The travel bug

t was late, and our shuttle boat pitched and bobbed atop the waves as we attempted to get back to our hotel before my wife got sick.

Despite the best efforts of the captain, we lost the race and he had to contact custodial help to clean up a protein spill on the main deck.

It's true, people do get sick on vacation — as happened with us last week when we took a family trip to Walt Disney World. You can save your pennies and finalize itineraries all you want, but if a bug settles into your immune system, all that planning goes out the window. (Or into the bag of leftovers and then all over the seat next to you. Not even Mickey could help us.

Vacations will often take you to places with many tourists and/or throngs of children, all of whom can carry any number of nasty viruses. There are ways to minimize catching a cold, flu or becoming otherwise indisposed when you should be enjoying your time off.

L Wash your hands often. Germs can be spread by touching contaminated surfaces. Imagine how many people have handled that rail you're leaning on before you got to it. A small bottle of hand sanitizer can help keep microbes from be-coming a problem.

L Get plenty of rest. Sure, everyone wants to make the most of the vacation they paid for, but getting run down can weaken your immune system and send you back to the room a lot earlier than expected. Did we stay up late to watch fireworks? Sure. Is that what landed my wife in a dark hotel room for days? It's hard to say. But we did build some downtime into our schedule after the Great Disney Boat Eruption of 2012.

L Drink plenty of water. The better hydrated everyone is, the better the chance of fighting off a bug. In hot and humid locales like Orlando, Fla., it seems obvious. But during a trip to the mountains of northwestern Wyoming recently, we were constantly reminded by the locals to drink plenty of water. Dehydration — in the heat or at altitude — can be a vacation killer.

L Slow down. Packing every possible activity into every second sounds like a great way to maximize your vacation investment, but it's also a great way to get run down and risk crashing into an opportunistic pathogen looking for a home. Take some time to smell the $13 churros and notice the details. You might not see it all, but you'll be more likely to stay on your feet later in the week.

L Be prepared. The best-laid plans can go awry, so prepare by packing a few essentials: aspirin, sunblock, bandages, antacid, Immo-dium, sanitizing wipes and all prescription medication.

Previous trips to the vacation kingdom — one where we unknowingly brought along an unexpected case of bronchitis — also alerted us to the fact that local pharmacies will often deliver to resorts. A quick call back home to a primary physician can set you up with a prescription that'll get you back on your feet sooner than later.

Traveling overseas opens up a whole new world of risk. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has travel notices warning people of outbreaks of malaria in Greece; cholera in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba; sarcocystosis in Malaysia, coronavirus in Saudi Arabia, dengue fever in the Tropics; hand-foot-mouth disease in Vietnam; and enterovirus in Cambodia. Checking government sites can give you a heads-up on what you may be flying into.

Luckily, we were traveling domestically, and dealing with a run-of-the-mill flu-type bug that forced us to alter our plans on the fly. A few days of rest in a hotel room with the curtains closed (not a lot of fun for a patient, understanding 10-year-old and plenty of water and orange juice and we were ready to go stand in long lines with everyone else.

Now if we could only get those days back.

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