Holiday travel can spread more than cheer. There are ways to keep your germs to yourself. First, if you're feeling ill skip the holiday parties. The etiquette advisers at Debrett's even say that kissing someone on the cheek is a more hygienic greeting than shaking hands [Rueters]. The CDC has their yearly holiday song, reminding people to wash their hands often with warm water, get vaccinations, and stay warm. But there's more threats to your health than just the cold and flu. Managing holiday stress is also important part of keeping healthy. Whether its the stress of going back to your hometown, doing the holiday shopping, seeing your relatives, or even flying phobias, it can weaken your immune system. Stress can make illness a self-fulfilling prophecy. No sooner do you begin to lose sleep, when you find yourself getting a sore throat or a stuffy nose. Do yourself a favor, be realistic about your holiday plans. You don't have to recreate the holiday memories of your childhood. Open up your plans to include some new traditions and some time to troubleshoot if you hit a snag. Overspending can also create a holiday headache. Try to stick to a budget and save yourself a lot of unneeded stress, after  all it is the thought that counts [Mayo Clinic].

Sometimes a little adjustment in the way we think can reduce the nooks and crannies that stress can seep through. If you think of problems as opportunities for improvement, you can considerably reduce the number of negative thoughts these issues can cause. Stress is probably the most common underlying cause of doctor visits [Canadian Journal of Continuing Medical Education]. Give yourself space this holiday season for mistakes or mishaps, and remember to forgive yourself when not everything goes as planned.

A healthy diet is hard to abide during the holidays, but you can plan your diet around the holiday splurge. Try to eat your vegetables and get a little daily exercise between those holiday meals. A healthy body isn't just your best defense against the flu, but it's also a defense against stress.

Perhaps the best advice is to keep a sense of humor. So you forgot to pack your favorite sweater, so you said the wrong thing about Aunt Emily's dip, so your flight was delayed for an hour...There's little we can do to change the things that go wrong, but shake it off and enjoy time spent together. After all what's a holiday without laughter?