#NerdsUnite: Tried and True Backpacking Hangover Cures

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Lindsay. She's crazy ... and bat shit ... and I love her for it! For reals, she hitchhiked across various African countries!!! HARDCORE!!! The girl is a whackadoodle noodle, but not at all a nerd. That is where I come in handy- I'm Lindsay's navigator on adventures. See, I show her how we get places via google maps, and she reminds me to stop tweeting and look up every once in a while. It's a match made in nerdy/non-nerdy heaven. That being saiiiddddddd ... she lives her life on the road and wants to share some of her experiences to all the nerdy folk out there that may be looking to do the same. Hit it Lindsay!!! </editorsnote>

So I heard this past Labor Day weekend was a blast. A few of my friends went to the lake, my best girlfriend invited me to a raging rooftop party and my roommates played beach volleyball all day in Venice... I would LOVE to be able to post about all the fun times I had too but my ass spent the ENTIRE WEEKEND nursing an out-of-control hangover. Literally, I wrote this while lying on my bathroom floor in between dry heaves. I don't know what the heck happened when I turned 26 but body ain't kickin' like it used to but I'll be damned if remember that when I go out with old friends (my snowboarder friend, Jared, I blame you!)

Two days on your floor wanting to die while everyone one else is out having fun blows. The pool for the apartment complex is right outside my window, I could hear all the happy children and smell the yummy BBQ, plus my cellphone was dinging off the damn hook from friends calling, texting and Hey Telling to see where I was and what I was up to... yeah, needless to say I had a lot of time to sit and think (and curse vodka sodas.)  

I decided that I wanted to write a post on my personal hangover cures however, because at this point you know how I am, I had to throw traveling in there somewhere. So, with no further ado- here are my hangover cures while on the road.

Drinking comes with the whole backpacking thing, everyone knows that. Rowdy nights with other travelers in youth hostels, bonding with locals over a pint, scoping out local watering holes or night clubs are all great ways to learn about whatever town or city you may find yourself in and sometimes it's just plain rude to not accept a beer or a glass of wine as an act of hospitality. But let's face it, even the best of us can go a little overboard (and usually, a lot overboard) and traveling with a hangover just plain sucks. It's one thing to waste a day under the covers in your own hometown but that's a completely unacceptable thing to do while on the road (and probably impossible if you are staying in a hostel.). The whole point here is to make yourself feel better for real so you can sightsee all day which means these tips are a little different than they would be if all you had to do was zombie through work or have a movie marathon with your roommate. 

Here are my personal, tried and true Backpacking Hangover Cures. Please be warned, they are not for the faint of heart, they are for the desperate in transit.

Make Yourself Throw Up.

This is hands down the best (and sometimes the only) way to fight a hangover while on the road. Lots of times, you'll wake up in a hostel or guest house and will have no access to food or drinks without having to actually go out and get them yourself which is obviously extremely annoying and painful. I recommend getting your ass into the shared bathrooms, pick your favorite stall and try to get it all up. Don't be a pansy about it, if you need to stick the back of your toothbrush down your throat and wiggle it around for a bit, so be it but just get something up. I profusely yell apologies to anyone unfortunate enough to have to use the bathroom or showers in between dry heaves as well.

Drink My Not-So-Secret Secret Hangover Drink.

After getting up whatever booze or late night munchies you had left over in your stomach from last night it is now time to fill up on fluid and lot's of it. My Go To is half water, half cranberry juice. A lot of people say sports drinks are the best because of the electrolytes but my tummy can't handle all that sugar when I'm hurtin' (and it's hard to find Gatorade in say, Ghana) so I like whatever juice I can find diluted with water. Getting (and keeping) liquids down is absolutely necessary to begin feeling better so take tiny sips and man up. 

Eat Something HEALTHY.

I know all you want is some big greasy cheeseburger or an overload of bacon and eggs but DON'T DO IT! That stuff is fine at home, where you can cuddle up on the couch and veg out for hours but overeating and grease is not your friend while on the road. Eat something bland, HEALTHY and light. Think a small serving of plain eggs and toast, steamed veggies or plain pasta with garlic and oil. The idea is to get something in your stomach that will settle it but not settle YOU down. This is also a good time to say, DON'T DRINK YOUR REGULAR COFFEE IN THE MORNING. Wait until after you liquid up and get some food in there before you throw in some acidy coffee in to the mix so you can get the caffeine kick without wrecking yourself even more.

If you are in the UK, Track down some BEROCCA.

This multivitamin is the best I have found and after you've done what you've could by eating and drinking, these will fill in the crucial B vitamins that you lost with your 17th vodkasoda. Any vitamin (or sports drink) with B6 and B12 is beneficial but this particular brand is the booomb. Matter of fact, I need to hit up my friend in England and ask her to send me a few more packs of these.

If you are in Morocco (or maybe any other desert climate), Track down some PRICKLY PEAR.

They sell them on the side of the road for 2 cents in Morocco and these babies are like natural Pepto Bismol. Eat a few and feel your tummy settle quicker than you can say "I will never drink again." Another way to settle your tummy while in transit is by picking a window seat and staring at objects far off in the distance, snack on carby-salty foods like Saltines or pretzels and of course, have a barf bag always near. 

Get Out!

After you baby yourself for a little bit in the dark comforts of the hostel, force yourself to get out for some fresh air. So today might not be the day to finally try skydiving in Vegas for the first time but you don't need to waste any time either. Look into cheap Hop On and Off bus tours where you can just sit and relax but get off at your leisure, check out a mellow, airconditioned museum or art gallery, hunt down an internet cafe and get up to date on your emails to home and post photos to Facebook, lay around at a park or the beach or even just take a long, lazy lunch and people watch. Take it easy but don't take it lazy, you can't get a day back on the road.

DON'T FIGHT FIRE WITH FIRE (also known as Hair of the Dog)

Please listen to me on this one (and not to your fellow hostel friends who are tempting you with Bloody Marys). Don't try to fight fire with fire by drinking again the next day. No matter how crappy you feel, chugging a beer or sipping a Bloody in the am is like putting a band aide over a broken arm (okay, a broken finger- let's not get dramatic.) Sure, at home that Bluemoon is the perfect breakfast beer after a long night of drinking but on the road, that Bluemoon is gonna kick your ass in about an hour when it wears off during your Seven City hike or climbing the stairs of the Washington Monument. Hair of the Dog only works when you continue your drinking throughout the whole day so unless you want to spend the day drunk instead of sightseeing, put down the damn booze (and that's how you got yourself in this whole mess in the first place, isn't it?) I love Bloody Marys just as much as the next backpacker but unless you're okay with only remembering your travels through photos because you were too drunk the whole time, Man up, nurse your hangover and go explore!

BTW... speaking of EXPLORING- I just got on www.mobli.com

It's a super rad website that let's me upload videos and photos in almost real time and I am LOVING IT  (it sounds like Twitter but it's different, promise.)

Please check it out and if you do, give a look at my page.
http://www.mobli.com/lindsaymc

Thanks so much and see ya'll soon (check out my cross country trip and let me know if I will be by your hometown!) :)

#HappyTravels

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