You packed your outfits, made your reservations, survived the airport, and checked into your hotel.
There’s just one problem: You haven’t pooped since you left home.
Travel constipation is real, and it can happen even if you’re normally pretty regular. Your digestive system likes routine, and when you travel, it changes almost everything at once —when you eat, what you eat, how much water you drink, how much you move, when you sleep, and especially when you go to the bathroom.
According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, your bowel habits can change when you travel and also when you change your daily routine, diet, or activity level.
So if your gut seems to have missed the memo that you’re taking a trip, here’s what may be going on—and how to get things moving again.
Not pooping today doesn’t necessarily mean you’re constipated.
Everyone has a different normal. According to NIDDK, constipation can mean having fewer than three bowel movements a week, but frequency isn’t the only sign.
You may also be constipated if your stool is hard, dry, or lumpy; bowel movements are difficult or painful; or you feel like you haven’t completely emptied your bowels.
So if you’re normally an every-morning person and suddenly haven’t gone for two days, you’ll probably notice the change. Someone with a different usual schedule may not.
The important question is: What’s normal for you, and has travel changed it?
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Think about a travel day. Maybe you woke up at 5 a.m. for your flight, grabbed something at the airport instead of eating your usual breakfast, sat for several hours, drank less water because you didn’t want to keep climbing over the person in the aisle seat, and ignored the urge to use an airport bathroom because you’d rather wait until you get to the hotel.
Usually, it isn’t one thing, and your colon noticed all of that.
NIDDK lists changes in routine, diet, hydration, and physical activity among factors that can contribute to constipation. Ignoring the urge to have a bowel movement can also contribute.
Gastroenterologist Dr. Leyla Maric told Cleveland Clinic that travel can disrupt meal times, sleep patterns, bathroom habits, and your body’s internal clock. These can all affect digestion.
Then vacation itself begins.
You’re eating restaurant meals instead of your usual food. You’re having cocktails by the pool. You’re sleeping later. You might be spending hours in a car or on a tour bus.
None of those things automatically cause constipation, but if you put several together, your gut may need a minute to catch up.
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Then there’s the vacation bathroom problem.
You know the drill: you don’t want to go at the airport, on the plane, or in the tiny café bathroom with all those other customers waiting outside.
So you hold it.
Holding it once is probably not a crisis, but repeatedly ignoring the urge can add up to constipation.
NIDDK recommends using the bathroom when you feel the need to go and giving yourself enough time for a bowel movement rather than rushing.
Your body doesn’t care that the hotel bathroom would be more relaxing. When it says go, you’ve got to go.
You don’t have to pack a suitcase full of bran cereal or spend vacation counting grams of fiber, but don’t let every meal become meat, cheese, fried food, and dessert either.
NIDDK recommends 22 to 34 grams of fiber a day for adults, depending on age and sex. Good sources include whole grains, beans and lentils, fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
While traveling, you can:
And if you normally don’t eat much fiber, don’t suddenly load up on it because you’re constipated. NIDDK recommends increasing fiber gradually so your body has time to adjust.
Otherwise, instead of constipation, you’ll get a whole lot of gas and bloating.
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Fiber needs fluid to do its job, and NIDDK notes that drinking enough water and other liquids helps fiber work better and can make stool softer and easier to pass.
Travel makes it easy to fall behind on your water intake. You’re rushing through an airport, sitting on a plane, walking around sightseeing, or purposefully drinking less because bathrooms aren’t convenient.
Keep water accessible and drink throughout the day rather than realizing at dinner that you’ve basically survived on coffee and one bottle of water.
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Sitting for hours while on a plane, in a car, or on a train doesn’t help your gut, but regular physical activity may help relieve constipation, according to NIDDK.
That doesn’t mean you need to hit the hotel gym.
Walk through the terminal while you’re waiting for your flight. Get up and move when it’s safe during a long trip. Once you arrive, walk to dinner, explore the neighborhood, or take the long way back to the hotel.
Movement while on vacation can help get all things moving.
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If Day two or three arrives and nothing is happening, start with the basics:
You can also allow your body to return to a routine. NIDDK notes that eating helps the colon move stool and says trying to have a bowel movement 15 to 45 minutes after breakfast may help with regularity.
Give yourself time instead of trying to force something to happen five minutes before the tour bus leaves.
If the tips above aren’t enough, over-the-counter options are available. NIDDK lists fiber supplements, osmotic agents, stool softeners, and other laxatives among treatments that may be used for constipation. Ask a healthcare professional or pharmacist which option is appropriate for you rather than grabbing whatever promises the fastest result.
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A couple of off-schedule bathroom days during a trip are one thing.
Constipation accompanied by certain symptoms deserves medical attention.
NIDDK recommends seeking medical care right away if constipation:
You should also talk with a healthcare professional if constipation isn’t improving with self-care or becomes an ongoing problem.
And remember: travel may reveal a constipation problem rather than explain all of it.
Certain medications and supplements, irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes, hypothyroidism, and other health conditions can also contribute to constipation.
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Your digestive system may love routine, but that doesn’t mean you have to plan your vacation around your bathroom schedule.
Give your gut a few familiar things to work with: water, fiber, movement, enough time to use the bathroom, and permission to go when you need to.
Then go and enjoy your trip.
Preferably without spending half of it waiting to poop.
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