How to beat the heat when you travel

Traveling can be a lot of fun, and the summer months are often when families and individuals choose to hit the road. Maybe you’re traveling because you want to see some relatives this year, or perhaps you’re going on vacation. If you could not take one in 2020 because of the pandemic, you might be eager to explore some new territory this year.

One thing you should keep in mind, though, as you get ready to travel, is that temperatures are higher in the summer than they have ever been in the past. In some parts of the American Southwest and on the West Coast, it is not at all unusual to have heat waves that last for days. During those times, you will experience triple-digit weather that can make you feel like you’re melting.

You need to protect yourself if you’re traveling to a location that gets that hot. Here are some ways you can do it.

Stay Hydrated

There are many laws and rules for how you should conduct yourself while traveling. If you were traveling from state to state via motorcycle, for instance, you’d learn applicable motorcycle laws accordingly.

Learning how to conduct yourself in places that get very hot is just as important. The number one rule is to stay hydrated.

If you’re going somewhere like Arizona or New Mexico, where triple-digit days are frequent during the summer months, don’t go anywhere without a water bottle. You can purchase water at any gas station or convenience store, or your hotel might provide you with a complimentary bottle in some cases.

Drink lots of water as you go through your day, especially if you will be outdoors during the hottest hours. You should also consume sports drinks like Gatorade that contain the electrolytes your body needs.

Stay Indoors During the Hottest Hours

You should also stay indoors during the hottest hours if you’re traveling to a part of the country which gets brutally hot during the summer. That’s usually from mid-morning till late afternoon.

If you decide to go for a walk or do something out of doors, you can either do it in the very early morning, right when the sun rises, or you can do it at night, right before the sun is about to set. For instance, that might be a time to walk along the beach by your hotel, before the sand gets too hot for you to step on it.

Wear Sunblock



If you do go out during the days, you should also wear sunblock. This applies to everyone, not just fair-skinned individuals. The sun affects everyone, even those who have darker pigmentation.

Getting sunblock and slathering it on multiple times during the day can combat the sun’s most powerful rays. If you’re in a region of the country that punishes locals and tourists during the summer months, using sunscreen should be part of your daily routine that you do not neglect for as long as you’re there.

Plan Indoor Activities

You can also plan your vacation days by looking at indoor versus outdoor events and then enjoying them based on the weather forecast. If you see that it’s going to be overcast on one particular day, that might be the time you choose to do some events you can only enjoy outside.

If you’re going to be at a destination for several days, and every day will be over one hundred degrees with a broiling sun and no cloud cover, going outside for multiple hours is an impossibility. That might disappoint you if you planned to play golf or go to an amusement park, but that’s simply too hot for you to handle.

You can pick some indoor events, like taking the kids to an aquarium or going to see a movie. You might go to a museum or anything else indoors. You’d like to have more choices if you’re on vacation, but you can’t risk a painful sunburn and possible skin cancer somewhere down the line.

It’s not easy thinking about climate change, but it’s a reality, and we all need to adjust along with it. You can certainly take steps to combat it as well, but in the meantime, it makes sense to protect yourself and the family from the heat if you plan on going on vacation this year. Of course, you can also make plans to visit a location that does not get quite so hot in the summer months.