It is a mistaken idea to suppose that people who are run down will get the most good from going to a bracing climate. Often it has the effect of making them irritable and restless, and their nerves do better in a more relaxing place.
A fortnight on a farm always sounds attractive, but in reality it often turns out the very opposite. The accommodation is apt to be of a primitive order, and the cooking by no means up to the mark, while it is not uncommon to find that none of the bedroom windows will open. So much, too, depends upon the weather, and if it happens to be wet, the holiday is likely to be devoid of pleasure, and detrimental to health at the same time. Rheumatic people should avoid farmhouses, as the atmosphere is often damp, especially in the evenings. Even if the weather is fine, there is a danger in the dew which rises from the fields at sunset. If it is wet, the consequences are apt to be serious. A seaside place with a light, sandy soil is better adapted to such persons.
In these days of quick and cheap travel no paper on holidays is complete without a reference to the problem of continental trips. These are undoubtedly a source of interest, but not necessarily of health. It may be a delight to see fresh places and experience new national customs and a totally different diet, but in many cases these advantages are obtained at the expense of bodily health. People who are run down rarely get any benefit from them. Even if they have the sense to make for one place and stay there or use it as a centre, the long railway journey tires them to such an extent that they cannot enjoy their holiday properly. Usually a visit to some home resort is of infinitely greater value.
As a rule, however, a continental trip means one of the advertised tours, in which a maximum of travelling and sight-seeing is carried out in a minimum of time. People who are strong enough to undertake such a task do not come under the category of health-seekers.
When the journey, either home or foreign, includes a sea-trip, it is well to take only light food for a day or two previously, if you are subject to _mal de mer_, and also to take a good aperient the day before starting. These precautions will often serve to avoid the biliousness which so frequently spoils the first few days of the holiday.