Drinking water for folks on Walking Holidays

Drinking water on Walking Holidays.

Water fountain

So let’s have a look at your walking day. You’ve just had a superb English breakfast at a cosy little UK B&B.

The walkers’ manual suggests, “Caffeine: Avoid caffeinated beverages before your walk, they cause you to lose fluid, making you thirstier as well as making you take inconvenient stops along the way”.

But a few cups of tea with breakfast are just the thing to get you on your way. One way to deal with this is to give yourself a good 30 minutes after breakfast before you set off for the day.

You fill up your water bottles (about 1.5 – 2 litres) or the water bladder in the daypack, usually about 2 litres. And off you go, daypack containing all the gear we need.

Walking causes your metabolism to rise and body water to be lost through increased respiration and sweat.

Drink When Thirsty:

for long distance walkers (that’s us), use thirst as a guide and drink when thirsty.

In most cases sipping water along the way is fine and will keep you from dehydrating.
These are some symptoms of dehydration:
nausea after exercise
dark yellow urine or no urine
dry, sticky mouth
dry eyes.

If you notice these symptoms, drink some water.

Water Treatment.

Now, if you are in a remote area and need to fill up with good clean drinking water, then you may need a water filter or some other form of water treatment, such as tablets or a UV sterilisation pen. Check your local walking shop for these items.

During the day you’ll visit villages with tea, coffee and cakes. Usually, this will provide you with the sugar and salt you need for walking. If it’s really hot, then you may like to supplement your water with a sports drink, either in liquid or powder form.

When you finally arrive at our evening’s accommodation, enjoy some water, tea or any other drink you prefer. Remember to clean out your water bottles or water bladder and refill with clean drinking water.

Your evening meal will usually replenish those electrolytes which you had used up during the day’s walk. A good night’s sleep and you’ll be ready for tomorrow’s walk.

Drinking and walking do go together – water before, during and after your walk.

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