4 Essential Things to carry for a Desert Vacation

Desert vacations have become a popular expedition or tout for many adventurous people worldwide. Desert vacations were a popular trip or vacation idea for countries such as Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Mongolia, etc., and this trend has now caught up with the rest of the world.

The vast lands with echoing sounds of the winds offer divine-like experiences to those on desert vacations. They grant one the chance to escape their routine life in the cities and experience peace and serenity. Deserts are a good destination, especially when working on their mental well-being. This is why many wellness centers have cropped up in the deserts.

While desert vacations and trips might seem popular and easy, they require a lot of preparation. When going for a desert vacation, you must prepare and carry essential items to help you have a good time there. The harsh conditions of deserts can significantly negatively impact the quality of your vacation if you do not prepare adequately and carry the essential things.

1. UV Protective Clothing :

Carrying sun safe clothing is a good initial preparation for a desert vacation. This is because the sun conditions in the desert can harm your skin if you do not take caution.

Sun-protective clothing helps block the sun’s harmful UV rays from reaching one’s skin. UV protection clothing helps prevent one from developing skin cancer due to exposure to UV rays.

UV protective clothing is rated based on their abilities to block both UVA and UVB rays from the sun. This rating is called the Ultraviolet Protection Factor (UPF). Sunscreens and other cosmetic products offer protection from UVB rays. This means that sunscreen exposes one to UVA rays from the sun.

When going for a desert vacation, ensure you get clothes with heavy fabrics. This is because heavy fabrics offer better protection from the sun’s UV rays. When shopping at UV-protective clothing stores, wear clothes with a UPF rating of 40 to 50.

You should also carry sunglasses to substitute sun-protective clothing for women and men. The sunglasses should be polarized to offer UV ray protection around the eyes, where the clothes do not cover. The sunglasses recommended for desert trips and vacations offer 99% to 100% UVA and UVB ray protection.

2. Water

While in the desert, dehydration is a common problem that can easily lead to fatal outcomes. If you were to forget to carry everything else when going for a desert vacation, remember water.

In deserts, the scorching sun heats your body. To counter this, your body kickstarts a body process called perspiration. Perspiration is commonly referred to as sweating. Perspiration helps the body cool down when exposed to the scorching heat of the desert sun.

Due to the rampant sweating while in the desert, you lose a lot of water. This creates a need for one to replenish the lost water consistently. Failure to drink water will cause dehydration, which can quickly lead to death, especially when in the desert.

You should ensure that you always have enough water while going on a desert vacation—the amount of water your body will need while in the desert will depend on several factors. The factors include time spent in the sun, external temperature and humidity, etc. These are all factors you should consider to ensure you have enough water for your desert vacation.

Proper hydration is key to ensuring that you enjoy your desert vacation and do not end up suffering in the desert.

3. Appropriate Clothing and Footwear

While it is commonly known that the desert is a very hot place, only a few people know about desert conditions at night. At night, temperatures in deserts plummet significantly. The plummeting of temperatures at night in deserts is attributed to the low humidity.

Humidity is required to hold heat radiated during the day by the sun. However, no heat is held due to the desert’s low humidity. This is what causes the extreme cold in deserts once the sun sets. When going for a desert vacation whereby you plan on spending a night in the desert, ensure you are well prepared for when the cold sets in.

For this, you should have a couple of warm jackets, heavy socks, and a blanket heavy enough to keep you warm.

During the days, one can wear lightly to ensure they avoid generating excess body heat. While wearing light often includes wearing shorts, this can be appropriate or inappropriate, depending on your plans. Wear shorts is a great option when using a vehicle as your means of transport in the desert or walking. However, if you traverse the desert using a camel, you should wear long trousers. The long trousers will help protect your skin against the camel’s skin and increase comfort.

While it is a good idea to wear open shoes or sandals in the desert, this is not advisable. You should pack closed-toe shoes for your desert vacation. Sandals or any other open shoe can allow sand between your toes. This will burn your toes and feet because the sand in the desert during the daytime is often quite hot.

4. First-Aid Kit

Desert vacations have a significant amount of risk associated with them. You must be well-prepared for any medical emergency that can crop up in the desert. This is because most deserts are often far from hospitals or clinics.

When preparing a first aid kit for your desert vacation, ensure you pack all the required first aid kit basics. After you have packed all these, add specific requirements depending on the desert you are going to. Some deserts have high cases of snake bites, so if you are traveling to such a desert, you should also carry a snake bite kit. This will help ensure that you are well-prepared for any medical emergency during your desert vacation.

Conclusion

Desert vacations are a perfect way to relax and put your mind at ease while enjoying natural sceneries. To ensure that you enjoy these benefits of desert vacations, you should prepare adequately. You should also research the things that tour guides advise against when on desert adventures to ensure you stay safe and enjoy your vacation.

FAQs

Are desert vacations fun?

Desert vacations are quite fun. They are a nice way to break from the busy cities and enjoy the beauty and vastness of deserts.

What Do I Need for my Desert Vacation

Desert vacations require adequate preparation to ensure that you get to enjoy them fully. You should pack UV protection items, water, appropriate clothing and footwear, and first aid kits for desert vacations.

Are all desert vacations similar?

No. Different deserts offer different experiences. You should choose a desert depending on the kind of desert vacation you want to experience and the activities you seek to engage in.