Food on planes
Choose the Asian-vegetarian option on the plane. You get your meals before anyone else and the special-order meals tend to be fresher and have better quality ingredients.
This depends on your budget and diet regimen. I'm a vegetarian, mostly gluten-free, and often on a budget, so I usually carry a few protein bars, meal replacement bars, or nuts (fruit often gets confiscated), so I have something to snack on during domestic travel, saving me money on having to eat low-quality processed food on airlines or in airports. You may even bring a few extras if you're going somewhere expensive like Moscow or Tokyo, so you can have something to snack on during your days. One empty water bottle also comes in handy as you can fill it up at a water fountain and reuse it. It’s eco-friendly and you won’t spend money on plastic bottles of water laced with BPA.
Remember, this is where most people’s trips get to be affected in a good way (Anthony Bourdain exploring foods) or in a bad way, getting stuck way out somewhere with a life-threatening sickness or parasite. This is a personal choice that is going to vary depending on your food preferences and how sensitive your body is to certain foods. Generally speaking, it’s best to eat vegetarian while you’re traveling as meats tend to have a higher risk for foodborne illness.
Street Food
Trust your nose, not your eyes. Smells are important indicators of the quality of food.
Be aware of who is handling the food. Avoid establishments where the food handlers don’t practice good hygiene, such as tying back their hair, wearing protective gloves, and having clean hands and fingernails. If you see food servers smoking, touching their face, eating out of pots, chewing gum, sneezing or coughing near food, avoid purchasing food from that vendor.
Look for crowds. When surveying the street food scene in any location, look for crowds. Locals get sick, too, and won’t return to stalls suspected of serving unsafe food, so if there’s a crowd, it’s usually a safer choice to make. Chances are the food is fresher and cleaner since they are selling it quickly before it has time to sit and grow bacteria or have flies lay eggs in it.
This is how I caught salmonella in Thailand: I ignored the advice of the local Thai people to not eat at a certain Indian food restaurant in Chiang Mai. When I went in, I ordered a large sampler dish. I was so impressed that they had it ready in about three minutes, not thinking that it had already been sitting out in the 100 plus weather. After eating, I ventured up a mountain to my private villa and wasn’t able to leave for three days due to diarrhea and vomiting. I slept for about 23 hours and 45 minutes a day. I can only remember opening my eyes for a few minutes and quickly cutting up, aerating, and eating as many cloves of raw garlic that I could until I passed out again. My saving grace was the fact that I had a fresh braid of garlic with me. Garlic is antiviral, antibacterial, antiparasitic, and it’s great for supplementing most treatments of travel bugs. In this case, I believe it saved my life!
Be selective when choosing foods. Since raw food is subject to contamination, travelers should try to avoid salads, uncooked vegetables, and unpasteurized juices and milk products. Dry foods such as cakes, cookies, and bread are safer options, although not as healthy.
Spice things up. Become familiar with spices such as chilies and turmeric, which are known to have antibacterial properties, and seek out dishes that include them. Acidic fruits, such as citrus fruits and pineapple, are also safer bets when traveling.
Avoid over-handled foods such as bulk bin food where people are handling the food items. Avoid foods that require a lot of handling before serving or that contain raw or undercooked meat or seafood. In most cases, foods that are boiled should be safer to consume.
Wash vegetables and fruit prior to eating. If you purchase fresh produce from a roadside stand be sure to wash and peel them before eating. Bacteria can be present on their exterior and transferred into the edible section once sliced. So make sure you wash the fruit before slicing into it. If you’re traveling in an area with unsafe water, be sure to wash the produce with bottled or filtered water and vegetable cleaner, peroxide, or soap.
Eat hot foods hot, and cold foods cold. If the dish you ordered is supposed to be served hot, make sure it is hot when it is served to you. The same is true for any foods that are intended to be served cold. Otherwise, it may not be safe to eat.
Remember the one-hour rule. Don’t consume any perishable foods that have been sitting out beyond one hour when the temperature is higher than 90°F.
Wash Hands
Before eating or handling food, wash your hands with soap and water for at least twenty seconds before eating or handling food. A good rule is to sing the happy birthday song in your head while you wash your hands. Once you're done singing the song, you're done washing your hands. If fresh water is scarce, use antibacterial hand gels or wipes to help keep your hands clean, especially after using a restroom and before eating.
Sanitize "high touch" areas. Germs linger longer on nonporous materials like plastic. When traveling via plane, train or bus, wipe down common surface areas such as tray tables, seat armrests, and lavatory door handles with an alcohol-based wipe or gel before you touch them. If you’re staying at a hotel, do the same for the TV remote controls, bathroom door handles, and the telephone. If you miss something don’t worry, it's actually a catch 22. The more you are exposed to germs, the stronger your immune system is. The less you are exposed, the more vulnerable you are. I generally don’t wipe anything down, but I do carry a bar of soap with me to wash my hands when I can. This also varies from person to person depending on health, age, and sensitivity to getting sick, so keep this in mind when developing your strategy for staying healthy.
Drink
Boil tap water before consuming. If you need to use tap water from an unknown source, be sure to boil it for several minutes first at a good rolling boil. Also, avoid consuming beverages that may be mixed with the local tap water supply, such as juices or sodas from sources such as fountain machines or beverages containing ice, since freezing does not kill most microorganisms. Beverages made with boiled water and served steaming hot (such as tea and coffee) are generally safe to drink. A friend of mine once got sick from eating butter that had been chilled with ice that was contaminated with microorganisms. It is best to avoid ice.
Not all bottled water is safe. Bottled water products in other countries can be impure or even counterfeit (i.e., refilled from a local tap source, which is common in India and China), so always check the seal to ensure it is intact.
In general, be careful with drinks of any kind when going out for nightlife or just having lunch. This is often the easiest way for people to slip drugs into your drinks and rob you or take advantage of you. I've had several friends go out to clubs, meet someone, and wake up somewhere without all their personal belongings. Carry your own water bottle, refill it yourself in reliable places, and if you’re going out, open sealed drinking containers yourself. You can also carry iodine tablets and portable water filters with you, so you’re not buying plastic bottles and creating more trash.
I talk more in-depth of travel issues in my Amazon Book. Check it out here.