How do I stay healthy on a longer Morocco trip?

On a longer trip the things that keep you healthy are unglamorous and cumulative, and water is the first of them. Tap water is best avoided for drinking; stick to sealed bottled water, use it even for brushing your teeth, skip ice unless you know it was made from safe water, and be a little wary of salads and unpeeled fruit washed in tap water. None of this means eating timidly — Moroccan food is one of the great pleasures of the country — but it means choosing where you eat with a bit of sense, which leads to the second rule.

Eat where it is busy. The single best food-safety signal in Morocco is high turnover: a packed local canteen or a street stall with a queue is cooking fresh and selling fast, which is far safer than a quiet tourist place where food may sit around. Favour dishes served piping hot and freshly cooked, be a touch more cautious with buffets, lukewarm food and shellfish, and trust the crowds of locals over an empty room with a nice view. Wash or sanitise your hands before eating — carry a small bottle of sanitiser, because medina life is hands-on and sinks are not always nearby — and most travellers sail through with no trouble at all.

Over a longer trip, fatigue and the sun do as much damage as any bug, so pace yourself. The heat, the early starts for desert and mountain legs, the sensory intensity of the cities and the constant walking add up, and travellers who refuse to slow down are the ones who get run down and then ill. Build in genuine rest days, sleep properly, hydrate hard in the heat, and protect against the sun with a hat, sunglasses and sunscreen you actually reapply. A run-down body catches whatever is going around, so rest is a health measure, not a luxury.

My honest practical advice: pack a small health kit and you will rarely need a pharmacy. Oral rehydration salts are the most important item — the usual traveller's stomach upset is dehydrating, and salts plus rest fix most of it in a day — alongside an anti-diarrhoeal for travel days, painkillers, plasters and any personal and prescription medication in its original packaging with a copy of the prescription. Check with a travel clinic before you go about routine vaccinations and whether anything specific is advised for your itinerary, and confirm your travel insurance covers medical care. None of this is alarming; it is just the boring groundwork that lets you enjoy a long trip in rude health.