Mind the gap

If you're planning to go travelling in your 'gap year' before you start college or university, check out these tips to help you prepare for your trip and get the most out of it when you arrive. Bon voyage!

Before you leave

To help you stay fighting fit on your travels, you don't just need to keep the food bugs at bay. You also need to make sure that you're eating enough of the right kinds of food.

Here are some tips to help you prepare for your trip.

• Research your destination. Check out guidebooks and travel websites to find out about the standard of local food and water. You should take special care in areas where the water might not be safe to drink.
• Be prepared. If you're visiting somewhere where the water might not be safe, take water sterilising tablets with you. Antiseptic hand wipes can also be handy if you think handwashing facilities might not always be available. Rehydration powders (available from pharmacies) could help you recover if you do find yourself rushing for the toilet.
• Find out about any vaccinations you might need. Our tips should help you to avoid food poisoning, but you might also need immunising against serious diseases such as typhoid and hepatitis A, which can be transmitted in food and water.
• Take out some health insurance for the duration of your trip. Otherwise, if you get ill or have an accident abroad, it could cost you a small fortune for treatment or to be flown back to the UK.
• Remember to take sun protection. Sunstroke can have similar symptoms to food poisoning.
• Take care with food allergies. If you have an allergy to a particular food, find out how to describe it in the languages of the countries you're visiting. Always take your medication with you everywhere you go. And make sure your travelling companions know about your allergy, so they can help in an emergency.

Drink up

Staying hydrated is really important to make up the water you lose through sweat. The hotter it is, the more fluids you'll need - aim for at least 1.2 litres (or at least 6 to 8 glasses a day) in climates similar to that of the UK and more as the temperature rises. And remember that drinking alcohol can dehydrate you, so try to drink more water after a heavy night.

If you can't be sure that the local tap water is safe to drink, use boiled, sterilised or bottled water for drinking, washing food and cleaning teeth. Fizzy water is slightly acidic, so bugs are less likely to survive in it, and of course it's not so easy for an enterprising trader to replace with tap water. Always check that water bottles are sealed when you get them.

It's best to avoid ice too, unless you can make it yourself with safe water. This includes ice used to keep food cool as well as ice in drinks.

Hot drinks, wine, beer, soft drinks and fruit juice in bottles or cartons should be safe to drink.

Balancing act

Whatever cuisine you're sampling, try to keep your diet balanced, by eating foods from the main food groups:

• Nice rice Try to eat lots of starchy carbohydrates and make them the main part of each meal. These include bread (such as chapatti, naan and pitta), pasta, rice, noodles, potatoes, yams and plantains.
• Be fruity Try to eat lots of fruit and veg (aiming for at least five portions a day), but choose ones you can wash or peel yourself. Avoid salad unless you can wash it thoroughly with safe water. Fruit and veg is good for you however it comes - fresh, frozen, dried, tinned or as a glass of juice.
• Beef it up Make sure you eat foods containing protein every day, such as meat, fish, eggs, beans and lentils (but always make sure the food is properly cooked and steaming hot all the way through).
• Say cheese Try to eat or drink moderate amounts of dairy products, but avoid unpasteurised milk and try to choose low-fat options when you can.
• Sweet treat Try to stick to small amounts of fatty or sugary foods and drinks, such as cakes, deep-fried foods and desserts.

Travelling veggie

In some countries, you might find that the local cuisine is mainly vegetarian, but elsewhere it could be harder to find suitable food, especially if you can't cook for yourself. Whether you're at home or abroad, vegetarians should try to eat a balanced diet, containing the following things:

• Iron You can get iron from leafy green vegetables, pulses, wholemeal bread and dried fruit. Foods with lots of vitamin C might help the body absorb iron if eaten at the same time, so try having a glass of fruit juice with a meal.
• Vitamin B12 Dairy products and eggs contain vitamin B12, but if you're vegan you can get it from fortified breakfast cereals or fortified soya drinks.
• Calcium There's plenty of calcium in dairy products, but it's also found in green leafy vegetables (such as watercress and okra, but not spinach), almonds, pulses (such as beans, lentils and chickpeas) and dried fruit. Other sources of calcium include soya beans, tofu, soya drinks with added calcium, dried figs, rice pudding and baked beans.
• Protein If you're travelling in Asia, you'll probably find lots of dishes containing tofu (bean curd), which is a good source of protein. You can also get protein from bean and lentil dishes (such as dhal), nuts, seeds, dairy products and eggs.

Avoiding food poisoning

Eating out

Choose restaurants that look busy - people probably choose to eat there for a good reason! It's an especially good sign if the customers are a mix of travellers and locals. But give an eating place a wide berth if it has:

• dirty dining areas or toilets
• dirty tables, crockery, cutlery and glassware
• staff with dirty hands or fingernails
• overflowing wastebins or bags of rubbish outside (these could attract pests and flies)
• raw foods displayed next to ready-to-eat foods or the same serving utensils used for both

To avoid picking up a nasty bug, do the following things:

• Always wash and dry your hands before eating or, if that's impossible, use antiseptic wipes.
• Choose freshly cooked food that is thoroughly cooked and still hot.
• Eat fresh fruit that you can wash or peel yourself and avoid salad unless you can wash it thoroughly with safe water.
• Don't eat undercooked meat or shellfish.
• Don't eat food that has been left out at room temperature or uncovered for a long time. (If you're not sure how long the food has been out, it's best not to eat it.)
• Avoid buffet dishes where older food has been topped up with fresh food.
• Avoid dishes likely to contain raw or undercooked eggs, such as homemade mayonnaise and mousses.
• Don't buy ice cream from unreliable sources such as kiosks or carts. Buy it from shops or cafes instead.

Eating in

Sharing a kitchen with fellow travellers, either in a house, flat or hostel can be one of the cheapest ways to eat. But if you're no Raymond Blanc make sure you don't poison yourself with your dodgy cooking. Remember to do the following things:

• Always make sure you cook meat and shellfish thoroughly, so it's steaming hot all the way through.
• Check chicken, burgers, sausages and kebabs to make sure there is no pinkness left.
• When reheating food, make sure it's steaming hot all the way through.
• Don't leave food out of the fridge for very long - eat it or put it back as soon as possible.
• Keep raw foods separate from food that is ready to eat.
• Wash all fruit and vegetables thoroughly before eating and, if you can, peel them if you are going to eat them raw.
• Protect food from flies and other insects, especially if you're eating outside.

How do I know I have food poisoning?

If you do come down with a food poisoning bug, here's how to spot it. Common symptoms include:

• nausea
• vomiting
• abdominal cramps
• diarrhoea

Sometimes, you might also develop a fever. Symptoms can take hours or days to appear.

If you do get ill

Drink plenty of fluids and take rehydration powders dissolved in safe water.

See a doctor if you or one of your fellow travellers has bloody diarrhoea, fever, becomes confused, or if the diarrhoea doesn't settle down within 72 hours.

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