Travel is a migraine's best friend: disrupted sleep, skipped meals, glaring sunshine and unfamiliar food all conspire against anyone prone to attacks. Consultant neurologist Dr Gina Kennedy, who leads the headache service at Sunderland Royal Hospital in the UK, has shared the strategies she gives her own patients — and most of them are surprisingly portable, which is good news for anyone whose headaches tend to strike mid-trip.
Her first recommendation is a migraine diary. Logging when attacks happen, how long they last, what medication you took and what you were doing beforehand is the backbone of managing the condition, she says. It helps you and your doctor spot whether your migraines follow an episodic or chronic pattern, and flags personal triggers you might never have suspected — one of her patients reacts to a specific flavour of crisps, another to a particular lemon-scented cleaning product. Free diary templates are available from The Migraine Trust.
Routine matters more than most people realise. Kennedy compares a migraine to "a new baby" that complains when it gets too hungry or too tired. Research backs this up: a 2025 review found that erratic eating — skipping breakfast in particular — can set off attacks by dropping blood sugar, while a small 2007 study found women who kept strict bedtimes and wake-up times had fewer, milder migraines. On holiday, that argues against the lie-in-plus-late-brunch combo, tempting as it is.
On food, she points to the "four Cs": chocolate, cheese, coffee and citrus, thought to be linked to a compound called tyramine, to caffeine, and to acidity respectively. The evidence isn't conclusive and triggers vary person to person, but a diary will tell you if any of them apply to you.
For the more adventurous, there's intriguing evidence around cold exposure. Cold compresses and cooling devices can ease migraine pain quickly, and some patients find cold-water swimming helps — possibly because cold slows pain signalling in the nerves or narrows blood vessels. If a bracing dip in the sea is your thing, Kennedy's advice is simple: if it works, keep doing it.
Screens are another common culprit. Anywhere from 30 to 60 per cent of migraines may be triggered by glare or light, with blue light activating pain-signalling cells in the retina. Anti-glare screen filters and blue or green tinted lenses can help — worth packing if long flights or laptop-heavy days usually end in a headache.
Diet experiments come with caveats. A small study of 23 people found the high-fat ketogenic diet cut average monthly headache days from 13 to seven after three months, possibly due to its anti-inflammatory effect. But Kennedy warns it is hard to sustain and doesn't work for everyone. For treatment itself, aspirin and ibuprofen are the most effective over-the-counter options; frequent sufferers should see their GP, who can prescribe stronger options such as naproxen, anti-sickness medication, triptans, or preventive drugs.
The takeaway for travellers: keep your mealtimes and sleep steady, pack your painkillers and an eye mask, note what you ate before an attack, and don't underestimate a cold swim.
