses

I own TrueDarks and I genuinely believe in blocking blue light in the evening to protect your circadian rhythm, especially in a new time zone.

However, I wear prescription glasses, and stacking blockers over them is so awkward that mine mostly travel as good intentions. If you do not wear glasses, this is an easy circadian win. If you do, you have my sympathy.

How Do You Beat Jet Lag Naturally?

Three rules, one of which sounds a little out there.

22. No naps on arrival day

No matter how brutal it feels. Your circadian rhythm takes its cues from when you sleep, and one miserable first day buys you a synced clock for the entire trip.

23. Morning sunlight

Light is the strongest circadian signal there is. Get outside the morning after you land, even just for a walk, and your body clock starts cooperating instead of fighting you.

24. Grounding

Bare feet on actual ground, grass, sand, dirt, shortly after you arrive. I know how it sounds. There is real research on grounding and inflammation; it costs nothing, and it is part of how I land on another continent without spending three days as a zombie. The worst case is that you stood barefoot in a park and felt nice.

25. Protect your sleep

And underneath all three: protect your sleep at the destination like your trip depends on it, because it does.

Poor sleep tanks immune function, which is why so many people, my sister included, get sick on every single trip. The magnesium, the mouth tape, the sleep mask, the no-alcohol rule: they are all really sleep protection, and sleep protection is immune protection.

Can You Fly With Supplements?

Yes, and I would know.

Last year I went to Europe for two whole months, which means I crossed an ocean with a bag full of bottles, powders, and capsules in every color. I genuinely do not know what that looks like on the scanner, but I have joked more than once that the TSA agents must have theories about me.

Here is the actual rule: pills and capsules are fine in carry-on luggage in any quantity in the US, and powders are allowed too, though containers over 12 oz may get a separate screening. Keep everything labeled, either in original bottles or a clearly organized case, partly for TSA and partly so you never have to explain yourself in a security line.

In years of flying with half a pharmacy in my bag, my supplements have never once been a problem. The red light panel gets more TSA attention than the pills do.

Frequently Asked Questions

What supplements should I take before traveling?

Start about five days out with immune support like beta-glucan, zinc, and vitamin C, keep up your regular stack, and add magnesium for sleep around the trip itself. The full pre-trip protocol is in the first section above.

How do I avoid getting sick on a plane specifically?

Hydrate with electrolytes, skip alcohol and the sodium-heavy meal, wear compression socks, move every hour or two, and protect your rest with a sleep mask. The plane is where exposure peaks and your defenses dip, so it is where the basics matter most.

Is it better to fast on a long flight?

I do not eat on long flights, because digestion slows significantly at altitude and airplane food is high in sodium. If fasting is not for you, eat light before boarding and keep a clean protein bar on hand.

Does melatonin help with jet lag?

Yes, melatonin is one of the better-studied jet lag aids, taken near your target bedtime in the new time zone. It is also a powerful antioxidant, which is the lesser-known reason it is in my travel kit.

How do compression socks prevent blood clots?

They apply gentle graduated pressure that helps blood keep moving instead of pooling in your lower legs during long periods of sitting. Look for the 15 to 20 mmHg level, and know that clot risk is higher if you take estrogen-containing birth control, which makes the socks even more worth it.

What helps with constipation while traveling?

Hydration first, coffee helps, and magnesium citrate specifically (glycinate is the sleep one, citrate is the bathroom one). Skip activated charcoal entirely if constipation is your issue; it does the opposite job.

About the Author

Sofia Solis is a wellness writer who healed from a breast cancer diagnosis at 24. She covers biohacking, longevity, and functional medicine for women who want to understand the science behind their health, not just a list of things to try. She splits her time between New York City and Florida.

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How to Never Get Sick While Traveling: The 20+ Things I Actually Do

How Do You Avoid Getting Sick While Traveling? (The Quick Answer)

Why Travel Makes You Sick in the First Place