How much water should you drink when traveling
The minimum amount of water you should drink is eight glasses a day. However, you can still become dehydrated and suffer health effects from drinking eight glasses of water.
One year, I traveled to Egypt in July, and the temperature reached 122 degrees Fahrenheit, the hottest and driest weather I had ever experienced in my life. At first, I was surprised to see how few tourists were visiting the pyramids until I realized how difficult it was to travel under such hot and dry conditions. I had to carry three 1.5-liter bottles of water in my backpack at all times. Whenever I was talking to someone, I had to take a drink of water before I started speaking and before I could finish the sentence because my mouth would become incredibly dry. It felt as if someone was shoving hot cotton in my mouth when the scorching air entered my mouth. I noticed that I was barely going to the restroom, as I lost most fluids through my mouth when I spoke in the hot air and from all the sweating, I was doing to keep my body temperature stable.
At home, I’m running marathons, wrestling, and involved in multiple sports. At times I exercise up to eight hours a day. However, in this hot climate, I only walked or used public transportation as much as possible to avoid the sun.
I ended up staying inside during the hottest parts of the day and still averaged twelve 1.5-liter bottles of water a day. That adds up to forty-eight glasses of water, just to feel comfortable and carry on normal daily activities. So, don’t limit yourself to eight glasses of water. The amount of water you need is going to depend on the climate you're visiting versus the climate you're accustomed to, and your health, activity level, and conditioning.
As a general rule, drink water whenever you feel thirsty. Your body will let you know when you’re thirsty. Don't ignore the feeling of thirst or it will go away, and you’ll drink even less water, which will only put you at a higher risk for heat-related problems.