If you live in the northern hemisphere, you spend most of the year dreaming about traveling to some far-flung land where the sun never stops shining. You long for the warm breeze to caress your hair and to feel the heat of the sun on your back. That feeling is exactly what summer vacation is all about.
But sizzling hot vacations come with risks. High temperatures are tolerable for most people. But they can cause issues, such as sunstroke, heatstroke, and dehydration.
Before you go on a scorcher of a vacation, therefore, you need to prepare. Or, as the Scouts say, “fail to prepare, prepare to fail.”
Eight Tips for a Sizzling Summer Vacation
In this post, we’ve included some of the items that you’ll need to bring with you on every trip.
1 – Beach Sandals
If you’re just going to be lounging around by the pool, then a pair of flip-flops should suffice. However, if you’re planning on taking long walks on the beach, you will need a proper pair of beach sandals.
Flip-flops don’t have a back around the heel, so you keep them attached to your feet as you walk by gripping them with your toes. That’s okay for short distances. But after a while, it can actually cause injury.
By contrast, walking in beach sandals feels a lot like regular shoes. As a consequence, they protect you from injury. Just be sure they fit you properly. If they don’t, you could wind up with splinters.
2 – Aloe Vera Lotion
Aloe vera is one of nature’s most impressive herbs, offering a host of benefits to all who use it. So, as you might expect, it also comes in handy on long, hot vacations.
Direct exposure to the sun can cause your skin to dry out. Aloe vera, however, is a wonderful after-sun lotion because it helps lock in moisture to the skin (and keep it there the following day). Just put lotion on exposed areas of your body the night before and enjoy the hydrating effects the next day.
3 – T-Shirts And Shorts
When the weather is hot, t-shirts and shorts are your best friends. These casual items help to keep the worst of the sun away from your body while also providing breathability. The downside is that you’ll need to apply sunscreen to more areas of your body. But, fundamentally, that isn’t a big deal.
4 – Sunglasses
Sunglasses are essential on scorching hot vacations. In some tropical countries, the sun can lie directly overhead at parts of the year, increasing the amount of UV light reaching the planet’s surface. And sometimes, it is so intense, that it can damage your eyes.
Some sunglasses, such as those from Eyeglasses.com, have special protective lenses. These filter out the most dangerous types of light, such as UV, only allowing regular light to hit the sensitive tissue at the back of the eye, called the retina.
Not all tinted sunglasses provide this protection. Just because a pair of sunglasses provides shade from visible light, doesn’t mean that it does for invisible UV. You could be milling around merrily, feeling comfortable, all the while, experiencing damage to the photo-sensing tissues at the back of your eyes.
5 – Swimsuits
Generally, if you’re going on a scorching hot vacation, you’ll want to take at least two swimsuits with you. That’s because the humidity in hot locations can slow down the process of drying your clothes. By taking two, you can leave one to dry out somewhere, and then wear the other one when you want to go for a swim.
If you go to the sea, you’ll need to wash your swimsuit during your stay because of the salt content. Having two means that you’re always ready to enjoy yourself.
6 – Insect Repellent
Insects can be a nightmare in tropical countries. The change in climate allows them to thrive to the point where they follow you around everywhere. Insect repellent, however, can help you a great deal. It uses natural essential oils to discourage insects and keep them away.
Please note, however, that the smells insects find aversive changes according to their species. So make sure that you choose a product that’s suitable for the kind of insect life you’re likely to find at our destination. Also, be sure to choose products that use natural ingredients. You don’t want to slather your skin in potentially harmful synthetics.
7 – Travel Insurance
Going to a hot country can be quite risky. Many destinations along the equator have poor governance, meaning that firms can sometimes cancel on you.
Travel insurance helps to protect you, no matter what goes wrong. For instance, if your hotel refuses to provide a room you paid for, then the insurance will pay for alternative accommodation. It’ll also pay for things like medical care and lost items, protecting you in the event of a disaster.
8 – Sunscreen
People who go on summer vacation to tropical countries (or spend other time out in the sunshine) sometimes develop skin cancer later in their lives. That’s because a burn increases your risk of developing melanoma by more than 80 percent, according to healthline.com.
Manufacturers classify sunscreen products by their SPF ratings. This stands for “sun protection factor” and refers to the ability of the sunscreen to prevent skin from reddening when exposed to the sun.
You get the SPF number by dividing the number of seconds that the skin doesn’t redden with the sunscreen applied by the number of seconds it would take skin to burn without it.
So suppose that it takes 500 seconds for the skin to redden with sunscreen and only 10 seconds to burn without it. In that case, the SPF would be 500 divided by 10 or 50.
Sunscreens rated “50+” require considerably more sun factor protection than 50. In some countries, the cut-off is actually 60. So if you buy this form of extreme sun protection, you’re likely getting far superior protection compared to any other type.
The Takeaway: Plan well for a sizzling summer vacation
If you’re planning a beach vacation this year in a hot country, make sure that you take precautions against the hot weather.