I always look forward to traveling. Even on trips for work or by myself, I am enthusiastic about the adventure, the food, the sights . . . everything! However, when I woke up this morning, my excitement was gone because I have a cold. My throat is sore, muscles are heavy, I have a headache, and I feel generally tired. As many of us travel all over the world and plan trips weeks in advance, we can not delay our travels or easily move meetings to accommodate a silly cold — we have all gone through this. When I travel, I often get a head cold, making my flight not-so-fun and my exploring limited until I feel better.

I have read dozens of articles on how to take care of a cold while traveling, and so far the advice is sound, but my execution has been less than perfect. These tips did not work out for me:

• Close the air vents above your seat on a flight to prevent germs spreading: Worked fine until I woke up on the way to New York City with a sweat and a fever.

• Get plenty of sleep right before your flight: I felt great after napping while waiting for my flight, but fell in such a deep sleep I missed my flight from Seattle (SEA) to Los Angeles (LAX)!

• Airborne On-the-Go: – I truly love this product. It works great to beat a pending cold. The on-the-go packages allow you to put the powder in a water bottle and take it wherever you go. DO NOT try this on a plane. The combination of the cabin pressure and shaking of the bottle to mix the powder causes it to erupt like a volcano, spraying my grapefruit-flavored water all over my row.

Although these tips have not worked well for me, I am eager to hear any advice on traveling with a cold from you experienced travelers.

— Carly Allen, vice president

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