Traveling is one of the best things you can experience. But when you are a girl or a woman, moving to a different climate zones may entail much more than just a change of your current location. And because this is an ugly truth, nobody really talks about, but I feel it is better to be prepared in advance than to feel stressed and stunned when it eventually happens (and in many cases it will).Here are some major issues me and many girls I know have experienced – not just in China but generally while traveling:
1) DELAYED MENSTRUATION - I had traveled a lot before coming to China, and it included various time zones, climates and continents. But it wasn’t until I came to Chengdu as an au pair, when my body reacted so drastically to the change of climate and food. In fact, I underwent double climate change, because just a week after coming to China, I went to Maldives with my host family for a week. And although that was an unforgettable trip, my body got seriously influenced because I didn’t have my period for 3 MONTHS.
When you are on the road, your menstruation is much likely to be delayed for a few reasons: 1) Flying across different time zones ; 2)Stress; 3) New habits, for example new exercise or more ; 4) Different climate ; All of this happens because our hormones are sensitive to anything new.
My advice to you, which something I didn’t do myself, is to consult your gynecologist before any bigger, intercontinental journey. And if you take contraceptives, be aware that not all the pills available in Europe or US , will also be easy to get in China. That’s why it’s also better to ask your doctor how you could replace the one you have been taking, or just take enough ‘stock’ with yourself.
2) SKIN is our body’s biggest organ and the changes are inevitable. It might happen that you will get rash from the new ’water’, especially if your skin is sensitive like mine. Not to mention different climate. I would suggest visiting dermatologist before moving to a country like China. And what will always help you is replacing body moisturizer with coconut or olive oil.
3) HAIR – so in hair’s case, there are two things that might happen – from my and my friends’ experience. If you are lucky , then your hair might start growing faster like in my and my friends’ case, or you might start losing hair. What’s more, if you have thin hair like mine, you might have problems with taming them in the summer, when the air is very humid. Plus, because of the temperature difference between air –conditioned houses or offices and hot air outside your might have problems with dry ends or generally hair condition might get worse. What I discovered, though, are special hair treatments that will help you deal with hair affected by humidity.You can get them in professional hair care stores I wrote about previously. You can also use coconut oil DIY mask regularly – just apply coconut oil on your hair and keep it for about an hour, covered with a shower cap. A good thing would be also ask dermatologist to suggest some vitamins or herbal supplements to strengthen hair.
4) DIGESTION PROBLEMS – this truth might be the ugliest and the most painful.And in fact it regards both men and women. Sooner or later every foreigner, especially in China or Asia generally will suffer from diarrhea. Our stomachs, accustomed to Western food, will get shocked, especially when provided with extremely spicy foods. So be prepared and stock your first aid with trusted medicine
All in all, discovering the world is amazing. And those issues should not discourage you .But you should be aware of them and the best thing you can do is to schedule a doctor’s appointment before you set off and discuss how to deal with the shock your body will undoubtedly go through when changing climate zone. I didn’t do it and learned a lesson that I hope others can benefit from.