December brings a whirl of activity on and off the road as we celebrate the end-of-year holidays. Unfortunately, it’s also the time of year when we’re more vulnerable and at greater risk—for injury, physical illness, and emotional turmoil.

In a season known more for self-indulgence than self-restraint, it’s time for a good dose of self-care. Here’s my take on what you can do to fully enjoy yourself—at home and on the go—during the holidays. May yours be filled with joy, wonder, good cheer, good times, and good company. See you in 2004.

The holidays are primetime for many types of criminal activity so be extra cautious and vigilant everywhere you go. Travelers, who are burdened with luggage and are often traversing unfamiliar territory—desolate parking lots, empty streets, and isolated motels—alone and at off-hours, are prime targets.

Don’t think that your age, sex, physical prowess, or location offer automatic protection from a personal assault or robbery. Young male athletes walking or traveling in familiar locales can just as easily become crime victims as petite women and others who appear physically frail or are seemingly "easy" targets.

Walk quickly and purposefully. Don't lower your guard just because you're walking with someone else. Don’t talk on a cell phone or be so involved in a shared conversation that you are unaware of what’s going on around you. In other words, pay attention to your surroundings at all times and don’t make yourself an obvious target.

Don't carry lots of cash or all of your credit cards. Stash pocket money and credit cards in separate locations on your person and make sure you have bank contact numbers in case cards are lost or stolen. Be especially careful where you place smaller items such as computer cases, briefcases, handbags, and carry-ons, which can be quickly and easily stolen.

Dress Down on the Road

Wearing obviously expensive clothing, accessories, and jewelry and/or toting luxe luggage make you a big target. Save the designer duds and furs for your destination.

With increased traffic almost everywhere, more easily distracted and fatigued drivers, and tons of folks driving in unfamiliar areas, you need to be even more focused on the demands of the road. Forget eating, drinking, and chatting—-on a cell phone or with other passengers. Everyone thinks they're great at multitasking. The number of accidents caused by inattention proves otherwise.

Educate Yourself on Outdoor Sport/Activity Safety

Every holiday brings news of tragic outdoor accidents. As I write this column, the news is reporting the deaths of four young girls in a snowmobile accident. If you’re heading outdoors, make sure you know—and observe—safety precautions for outdoor activities such as snowmobiling, sledding, and skiing.

Watch What You're Doing—Especially If You're Tired or Intoxicated!

Cooking, decorating a tree or the outside of your house, assembling gifts, and other holiday-related activities, though taxing, shouldn't put your life and limbs at risk. But it's amazing how even simple tasks can take a dangerous turn when we're fatigued, intoxicated, or not paying attention. The many demands of the holidays often leave us with a short attention span. Focus only on whatever you're doing. It's the best way to prevent fires, serious cuts, falls, and a variety of sprains, strains, and fractures that can result from one moment's inattention.

The holidays deliver a double whammy when it comes to our physical health: More folks are sick—with serious colds, respiratory infections, and the flu—and we spend more time with those sick (or on-the-verge of being sick) people in crowded venues. With increased exposure, comes increased risk. The solution: Preventive action.

If you do nothing else this holiday season, make getting a good night’s sleep a priority. It’ll help protect your immune system (which helps ward off colds and decreases your risk of infection if exposed to a nasty bug or virus); increase your physical strength and stamina; and help you stay calm and less stressed.

Take short naps when needed and avoid sleep-deterrents such as too much alcohol or heavy snacking and late-night eating.

Need more incentive than improving your health and reducing your stress levels? Consider your social obligations: Tired, fatigued folks are neither great hosts nor party guests. And the sleep-deprived frequently make less-than-amiable dinner companions and houseguests—not to mention taciturn seatmates in the air or on the ground.

If you’re partying the night before you’re flying, monitor your alcoholic intake—even if you’re not driving. Drink several glasses of water that night and the next day to stay hydrated (alcohol dehydrates your system). Don’t skip breakfast or meals the next day. Flying is tough on healthy bodies but it’s especially grueling for dehydrated, hungover travelers.

If you’re tired, overworked, and over-traveled, slow down. Get more sleep. Take a nap. Say "no" to endless demands on your time and energy. Avoid—or minimize contact with—people and situations that stress you out.

Don’t mindlessly over-stuff yourself with food or alcohol. And don’t use them as substitutes for rest, sleep, or peace of mind.

If your body feels like its frozen in place from lack of movement, gently stretch and warm up. Then take a brisk walk, ride a bike, or begin some not-too-taxing stretching or cardio exercises.

Nasty germs and viruses are lurking on the many shared surfaces that we touch. Use antibacterial handwipes and wash your hands frequently, but always after shaking hands, handling money, or visiting a restroom and before eating. Most important, keep your unwashed hands away from your mouth, eyes, and nose. Many people unconsciously touch these areas, which can spread germs and viruses and provide easy entry to our system.

Aside from good hygiene, there's nothing like a strong immune system to reduce your risk of catching whatever is "flying" around. If you tend to get a lot of colds, try taking immune-boosting herbs such as Siberian ginseng, echinacea, and astragalus. (To learn more about the power of herbs, consult a certified herbalist or read Herbal Defense by Robyn Landis and Karta Purkh Singh Khalsa.)

Instead of constantly cocooning in your home or hotel room, go outside and spend time in a park or wooded area. "Listen" to the air and the trees, observe the sky—especially at night. There’s a reason that folks who spend time outdoors with nature are calm and easy-going.

Some people who want to savor high-calorie food and drink at parties and festive meals later in the day, cut out breakfast or lunch. Bad idea. You’ll end up hungry and starving—which makes you more likely to overeat. Eat less and eat fewer high-calorie foods, but don’t skip a meal.

Fasting can wreak havoc on your body’s blood sugar levels, physically weaken you, and create unanticipated (and often serious) health problems. It’s best to start a fast under a doctor’s supervision and when you can rest or are on a more sedentary schedule. Avoid fasting when you’re physically active or traveling.

It’s cold. You’re busy. You’re tired. All the more reason to exercise—if only a brisk, 20-minute walk—each day. Work out with family and friends. Hit the treadmill or lift weights at a hotel fitness center. Swim laps. You’ll be calmer and have more energy. (FYI: Shopping does not count as exercise.)

To up your comfort on the go—and minimize your symptoms once stricken with a cold or the flu, be sure to pack:

► New Toothbrushes. Once you've recovered from a cold or flu, ditch the one you were using while you were sick.

►Conventional and homeopathic cold, flu, and allergy remedies

►Fever blister and cold sore remedies

► A lubricating hand lotion or cream and lip balm to prevent dryness and chapping. Keeping skin smooth isn't just self-pampering. Preventing cracked, peeling skin reduces your chances of infection.

►Facial tissues that contain soothing ingredients such as aloe. They're lifesavers and well worth the extra cost. (You can use them nonstop and your nose will still remain soft with none of that telltale "I’m sick and miserable" redness.)

Maintain Your Energy Level: Don't Overindulge

What we choose to ingest either adds to our energy—or drains us. Too much food and alcohol (especially high-fat, calorie and sugar-laden foods) can really slow you down. You don’t have to bypass favorites: Opt for one or two chocolates or a small desert, a single glass of wine.

Over-eating and excessive drinking may provide some temporary relief and escape from your anxiety, stress, and concerns. But how much worse will you feel, when the lethargy and a hangover set in? When you don’t have physical or mental energy to do what you’d like?

You can go along with the holidays and their maddening pace and commitments. Or, you can choose a more meaningful—and mindful—approach to celebrating the season.

Your at-home spouse/partner/friends have planned a whirl of activities. Unfortunately, you're mentally and physically depleted—and you're not sure you can even make it home for half of what's been scheduled.

Holiday rituals and routines can be comforting and stabilizing moments in an insecure world. But you may have less resources—time, money, energy, interest—for the usual flurry of decorating, partying, holiday visits, and shopping. To avoid disappointments, hurt feelings, and worse, be honest about what you can comfortably commit to at this time.

Get Away!

Leaving hearth and home when you are so rarely there may seem like an odd holiday-survival strategy. But some families literally have to leave their neighborhoods to secure some needed peace and privacy at a "neutral" location. As little as three or four days away, with no interruptions or externally imposed schedules, can do wonders for your spirit and relationships.

You life on the road is filled with crowds, lines, traffic, and chaos. Why seek it out on your precious downtime? Avoid the mall, sports stadiums, the movieplex—and other crowded venues. Consider limiting your partying to small-scale get-togethers that allow for more intimate and low-key socializing.

Think carefully before you commit your time and energy. You don’t have to show up at every party to which you’re invited; you don’t have to spend days shopping for the "perfect" present, or decorating your house. Life is not a bunch of "Martha Moments." Most importantly, you don’t have to overextend yourself physically or emotionally. If you do, you'll only shortchange your holiday spirit.

You feel bad about being away so much and you want to make up for lost time. Unfortunately, you can’t make up for lengthy or extended absences by filling your holidays with a round of activities. Instead of scheduling every waking minute with your family, be selective about what you commit to. Suggest activities that can be scheduled throughout the upcoming year.

Memories are not scripted or planned. Enjoy quiet times and spontaneous activities as they arise.

What’s routine for you is anything but for them. Make sure they don't wait till the last minute to pack. Most importantly, don’t schedule activities too close to departure time and allow extra time to get to, and navigate, the airport.

Life continued while you were on the road and you may feel like a stranger who is visiting your home. Take the initiative to reconnect with your loved ones via one-on-one shared activities and good old-fashioned conversation.  Actively listen and find ways that they appreciate to demonstrate your love and affection.

One of the most common—and easily avoided—holiday-related problems is cross-scheduling. And despite e-mail, text messaging, and constant cell-phone chattering, we often fail to inform our friends and family of important schedule details—and changes.

Unless you’ve got a clone or a personal doppelganger, you can’t be in two places—say, a client’s office in Cleveland and your spouse’s office party in Tampa—at the same time. (Yea, I know there is some scientific theory that says matter can exist simultaneously in two places. But have you been able to do that?) The client meeting got shifted but that detail was not shared with your spouse. So now, both your spouse and the client are expecting you. It seems simple and obvious: Make sure you update your family and friends in real time. (As we age, we think we’ve had those conversations when we haven’t.)

There’s something about the holidays that turns even the most laid-back folks into list-driven, multitaskers who hurl themselves through a seemingly nonstop whirl of activities and events that even Laura Bush couldn’t navigate with a staff of 100.

Holidays can be emotionally, as well as physically, draining. Identify your personal "blackholes"—people or events that leave you stressed, miserable, and hard-pressed to feel joyous or grateful. Avoid—or minimize—one-on-one interaction with people or situations that trigger bad feelings.

If you’ve been away, it’s what you—as well as your friends and family—may have missed the most: Hugging and being hugged. Physical contact is one of our primal—and often overlooked—human needs. Embrace enthusiastically where appropriate and welcome. And in the spirit of the season, consider giving a big hug to someone who seems emotionally adrift or aloof. They may need it more than they know.

If you do nothing else but slow down, put the brakes on multitasking, and be present in the moment, you’ll be able to more fully savor the wonder of this time of the year.

If your spirit and sanity are truly challenged by the holiday whirl, try silence and solitude. They’re the ultimate anti-stress solutions. Sit quietly, sans music, TV, or other distractions. Take a solitary walk in the park. Take a few deep breaths.

If you’re constantly on the move, ask yourself what you’re rushing to avoid. If you find that you don’t want to spend quiet time alone (or with family and friends), ask yourself what you’re afraid of.

Many time-starved folks will spend hours shopping for the perfect gift. One-on-one time with those you love might be a better use of your—and their—time.

Presents are no substitute for your "presence." You can’t buy your way back into the lives of your family and friends if you’ve seriously neglected them during the year—although your children and some spouses/partners will happily tell you otherwise.

It’s a sure-fire de-stressor that’s good for your body and your spirit. Find your personal triggers—people; a book or video; listening to a radio show or TV performer; talking to a friend; replaying your children’s voice-mail messages when you're on the road, whatever. If you’re not laughing every day, you’re not really living.

The end-of-the year often triggers negative and unproductive self-reflection. Instead of rehashing the low points and beating yourself up, use the knowledge you gained when things didn’t go as planned to regroup and move forward.

Surviving Holiday Travel

Part 1: On-the-Road Strategies

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