Packing light equates to a need for washing a few articles of clothing over and over again. The specific aim of this review is to provide guidance for those who might not have fully mastered every facet of the high art of in-sink laundry.

This is a topic that everybody needs to know about. Even if you’re extremely rich, overnight services are not always available. Some high end hotels won’t wash your under pants for any price. It follows that a modicum of self-reliance seems required for even the most powerful captains of industry.

The first step is to choose your clothing carefully. You might prefer cotton and wool fabrics at home, where energy intensive washers and dryers unlock their potential for providing comfort. But, on the road, these fabrics tend to be bulky, absorb moisture, and harbor odors. Denim is heavy and extremely slow to dry. In contrast, many non-wetable fabrics made of synthetic blends do not absorb water. Blends of polyesters, nylons, lycras, and similar fabrics can appear wet because water clings to them due to electrostatic forces and surface tensions, but since the water molecules do not actually inculcate themselves into the polymers themselves, they dry faster. Socks and most pudendal underpants represent items that need to be washed after every single use, so they’re the most critical garments to select carefully. Pants and many shirts can often survive for more than one day of use without triggering an arrest by the local health authorities. Nevertheless, it seems easy to love high-tech fishing gear made of sun retardant, non-wetable fabrics that pack down into very low volumes and do not wrinkle too much when they are wadded up.Â

Color can be an important consideration. Solid blacks, like all whites, will prominently display every speck of dust they accumulate. Other solid colors also produce relatively sharp contrasts with stains. Dull, dual or multi-colored clothing hides dirt, stains, and wrinkles. High energy, high bleach laundry systems might get the discoloration out of your white underwear at home, but all travel gear should be multi-colored, and that rule holds in spades for underwear.

You can carry single-use packets of laundry detergents. Travel packets are available from well known brands, including Tide, Woolite, and others. I prefer to use ordinary hand soap for socks, and leave some of the soap in them. That is, I prefer to NOT rinse them very well after the last soaping. This is because the soap powder will dissolve in the sweat upon the next wearing. It not only acts as an effective anti-deodorant, it decreases friction and reduces blistering. Keep in mind that athletes are frequently advised to rub a bar of soap on their socks before practicing. (Incidentally, under arm deodorants applied to the soles of the feet work even better than soaps for ensuring smell-free socks on long airplane trips.)

When washing these clothes in a hotel bathroom, it’s often useful to start by getting into a shower with your clothing on, not off. This will usually allow you to apply soap or shampoo directly to the areas that need them most. In medicine, these are often referred to as intertriginous zones, where skin meets skin, such as the junction of the upper extremity with the thorax (a.k.a. “axilla” or “armpit”). Once you’ve starting the process of washing these areas, then put a stopper in the drain and take the clothing off. Dropping the clothing to the bottom of the tub allows them to be washed with your feet while you conduct your ordinary rituals of bathing. Stomping on your clothes with your weight applies energy to drive water in-and-out like only the most vigorous of hand washing routines can match. And, it makes your feet feel good.

Wringing out clothes prior to hanging is hard work. Best to start this process with your feet as well. For fast drying, roll your articles in cotton bath towels prior to hanging. This can reduce drying times dramatically. And again, once you have rolled your articles into a bath towel, stepping on the role will increase the effectiveness of the maneuver.

Wind is the best drying force, but its availability is limited in many hotel scenarios. You can quick-start the drying process for socks by placing them over the nozzle of a hair dryer if available, and letting the wind fill the whole sock. I travel with postal-weight rubber bands that can be used to fix the socks to hairdryers that can then be left on their side on a sink top for 5-to-10 minutes while I do something else. Hair dryer nozzles in shirtsleeves and pant legs can also help speed things along when you’re in a rush, but these articles require much more of your active attention, and as a consequence, hair dryers aren’t preferred. Hotel lamps with incandescent bulbs are the next best thing to a real clothes dryer. Hang your big articles over the tops of the lamp shades. Socks can be dangled over the metal stays that fix the shade to the lamp. When you’re stirring, the radiant light from the lamp will dry most clothes in a few hours. Even after bedtime, there is often more air moving over a lampshade in the room than over a true clothes line in a little bathroom. Even when the bulb is an energy saving fluorescent model with little heat output, lamps are often good surfaces to maximize the exposure of an article to moving air. Lamps can usually be moved to a place where you can capitalize on any moving air from a climate control system. Of or on, turn the articles that you hang over lamps from time-to-time to dry moisture that tends to linger in creases and thus speed the process.

There’s little that matches the satisfaction of starting a new day on the road without a single article of dirty clothing. Washing daily or semi-daily allows one to experience the joy of clean cloths regularly while avoiding the dysthymia of placing dirty laundry in your bag.

Good luck.

P. David Mozley, M.D.

Background: Paracelsus (1493-1541) observed that the difference between a poison and a good medicine was simply a matter of dose. In his recent blog, “Here Comes the Sun”, Steven J. Strommer made the same observation about sunlight. While Mr. Strommer, Benjamin Franklin, and many others are right to claim that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, “things happen”.Â

Specific aim: To review the pathophysiology and treatments of sunburn. The scope is limited to post-hoc interventions after exposures to acute, toxic doses of sunlight that are high enough to cause otherwise healthy travelers meaningful disability. The hope is that learning about how to treat solar mediated catastrophes will empower readers to effectively cope with sun-induced injuries of lesser biological significance.Â

Definitions:Â

(1) Sunburns. A first-degree sunburn is defined as radiation-induced tissue damage that affects the outer most layers of the skin (epidermis) only, causing redness (erythema) and pain but without blistering. A second-degree, or “partial thickness” burn is defined as radiation-induced tissue damage that kills cells in the underlying dermis, ultimately causing blistering as a consequence of intense inflammation. (See http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/burn)Â

(2) Radiation dose. Radiation has become a big scientific word but is actually a derivative of the common Latin term for ordinary sunlight. Physicians may loosely define light as a particular type of electromagnetic wave that stimulates photoreceptors in mammalian eyes. The dose, or amount, of any radiation energy transferred to living tissues is, in part, a function of the intensity of emissions from the source and the duration of the exposure to the source. In other words, the dose is proportional to (1) how bright the light is, and (2) how long you’re exposed to it. The higher the dose is, the more energy is deposited in tissues, and as a consequence, the greater the potential injury. Because (1) the aggressiveness of post-hoc treatments should be proportional to the severity of the impending injury, (2) it can take several days for the injury to fully develop, and (3) treatment should be instituted prior to obvious manifestations of the injury, it thus seems propitious to review a few rules about how to assess the dose of sunlight a creature has been exposed to.Â

As many others have observed, the power of radiated light reaching the surface of our Earth increases as follows:

(1) Â The directness of the angle of incoming radiation, that is,
A. Â As time of day approaches either side of high noon; or
B. Â The closer you travel to the Equator, that is, the lower the latitude;
(2)  The higher the altitude, i.e., as you lose protection from the atmosphere. UV radiation intensity increases by approximately 5% for every 1000 feet (300 meters) in altitude (http://www.merck.com/mmhe/sec24/ch296/ch296a.html). That means that if you’re in Katmandu or Denver, biologically meaningful amounts of radiant energy can begin to be deposited in your tissues after as little as 45 minutes of exposure to bright sunlight.Â
(3)  As the amount of reflective surface area increases. The primary reflective surfaces that travelers encounter are sea, snow, and cloud cover. Cloud cover can be particularly dangerous because water vapor is effective at absorbing visible light and cooling the surfaces on which you stand, but clouds are not as effective at blocking the lower wavelength, higher energy ultra-violet (UV) light that can damage your eyes or burn your skin. The sea is particularly deceptive because it can cool your skin and mislead your subjective assessment of how much exposure has occurred. Reflections off the water or snow can damage your eyes even if you keep your skin covered. Snow can be loosely thought of as almost doubling exposure per unit of time, as it reflects back about 85% of UV light, while water reflects back a little less than a third (see Auerbach PS. Medicine for the Outdoors. New York: Lyons Press, 1999).Â

Key Point: All this suggests that if you get caught in a brightly lit environment for any meaningful length of time, you should plan on taking measures to limit the extent of your injuries before they become conspicuous.

Pathophysiology: Take a flashlight (a.k.a. battery powered torch) into the dark and cover the lens with your palm. You will see a little light shining all the way through your hand. The point is that a fraction of the light hitting the surface of your body will penetrate well below the superficial layers of your skin. This trivial experiment begins to explain how some of the living cells underneath the epidermis get “nuked” by sunlight. It also partly explains why even some hairy mammals, such as cows, are also susceptible to sunburn, and why no person is well advised to think of themselves as invincible. It also starts to explain why sun exposure can require a metabolically-intensive biological response even if your skin does not actually burn.Â

Sunburns are caused by the transfer of electromagnetic energy from the sun, predominantly in the form of ultraviolet (UV) light, into heat and photochemical energy inside living cells. Of course, most of this light energy is absorbed by intra-cellular water with no harm done—the water molecules get slammed by the light, they speed up, that is, become hotter, and the absorbed light energy in the form of heat is dissipated by the body via ordinary homeostatic mechanisms for temperature control. But, some fraction of the light energy can shatter water molecules, i.e., cause water to undergo a photochemical reaction and be converted into ionized particles, such as peroxides. Similar photochemical reactions with molecular oxygen form “super-oxides”. These “free radicals” are like miniature bombs that can damage many other types of vital molecules. Most biological molecules that get splattered indirectly by free radicals or directly by incoming radiation are quickly repaired or replaced, again with no harm done. But, when the insult becomes overwhelming, that is, the dose of incoming sunlight becomes too intense, a variety of pathological changes follow, including cell death and its manifestation as a burn. Burns, defined by cell injury and death, lead to inflammation and its consequences.Â

Incidentally, promotion of super-oxide formation is the mechanism by which certain drugs cause increased super sensitivity to sunlight. An overly active inflammatory system explains why people with autoimmune diseases such as lupus erythematosis are unusually sensitive to sunlight.Â

Key Point: These pathological processes leading to cell death, inflammation, and as a result, more cell death, and as a consequence, further inflammation, might take time to become apparent. Solar radiation-induced inflammatory diseases can escalate, that is, can get worse and worse, for 24-to-72 hours after exposure, depending on their severity. If you get over-exposed, then you can do several things to minimize the injury after exposure but before some of the damage is done.Â

Sun-induced inflammatory disorders can be somewhat arbitrarily modeled as causing dysfunction in three separate, albeit highly inter-related organ systems:Â (1) the skin (a.k.a. the integument that keeps bodily water inside an organism and is one of our primary barriers against infectious agents); (2) the hemodynamic system, that is, the tissues and organs that participate in regulating the movement of blood through the body; and ; (3) the central nervous system (CNS, or brain, and its direct appendages, such as the eyes).Â

I. Skin: Treatments of Solar Insults to the Integument

A. Home remedies: There are a variety of folk salves, poltices, compresses and balms that are purportedly palliative, such as smearing yogurt or potato paste on the skin, and taking a bath in cool water mixed with oatmeal (see, e.g., http://www.grannymed.com/meds/sunburn.aspx or http://www.answers.com/topic/sunburn ). Most seem designed to promote trans-cutaneous (“through the skin”) heat loss and “re-moisturize” the epidermis. Marigold flower (Calendula officinalis) preparations purportedly reduce inflammation. A recipe for making a preparation for treating sunburn can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendula_officinalis. Most travelers should probably plan on using commercially available products.

B. Topicals:Â
(i) Over the Counter (OTC) creams. These include common cosmetics designed to be used daily regardless of sunburn. Most contain a variety of fats and oils, such as aloe. Although they are described as “moisturizing”, what they actually mean is that they increase the fat content between the keratinized cells making up the outer most layer of the skin. Even if the true biological benefit of these creams is not clear, there’s no question that they make most all people feel better. Most creams and lotions have added ingredients to aid marketing, including:

A. Prophylactics: Sunscreens containing para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), benzophenone, and other UV light absorbing chemicals are designed to prevent an insult from ever happening. After sustaining a sunburn, the water might be over the proverbial dam, but applying these preparations to burnt skin still represent a good idea. As post hoc treatments, most sunscreens contain moisturizing ingredients that help people feel better even if its too late for prevention. And since sunburned skin will become more vulnerable to new solar radiation injuries for about 2 weeks after an insult, preventing re-injury represents an important advantage to consider when applying sunscreens after it might seem too late.Â
B. Anti-inflammatory agents: A variety of commercial preparations containing low doses of steroids are available, particularly as 1% hydrocortisone creams. Their labels suggest that they are usually indicated for treating itches. Hemorrhoidal creams are essentially identical in composition, and probably cool your burn as well as any other cortisone cream, even if they’re less “cool” to pull out of your bag in public. Topical steroids will help abort the local inflammatory process and limit the amount of damage that develops. They are indicated except where there is a break or cut in the skin that might be susceptible to infection.
C. “Pain relief” creams containing capsaicins or aspirin-like salicylates are relatively contra-indicated. They might help some people with mechanical sports injuries feel better, but they will add insult to sun injury.Â

(ii) Prescription Creams. Some more effective, but potentially more risky, topicals are available by prescription only: Mineral corticoid creams are extremely effective, but their distribution is limited for good reasons related to their potential for absorption into the systemic circulation, where they can cause all kinds of mischief, including renal failure. If you carry a tube anyway, then limit your use of it to relatively small areas of your skin, and don’t use it for much more than 48 hours. Don’t apply it to skin referred to as intertriginous, such as your armpits or groin, or you might get “jungle rot”, that is, an overgrowth of bacteria, yeast, or fungi. If you see any swelling in your feet or ankles, stop using it immediately.

C. Systemic Medications:Â

(i) OTC’s Taken By Mouth.

(i) Aspirin-like compounds: Early ingestion of anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin or ibuprofen not only relieves the symptoms of pain but also interrupts the underlying pathophysiological processes causing the pain. The earlier these drugs are taken, the better. For otherwise healthy people who can tolerate them and don’t have another medical condition that prohibits their use, a general rule of thumb is to take twice the recommended dose on the OTC label twice as often as recommended for the first 24-to-48 hours. Remember, as always, taking them with food helps prevent their harmful effects on the stomach lining.Â
(i) Antihistamines: For severe sunburns, these anti-inflammatory drugs can be more effective than aspirin-like medications. Use drugs like diphenhydramine (Benadryl, others) before bedtime if the side effect of sedation is desired, as sunburn can disrupt sleep through a variety of mechanisms besides simple pain. Use drugs like loratadine (Claritin) that do not enter the brain during the day or if you’re taking other drugs that cause drowsiness.Â
(i) Alcohol: The active ingredient in whiskey and wine is a peripheral vasodilator that increases blood flow to your skin. But, there are no hard data in the literature to indicate whether this is a good thing, a bad thing, or both depending on the phase of the illness. Common sense and loose scientific logic indicate that the goal is to break the disease process that causes vasodilatation in the skin, not promote it, so all other things being equal, it might be wise to avoid alcohol. Regardless of its effects on the vasculature in the skin, alcohol will place additional stress on most brains, and that might be something to avoid during the acute phases of the illness.
(i) Tobacco: The hazards of nicotine addiction are well established, but bias-free, science based, medical practice cannot claim that nicotine is contra-indicated in cases of sunburn. Nicotine is a vasoconstrictor. If you smoke, of course you should stop, but probably not until after you recover from a major sunburn.Â

(ii) Controlled Substances. Potentially dangerous, but more effective, medications are available by prescription only: Steroids like prednisone and related drugs can suppress almost any inflammatory disorder, including sunburn. Almost any form, when taken in the proper dosage, seems effective and reasonably safe when used appropriately for a very few days. But caveat emptor: Steroids can cause major side effects. In some people, the side effects can be worse than the disease they are used to treat. In general medical practice, steroids are reserved for the treatment of second degree sunburns, i.e., those that cause obvious blistering. Most physicians will prescribe 40-to-80 mg equivalents of prednisone per day for 2-to-3 days. I prefer a single, 4 mg dose of dexamethasone, but that bias is based on my familiarity with it as a relatively safe and convenient form of transient immunosuppression, not hard data.

II. Â Treatment of Secondary Problems

A. Treatment of Blisters (a.k.a. “bullae” or “bullous erythema”). The inflammatory response can cause intra-vascular water to extravasate into the extra-vascular spaces in the dermis, forming pockets of fluid, or blisters. Blisters can burst, and as a consequence, lead to breaks in the skin that can in turn lead to overt fluid loss and secondary infections. For these reasons, blisters from second degree sunburns are usually treated like blisters from any other second degree burns. Second degree burns deserve professional care. Admission to a hospital based burn unit can be required in rare cases. If you’re caught in the field with second degree burns, try to protect breaks in the skin with dry bandages and antibiotic creams until you can get professional help.Â

B. Treatments of Secondary Dehydration. Neuronal sensors in the skin detect the increases in heat and trigger general mechanisms for heat loss. Vastly more important, cellular injury and death lead to inflammation. Chemicals are released from damaged tissues that provoke the release of chemicals from local immune cells in the dermis and with its vascular spaces. A very large number of chemicals are released by these immune cells, but loosely speaking, they can be thought of as two types: one promotes the inflammation, i.e., fans the fire, and the others ultimately recruit more immune cells to come help. All or their consequences lead to increased demands for metabolic energy and relative dehydration from the perspective of your skeletal muscles and internal organ systems. A variety of inflammation-mediated processes are involved in the response to solar energy deposition, with or without sunburn, each of which should be recognized, honored, and treated logically.Â

(i) Shunting of blood from the body “core” to the periphery, i.e., to the skin, where the heat can be lost to the atmosphere and cooler surfaces in contact with your skin. This aspect of increased blood flow to the periphery is only partly well modeled as a healthy response to an unhealthy situation. Regardless, it is energy intensive, so expect to give up some of your ordinary feelings of vigor. The proper response is to drink more clear fluids, lie down if feasible, and rest your muscles so that they don’t start demanding more blood from a source that has become relatively scarce.
(ii) Panting, like dogs do. Panting creates transient changes in air pressure that promote the evaporation of fluid from within your mouth and respiratory tree. Heat is lost when liquid water undergoes a phase transition to a vapor. From the perspective of the cells lining your mucosa, water gets scarce. Thirst results. You should drink.
(iii) Sweating. Sweating works like panting. Sweat production can be promoted by eating peppers and mustards. There are drugs for people with dry mouth that promote sweating, but they are rare medications you might not find even with a prescription. A cold shower would be a lot safer, cheaper, and better. The problem with bathing is that it tends to promote the loss of water, electrolytes, and fats from the skin. If you take a bath, try to pour salts in the water (a similar idea is behind the recommendations for oatmeal baths by folk healers, but salt goes down the drain much easier).
(iv) Drinking cold fluids, such as ice water. The capacity of water to absorb heat is remarkably high, and potentially useful in the treatment of sunburn and subclinical variants of “heat stroke”. Putting ice water in your stomach for short periods of time can be beneficial in this scenario.Â
(v) Maintaining proper electrolyte balances. Sweating, panting, blistering, and inflammation can lead to the loss of electrolytes along with the fluid. A great way for travelers to replace their electrolytes is by taking a daily multi-vitamin pill. It’s not the vitamins you’re looking for in this scenario, it’s the potassium, chloride, and trace metal salts in the commercial vitamin formulations that you’re after. Travelers do well to take a small pack of once-a-day vitamins with them regardless of whether they take them at home or not.

The bottom line is that sun-induced inflammatory disorders of the skin can lead to dehydration, dehydration can lead to lassitude, and lassitude can lead to disability that most travelers would be better off without. Repairing cells damaged takes a lot of energy, leading to a loss of vitality. It follows that one of the treatments for sunburn that should not be overlooked is drinking plenty of free water and trying to replenish your bodily salts.Â

C.  Treatment of Brain Dysfunction. The medical literature on sunburn is pervaded by vague descriptions of non-specific brain dysfunction. Most symptoms can be thought of as non-specific variants of lethargy. As one of the most finely tuned instruments in the mammalian symphony, the brain is all too easily perturbed by inflammation from any cause and the intense metabolic requirements that result. It might also be that some aspects of lethargy can be thought of as part of a healthy adaptation to sunburn. Either way, its important for travelers to realize that their normal cognitive reserves and their typical abilities to think nimbly in novel situations might not be as robust after sunburns as they usually are. Plans should be made to avoid intellectual, as well as physical, challenges until after healing from sunburn is well underway. Â

D. Treatment of Sunburns to the Eyes. Acute Snow Blindness (a.k.a. ophthalmia nivialis): In this limited context, it may be defined as a radiation-induced burn of the outer layers of the eye causing pain, lacrimation (tearing) and photophobia (aversion to light). http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/cache/-268042203.htm  When the conjunctiva covering the whites of your eyes burn, the eyes appear to be “bloodshot”. When the clear tissue covering the pupil called the cornea burns, visual dysfunction ensues. Corneal sunburn can occur with as little as one hour of unprotected exposure at sea level. (See http://www.henryfordhealth.org/115039.cfm)

The key point about radiation-induced corneal injury is that it can take 12 hours or more after exposure to fully develop. Treatment should begin as soon as feasible, and consists of maneuvers that are conceptually similar to those for other types of local radiation-induced burns, including systemic anti-inflammatory drugs (http://www.aafp.org/afp/20030401/1481.html) and topical steroids. Here, however, only ophthalmic solutions of topical steroids will do, and most of these are available by prescription only. In the USA, ofloxacin solutions are safe and effective as long as there is no trauma or other infectious eye disease complicating the snow blindness. If you cannot get an ophthalmic solution, then a few drops of mineral oil is recommended by the writers of the Merck Manual (see above). When radiation-induced eye injuries occur in metropolitan areas, physicians will often “patch” the eyes closed. That might not be practical out on the road, but retreating to your hotel and resting your eyes to the extent feasible for about 2 days is advisable, and usually all that’s required for full recovery. Permanent impairment and even blindness has been reported from exposure related injuries in which radiation played a contributing role, but as best as can be inferred from the literature, only in extreme scenarios or occupational settings that are beyond the scope of this review.

Summary: The deposition of solar energy in living tissues produces consequences that demand large amounts of metabolic energy. Sunburn results from radiation-induced cell damage and death. Sunlight can cause an inflammatory process that can take up to 2-to-3 days after exposure to peak. Early immunosuppressive therapy can limit the extent of injury. The aggressiveness of the treatment should be proportional to the extent of the injury, which in turn is proportional to the extent of exposure.Â

Afterward: It might be that everyone benefits from learning a little bit about the treatment of sun toxicity. While individual vulnerability can vary significantly as an imperfect function of age, race, and prior sun exposure, no human is immune. Perhaps even more importantly, everyone should want to possess knowledge about how t o help others who become transiently stricken.Â

Best,

P. David Mozley MD

It’s only romantic during the winter. The reality is more like oppressive heat and relentless humidity with scant sources of shade and the never-ending quest for an oasis of air conditioning. Truly the grass is always greener elsewhere, but all too many times I’ve been on the road traveling and have been subjected to weather that at home would have been manageable (because of familiar resources) but when away from home make each day away a struggle (I’m such a softee) in a quest to achieve a measure of continual comfort. By and large though it’s always been an issue of sun and heat being the main culprits. Coming from a temperate location I’m usually traveling when it’s either cold or moderate at home and it always seems that no matter what the guide book may say about the climate at a given time of year of the place I’m going to, when I get there it always tends to be warmer than normal or a heat wave is in full effect. This is not to say that on more than one occasion you learn that even in a place like India or Turkey or Egypt it can be cool to very cold in January also.

Those bargain prices too Thailand were there because (Duh!) it was during their “Hot” season, and trust me when they say it’s hot there, that IS saying something.

Staying warm for me has always seemed simpler, grueling yet simple. Wear lots of clothes and find a source of heat, easy. It’s not that there aren’t inherent perils to the cold, there are, but if you can find some shelter and the proper clothing you can manage to stay warm, and I’m not talking about a survival situation either (I may be wrong but isn’t there some validity to cultures that exist in moderate to cold environs tending to be a bit more vigorous than their hot weather compadres?). The problem is there’s only so much clothing one can shed when it’s hot and even that solution has its limitations. It’s one thing to be a native and to dress like one, it’s clearly another to dress like that when you clearly aren’t, especially when the natives don’t wear much. To be a paleface on top of that seems dangerously perilous. Ok maybe I’m exaggerating, as it clearly hasn’t deterred too many Swiss, Germans or Danes from doing that very thing.

There are a few considerations to take into account when it comes to this type of scenario at least for someone as fair in complexion as myself. The last thing I really need at this stage of life (given all my other lifestyle risk factors) are a few new moles that are decidedly not stationary, but in fact want crawl around on me. The bright blinding hot tropical sun is not my friend. I’ve given up on ever considering myself a tanner. I turn red, peel and then get freckles (or moles) and start the process over again. The lesson has been taught to me repeatedly over the years. The last time was in Ethiopia where the sun scorched my forehead and scalp badly and I spent the next few days brushing scabs out of my hair and searching in vain for sunscreen. Imagine the look of confusion on the local faces as I tried to describe what this faranj wanted. They kept trying to sell me hand cream. My forehead is still mottled to this day. I probably doomed myself then and there. Of all the things that could have happened, it will more than likely be sunburn that gets me in the end.

Hydration and shade are the obvious ways of dealing with heat and sun. Remember I’m not talking about crossing deserts or surviving in the jungle here just places that are maybe a bit unlike home (if it isn’t Bangkok or Khartoum). One of the great boons to the traveler now is some of the fine light clothing made for sportsmen in particular for fishing. Because the chance of getting some bad burns out on the open water, much of this light, multi pocketed very functional clothing now is made with SPF 30 protection built right into the fabric. The clothing breathes, dries quickly if wet and comes in a variety of styles and colors. I have to admit some of the colors aren’t exactly great if you’re trying to blend into the local populace (Crawfish, Sea breeze??) but most are more than sufficiently bland enough to do so. And did I mention the pockets? Of course I did. Some lines from outfitters like Cabela’s and Columbia have pockets upon pockets, for giving virtually everything you’ll need if you’re on the road a home. Saris and local attire is fine if you can figure them out or have help in doing so.

Where my skin is exposed I tend on the side of error and use the highest water resistant SPF I can find. The stuff made for little kids rated at some ungodly high number suites me just fine. Providing when I apply it that I don’t look any whiter than when I first started it’ll do, and because I will sweat profusely (due to high hydration rate and high blood pressure) I’ll need it to stay put and not run off me whether walking on the beach, snorkeling or kicking around town. Some brands even come in handy rub on stick form.

I’ve also taken to wearing a hat, something I never do when I’m at home (except when it’s cold) and when I do a “boonie” style serves a few purposes, style is one and function is the other. Style wise it makes me feel like the rugged individualist (Not!) and functionally it will keep sun and rain out of my face yet I supposed the baseball hat makes more sense though strangely it always has me feeling like “Look at me I’m an American!” (Not that there is anything inherently wrong with that…is there?). The wider brimmed hats make me feel like the member of an elder hostel group old before my years and a sombrero well whatever floats your boat is ok by me. Baseball players of yore used to swear by wetting a leaf of lettuce and putting it underneath your hat, and a wet towel or some ice water soaked and applied strategically can’t hurt either. In areas where they are available fresh coconuts are a cheap nourishing treat that can’t be beat for fluid safety and refreshment. Hydration salts can be helpful to keep on hand also for this and other applications.

Some other important considerations when in the sun are:

1.Certain medications can be problematic, be sure to check if there are any particular warnings involving sun exposure and be careful of any creams or lotions you may wear that could potentially sensitize your skin. Drinking alcoholic beverages (or smoking tobacco) will actually do you a disservice and might help speed along any negative heat related health issues.

2. A good rule of thumb is avoiding undue exposure to sun when your shadow is shorter than you are (Usually between the hours of 10am and 2pm).

In a worst-case scenario you might even come down with a case of sunstroke. This is when the body is unable to regulate its internal core temperature. Some symptoms of this are:

• Headache, nausea, dizziness
• Red, dry, very hot skin (sweating has ceased)
• Pulse-strong and rapid
• Small pupils
• Very high fever
• May become extremely disoriented
• Unconsciousness and possible convulsions

If one or more of these manifest themselves it may be prudent to start the process of lowering your bodies temperature by taking some tepid showers (if possible) and drinking plenty of cool fluids, cold compresses fans and obviously air conditioning are all pluses. Sunstroke is no joke and face it the older we get and the less attention we tend to pay to our well being the more apt we are to suffer from something so simply prevented.

Unfortunately for someone like myself all this is easier said that done.

For all your heat related issue needs, this and so much more can be found here.

http://urgencemanif.meagerman.net/heat.html