Dangerously Dehydrated

Photo by Manki Kim on Unsplash

The summer of 2023 brought record-breaking heat to the United States and much of the Northern Hemisphere. Travel, too, was off the charts. The result: Lots of dehydrated people.

What part does travel play in the equation?

So glad you asked!

Travel disrupts our daily routines.

Getting ready for a trip is taxing. There are the days before travel racing around getting ready, and the days of travel rushing to the airport and through terminals without a thought to stop for a drink of water. Chances are, you are dehydrated before you ever get on a plane.

The act of travel itself is dehydrating.

On the ground, normal humidity is 40–60 percent. As you go higher, the air gets drier. The humidity of an airplane cabin hovers around 10–20 percent — like a desert. And that nasty fan blowing on you? That certainly doesn’t help. Even if you like that nasty fan blowing on you, it’s sucking the moisture out of you. Combine the dry air of the plane with your reduced water intake and you get dehydration. International flights are especially brutal.

Diets on the run dehydrate.

Starting with that first bag of snack mix on the plane, you start eating and drinking differently than you normally do. I have a Coke every time, every flight. Trying to find your way to the gate in an unfamiliar terminal can be hard enough, let alone trying to find the way to the smoothie bar.

The challenge isn’t just when you’re flying.

When you’re on a road trip, you may not drink because you can’t be sure of rest stops along the way. When you do find a gas station or convenience store, you may feel obligated to buy a snack or soda pop for the privilege of using their bathroom. Then, back on the road, you may feel obligated to eat the darn thing just because you bought it. That drink, unless it’s water, really hasn’t helped with your hydration.

Get to your destination and the fun begins! So many things to do. So many new foods and drinks to try. Water? Who gives it a thought?

Signs of dehydration.

Some signs of dehydration are obvious: extreme thirst and a dry mouth. If you haven’t slowed down enough to notice your thirst, or have chosen to ignore it, dark-colored urine should be a dead giveaway.

There are other signs of dehydration, though, you may not recognize as easily. That headache you have? It might not be stress-related. It may be a sign of dehydration. Suffering from muscle cramps? Sitting in those child-sized seats for hours is a logical explanation, but cramping can be the result of dehydration. And some of the fatigue you’re feeling just might be eased by a drink of water.

But dehydration not only impairs people physically.

It can also lead to cognitive decline. Losing just two percent of your body’s water can affect your mood, your memory, and your coordination. Severe dehydration can result in dizziness, brain fog, and confusion.

Just ask me.

Kathmandu, Nepal.

Fatigued, I descended onto the tarmac and into the terminal. I stumbled around the small airport, unable to find a bathroom and unable to make sense of the signs. My friends’ voices seemed to fade in and out as they led the way to Customs and Immigration.

Standing before the Customs officer, I couldn’t find the right answers because I couldn’t concentrate on his questions. My struggle to understand him had nothing to do with the language barrier.

I was dehydrated.

It’s likely I was in a state of dehydration before I boarded the overseas flight. Rushing around to get ready; running to catch my connecting flights. During our stopover in Tokyo, I remember stopping for matcha ice cream but I’m not sure I stopped for water.

By the time we reached our destination, fatigue, dizziness, brain fog, confusion — I had it all. This time my carelessness was serious.

Learn from me: stay hydrated.

Zion National Park, Utah.

I left in the cool of the morning for my trek up to Angel’s Landing. I completed the first leg easily but it was getting hot quickly. The water that had seemed such an unnecessary weight now became a valuable commodity. Too soon, it seemed, I was running low.

When I reached the upper trail where the way was steep and narrow and the chains required the use of my hands, there was no opportunity to stop and drink. So when I reached the top, incredibly stressed and thoroughly exhausted, I drained my bottle. The way down had to be easier, right?

Wrong.

By the time I reached the bottom, I was dizzy and disoriented. I no longer remembered which trail I had taken up from the parking lot and when I reached the first lot it seemed huge. I didn’t see any water spigots and I couldn’t find my car.

Perhaps I’d parked in the lot down the road, I thought, so I struggled on down to that one. No. Not there. I struggled back up to the other. It never occurred to me to ask for help. I was in a dimension of my own. All I could do was pray.

It was scary; it was dangerous. I will never go unprepared again. (I will never do Angel’s Landing again, either.)

Dehydration can easily be prevented. It just takes a little forethought, reasonable preparation, and informed attention while you’re on the road.

Hydrate before the trip and throughout.

Drink more water than usual the week before you leave. Consider it an official part of your trip preparation so you take it more seriously than the “drink 48–64 ounces of water per day” public service announcement. Put it on your list!

And while you’re at it, put “water bottle” on your list. Carry it with you and take every opportunity to fill it up. Remember, the bottle will have to be empty (or frozen, but that’s another subject) when going through security. Take the opportunity while standing in line to drink your first bottle.

On the other side of the checkpoint, keep your eyes open for places to fill it back up. 

It’s free! Airport convenience stores have steep markups and the vending machines nearby, enticing you to avoid the long lines in the stores, are even more expensive. The last 16-oz. bottle I bought from a vending machine was $4.50.

Using a reusable is not only great for the environment, it’s also economical.

My husband found me a nice bottle for my trip to Croatia, but during my first flight change, it unclipped from my backpack and went clattering down between the escalators. I had to purchase one of those $4.50 bottles of water from a vending machine, but I kept it for the rest of the trip and saved at least $3.50 every time I filled it up.

No matter what the “experts” on social media tell you, the experts at the Cancer Council say the plastic in a disposable water bottle is as safe to drink from as any other bottle. So the cheap one is good enough for me.

When you’re flying, try to drink about eight ounces of water for every hour you’re in the air.

That might mean squeezing past your close-by buddy to go to the teeny-tiny lavatory more often but moving around, especially during a long flight, is good for both of you.

Include electrolytes in the liquids you consume.

The guideline is every other bottle — a bottle of plain water, then a bottle of water containing electrolytes.

Although I’m a latecomer to the world of electrolytes, it makes sense. The amount of water in your body needs to stay in balance with your body’s mineral levels. Electrolytes — sodium, potassium, chloride, and magnesium, especially — regulate blood pressure, keep your heart pumping normally, and are essential for muscle and nerve function.

The more you drink, the more you pee, and you lose those minerals every time you do.

Replenish them by drinking fluids that contain electrolytes. If you don’t plan ahead, you may have to buy them at those price-gouging airport stores once you’ve cleared security, but here’s a better idea.

Buy hydration powders or tablets ahead of time, take them with you, and add them to the water in your reusable bottle every other time you fill it up.

Another advantage to hydration powders or tablets: they don’t contain the high amounts of sugar or artificial sweeteners that electrolyte drinks usually do.

Choose foods that hydrate.

Before you travel, and when you have an opportunity to make food choices on the way, choose super-hydrating foods like cucumbers, watermelon, or strawberries which can be 90% water. And enjoy foods containing electrolytes, like bananas, avocados, spinach and yogurt.

Picky eater? Trying to save money? Want to stay hydrated? You’d be surprised what you can take on the plane!

Most dehydration is mild and can be treated simply by drinking more fluids.

However, seek immediate medical care if you develop severe signs and symptoms of dehydration such as extreme thirst, a lack of urination, withered skin, dizziness, or confusion.

In Nepal, neglecting to watch my water intake didn’t just cause stress on my body, but stress on my friends.

Out on the trail alone, I had little opportunity to seek help. Had I been better prepared, I may have even enjoyed the hike. Even after the nightmare in Nepal, I didn’t realize how important it was to pump myself full of life-giving water even before I left.

But now I do, and you do, too.

Stay safe.