Traveling During Your Baby-Making Project: What You Need to Know

Between baby attempts, we sometimes feel guilty about wanting to travel, as if everything should be put on hold until the "conception" box is checked. Good news: this is absolutely not the case. A trip during this period might even be exactly what you two need. There are just a few things to keep in mind to travel serenely.

A break for two, not just a project to tick off

When trying to conceive, a couple's life tends to revolve around the cycle: dates to monitor, discussions always returning to the same topic, sometimes a form of pressure that settles in without truly being chosen. A trip, even a short one, helps break this pattern. No calendar to check on your phone, no "should we try tonight?" laden with stakes: just the two of you, somewhere else, with time. This is as precious for your relationship as it is for your morale, and it's not trivial: many couples say that their fondest memories of this period are precisely these breaks, not the days spent observing a temperature curve.

The body travels too

A long-haul flight is a form of physical stress for the body: disrupted sleep, messed-up light cues, travel fatigue. The menstrual cycle is sensitive to this, and it's not uncommon for ovulation to occur a little earlier or later after a time zone change [1]. Nothing to worry about: the body usually takes one or two cycles to fully readjust [1]. If you track your ovulation (via symptothermal method or tests), simply continue your usual tracking during the trip instead of relying on the previous month's calendar, and above all, don't let a slightly delayed cycle spoil your stay.

Choosing your destination with peace of mind

There's only one real point of vigilance to be aware of: some areas expose you to specific risks (Zika virus, malaria) that need to be anticipated when you're planning a pregnancy, even if it hasn't happened yet. Nothing that should stop you from dreaming big, just a reflex to have before booking: check the health situation of your destination and, if necessary, discuss it with a healthcare professional to adapt your itinerary or precautions [4].

Vaccines: The point to anticipate

This is often what we discover too late: some vaccines use live attenuated viruses (measles-mumps-rubella, chickenpox, yellow fever) and, as a precaution, require avoiding conception in the month that follows [2]. If your destination requires one, it's better to know this beforehand to calmly organize your vaccine/baby attempt schedule, without last-minute stress. No need to panic, however, for most other vaccines (tetanus, hepatitis, typhoid fever...): inactivated vaccines generally do not pose this type of constraint [2].

Food and water: Best practices

In many destinations, the real risk isn't exotic: it's traveler's diarrhea, that famous traveler's diarrhea that affects a good portion of people traveling to countries where water and food hygiene differs from ours [3]. The reflexes are simple: sealed bottled water, well-cooked and still-hot food, peeled fruits, avoid tempting street food on the go, and ice cubes of uncertain origin [3].

One point to be aware of, without dramatizing: toxoplasmosis and listeriosis are prevented with the same basic food hygiene (well-cooked meat, raw milk cheeses in moderation, hands washed before cooking). Since you never know exactly when a pregnancy starts, many healthcare professionals advise adopting these habits from the trial period rather than waiting for a positive test [4]. Nothing restrictive: these are mostly good common-sense reflexes when traveling, pregnant or not. To go further on diet during preconception (travel or not), we share our advice in 5 summer foods to naturally boost your fertility.

Taming the rhythm of travel

A few simple adjustments help the body better cope with the change in rhythm, without taking away from the pleasure of the trip:

• Expose yourself to natural light upon arrival to help your internal clock readjust faster.
• Allow yourself full nights of sleep for the first few days, even if the itinerary tempts you to do everything.
• Keep one or two fixed routines (meal times, a small evening ritual) rather than disrupting everything at once.
• Accept that a slightly disrupted cycle upon return is completely normal: it's a temporary reaction from the body, not an alarm signal [1].

Our pre-departure checklist

The final word

Trying to conceive should never be a reason to put everything on hold, especially not the desire to travel. With a few simple precautions, taken without dramatizing, this type of trip can even be a breath of fresh air during a period that often demands a lot of patience. So book that ticket, notify your doctor if necessary, and enjoy: the rest will follow its course. And if you're looking for something to support your body daily during this period, discover our preconception selection.