Vacation Constipation Investigation
The Top 10 Reasons People Get Constipated on Vacation!
Did you ever wonder why your bowels can be chugging along regularly and on time while you are living your life at home, but then come to a halting stop when arriving on vacation?
This phenomenon is called “travel constipation” or “vacation constipation,” and is defined as irregular bowel movements while on vacation happening within the first few days on your trip.
Normal bowel function is typically defined as having a bowel movement three times a day to three times a week. As a pelvic health practitioner, I feel it is important to discuss assessment of stool consistency. A very wise Herman and Wallace instructor, Dawn Salicidi, is known for saying, “Constipated until proved otherwise.” It is possible to poop every day, or multiple times per day. However, if the stool coming out is harder in consistency than it should be, this can be constipation.
This blows a lot of my patients’ minds because they have been told all their life that as long as you poop every day, all is well. In reality, the goal is to have regular bowel movements that come out as easily as soft serve ice cream. They should be mushy blobs or soft, squishy snakes. Anything else would probably qualify as constipated in my little pelvic health mind. If you would like to read more specifically about the basics of bowel movements, check out “Where’s Your Poop?”
So why does our “poop train” get backed up while traveling or vacationing? There are a few reasons, and I will list and explain them below. Do not panic if vacation constipation happens to you, because I will also include some tips on how to manage this!
Change in Routine: When we are traveling, we are typically not following the same eating, sleeping, movement, and hydration patterns as when we are at home. For example, when I am home and working, I go to bed at 9:30pm and wake up at 6:30am. I typically work during the day, and come home to do chores, eat a meal, and relax. This schedule may vary on the weekend, but come Monday morning, the schedule returns to normal. On vacation, this routine changes drastically. It turns into mostly later nights, maybe an early morning one day, and a later wake up another day.
Stress Levels: Even if you love traveling and where you are going on vacation, there can still be stress. Remember, stress is stress, whether it is positive or negative. Our gastrointestinal system is very much linked to our levels of stress, and this can slow down or speed up digestion. I have patients who report being worried about having to pee or poop while actually traveling, and being worried about not having access to the bathroom when needed.
Lack of Privacy: Lack of privacy is a HUGE complaint from a lot of my patients. People are worried their poop will smell and be unpleasant for the people with whom they are traveling. Let me just say this: poop is not meant to smell like roses! Everyone poops, and all poop has a smell. This is life, and the sooner you accept it, the more relaxed your future public pooping will be. I will say this as well: the shorter amount of time that poop spends hanging out in your intestines, the less “stink” gets to build up. So having regular BMs actually helps with gas and stinky poop, but I digress… The next concern is SOUNDS. People are always worried that people will hear them having a bowel movement, and this leads to increased stress and worry about pooping. Again, everyone poops. But fun physics fact: the softer your poop is, the less noise it will make when it comes out, because it is usually more hydrodynamic when hitting the water, and it has less mass overall.
Hydration: Many people limit their water intake while traveling because they do not want to have to urinate at inconvenient times. I have 100% fallen victim to this back before I knew this was a poor habit. When I was a young newlywed, I had overactive bladder issues. My new husband and I had a conversation when we were traveling to our honeymoon about how I strongly avoided using the restroom on the airplane because I thought the waste was randomly dumped on people or the ocean. I would purposely dehydrate myself while traveling to avoid having to use public restrooms. Talk about the epitome of worrying about voiding! Other times, a person may experience dehydration while traveling is when traveling to different climates where there are higher levels of heat. My dad loves to do bike trips to places like Moab, Utah that are significantly hotter than his hometown in New Jersey. Without proper hydration, I can envision a lot of hard stools, especially when it is a “guys” trip full of burgers and beers after the rides.
Pooping Position: If you have paid attention to any of my previous advice, I would hope you are pooping in a wonderful position, with your pelvic floor being relaxed on the toilet seat and feet on a stool or squatty potty to help you have your knees above the level of your hips. (PICTURE) This allows a muscle that loops over the rectum to relax to let the stool slide out nicely. While traveling, the height of toilets will vary depending on where you are. Some countries are more pooping-friendly with lower toilet heights, while America is moving towards higher, more “convenient” toilets. If you are traveling, unless you have invested in a poop stool for travel, you may not have all of the things you need to relax your pelvic floor to have an easy bowel movement.
Dietary Variety: If you are anything like me on vacation, you are one hundred percent there for the food. Living my daily life is full of high fiber cereals, granola bars, yogurt, protein shakes, healthy breads, lean proteins and occasional food from out. Living my vacation life means three full meals, snacks, desserts and a very big shift in the nutrition level. I am on day five of my summer trip to Maine, and I think I have had three cups of chowder already, accompanied by lots of bread and fried fish. Do not judge me! Food is my love language! Ice cream every night is a prerequisite of vacation, as is daily “cocktail” hour which involves lots of cheese, crackers, heavy dips, and other fun appetizers and charcuteries. Therefore, vacation poops can be a lot different, because the GI system is getting used to the change in eating habits, the change in the type of food, and the change in the quality of food.
Change in Activity: This one can be a double-edged sword. I am honestly probably more active while on vacation. There is always a lot of hiking, biking, swimming, paddle boarding, strolling around town, and going to hot yoga when available. Also, consider the carrying of bags, suitcases, and other luggage. You may be one of those people, too. So why would more activity affect the GI system in a negative way? I’m going to refer you back to the hydration section. The more working out you do, the more your body needs to replenish itself for that work. This is even more true if the activity you do involves sweating. Remember the old saying, “What goes in must come out.” Well if more hydration is going out than going in, your bowels are going to let you know!
Alcohol: I am not a drinker (I am one of those weird folks for which alcohol tastes like soap), but vacation drinking can affect your bowels. There are a few ways alcohol can mess with your poop. I am not going to go into all of them here because that could be a whole blog by itself. How alcohol affects your poop can vary based on the type of drinking you do, whether that be a nightly cocktail, or more of a binge-drinking situation. The type of alcohol can also affect your bowels, so vodka might have a different outcome than beer. Even the type of beers could affect your system differently. The simplest point I wanted to make about alcohol and your bowels on vacation is that it is a diuretic. This means that it makes the kidneys process faster, making more urine. The more urine you make and release by peeing, the more dehydrated you can become if you are not replenishing your fluids.
Caffeine: Caffeine is also a diuretic, which means that it makes the kidneys produce more urine, and can lead to being dehydrated. But on vacation, we may not be getting as much sleep as we are used to because of all the vacation activities. Or we are sharing full sized beds with our king-sized partners. Or we are sharing king-sized beds with our entire nuclear family. How do we counteract that lack of sleep? Maybe with extra coffee, tea, energy drinks, etc. which all FULL of caffeine.
Packing List Neglect: I frequently work with clients who need to use specific supplements or medications to help manage their bowel movement consistency. They will have a bowel program full of fiber, food choices, possibly supplements or laxatives to help with regular pooping. But suddenly, when on vacation, this system that is working is left off the packing list. Sometimes it is due to embarrassment or worry. I hear clients say things like, “I didn’t think I could bring Miralax on the plane,” or “I was afraid the TSA would see the enemas in my bag.” And yes, I get those concerns. But also, who wants to have freaking poop problems on vacation in order to avoid being judged by a TSA agent. Therefore, I strongly urge you to consider how you can continue your bowel routine when traveling if you have something that works!
So far we have talked about some of the “whys.” Let’s now discuss some solutions or strategies to help improve your vacation constipation!
Change in Routine: If you are able to, stick to a similar routine to your weekend schedule in your home life, even if that starts one to two days into your trip. Your body is already somewhat used to this, and will be able to adapt more quickly, which will then get your bowels on a more regular schedule. Even if you are not eating the same foods, the routine of a similar meal schedule can be very helpful to your tummy.
Stress Levels: Traveling is stressful. It can be full of good stress, bad stress or a combination. The best we can do is acknowledge, manage, and move on. When I say manage, I mean using tools like breathing, meditation, guided visualization, and self-care techniques to help relax your body and allow it to do what it needs to naturally do. I strongly encourage you to remember that EVERYONE poops and pees. It is a part of life. If we did not eliminate waste, we would be poisoned by the trash products building up in our bodies. With this in mind, please work on finding a way to accept that normal bowel and bladder function are OK!
Lack of Privacy: See above. Everyone poops and pees. The less constipated you are, the quicker, less stinky, and less noisy your bathroom habits will be, but even if they time and/or have an odor or noise, it is OK! If you NEED some tips to help you feel more comfortable, try downloading a noise app to play while doing your business, finding a bathroom that is more remote to your travel companions, and utilizing a pre-movement spray like “poo – pourri” to help you feel less self conscious about odor.
Hydration: Solutions for dehydration from things like caffeine, alcohol or increased physical activity would help in this area. Try to drink 6 to 8 glasses of non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic sips of a drink all day. Investing in a nice “sippy cup” water bottle can make this much easier. If you are going to be upping your caffeine and/or alcohol intake on your travels, make a “water sandwich” of these drinks. What does this mean? Take a sip of water, then a sip of coffee, then a sip of water to get that hydration in!
Pooping Position: I am not crazy enough to think that everyone will be willing to invest in a traveling squatty potty, but using the trash can or your suitcase turned on its side to get you in a better poop position can be a life saver!
Dietary Variety: I love cheese, meat, dairy, sweets, and all the carbs. I’m not saying don’t have these on your trip. However, add in some good choices, too, like high fiber fruits, nuts and veggies on your charcuterie, or a side of a roasted veggie with that chowder. We have a rule when traveling that every meal has to have a fruit or veggie with it. This helps round out the burgers and fries!
Packing List Neglect: If you have a system that is working, don’t let embarrassment mess it up for you. Up to 20% of people in the United States experience constipation, and I think that Googled statistic is tragically low. It is OK to travel with your poop medications. It is OK to have your family see you stir Miralax into your morning tea. It is OK to care more about your bowel health than what your travel companions or the TSA think!
I’m hoping this blog has helped answer some questions about why you may experience vacation constipation, and it has given you some strategies to help manage and improve it. No one wants to have bowel or bladder issues while traveling, and managing constipation can make a huge difference on that front!
Perfectly Yours,
Dr. Mo
