For the last couple weeks I have been operating under the fog of a serious cold. For a long while I thought is was simple allergies, even if I have never had allergies before. Delusional as it is, we all do it, don’t we? The last thing we want to admit is that we weren’t good at dodging the cold bug as it came flying in our direction. But there it is – you are sick and you will do just about anything to feel better. Over the counter remedies are the first line of defense, as is the classic chicken soup (I swear by a chicken soup with a huge matzo ball in it, but that could just be me) and, if you are part of the smoothie craze, a particular smoothie store sells a particular beverage which has more vitamin C than a pharmacy supplement section, and this seems to also do the trick. But, when these tried and true methods fail, the intrepid traveler must find an alternative, even if the next trip is months away. I booked a room for a 3 day trip I have to take (nothing fun, I promise) in a less than thrilling area, and low and behold, I suddenly feel better. Is it possible that travel is actually the cure for the common cold?
As I have said, I am heading out for a few days for a “business trip” and have been suffering from the cold from hell. I book the hotel and viola! I am on the road to a speedy recovery. Nuts? Yes. True? Absolutely. It isn’t the first time either. As an avid, some might say rabid, traveler I am happiest when I am in the middle of anything other than my normal day to day activities. Foreign languages and ways totally different from my own, make for a very happy me. While it is also true that I am planning several very large, fairly long trips, there is nothing on the horizon in the near future. Nothing except this short trip to the other side of town. The lack of travel may have actually been the cause of the cold as well. I have been less than diligent about my health, mainly because my next trip is, oh, about 300 days away. And being that I have been home for a longer period of time, the cold bugs finally had a chance to catch up with me and presto – sneezing and nose blowing for weeks. Perfect.
It can very well be possible that this is all a coincidence. It is totally possible, no matter how unlikely I actually think it actually is. And as those who travel know, there is a certain chemical reaction that takes place in your body when you are on the threshold of a new trip, anywhere, for any reason. It is that chemical reaction that, I believe is the thing that was the thing that knocked the cold bugs out of my body and has me on the road to recovery as I plan to head out on the open road.
To be perfectly honest, with as bad as I have been feeling the last few weeks, I really don’t care why I feel better, I am just glad to be feeling better, and the trip planning is a great way to help push me back over the edge into a picture of health, just in time to pose for some of those self-portraits made at arms length. Perfect.
Now, while I would not urge those suffering from the flu or serious illnesses to book trips to places far and wide, but there is something to be said for the endorphins and the adrenalin rush one feels when preparing for a trip. Its subtle and many of us who travel at the drop of a hat, any hat, may no longer register the effect, but it can be enough to shout orders to your body – “Get better! NOW!” So, the next time you get the sniffles and have a weekend in which to can get away, try it and see if you don’t start feeling better lickety split. But don’t give up on the chicken soup, smoothies, and over the counter pharmacological stuff because, well, it all helps too.
Travel green. Pass it on.
