How to stay cool in 38 degrees

I've never been someone who loves hot weather, sure I love to get my shorts out on a summers day and cool down with an ice lolly but 24 degrees is quite enough for me thank you. Then we fell in love with life in Thailand and right now are sweating away in 38 degree heat. 

Whenever we speak to someone from bcd home, they always ask how hot it is and how we cope with the high temperatures over here. So what's our secret? How do we survive? Well firstly we accept that it's hot and we will sweat; my hair straighteners and makeup bag are redundant and we drink our coffee iced.

But we do have a few tips for surviving the heat:

• Air-con

If your budget can stretch to air-con rooms, it'll be well worth it during the hotter months. We don't have air-con in our flat however and whilst it can get uncomfortably hot it has definitely helped us to acclimatise to the weather here.

If you're staying in fan rooms, coffee shops and shopping malls are a great places to cool down. Enjoy the air con whilst you sip on a Cappu Yen or enjoy a spot of window shopping.

• Water!

I know, I know, it sounds obvious but seriously it's very difficult to drink enough water here and oh so easy to get dehydrated. If you're feeling tired or achy the chances are you're actually dehydrated.

So always keep a big bottle of water with you (bottled water - DO NOT drink the tap water!) and try to sip at it continuously throughout the day. If you start to feel a bit under the weather, grab an electrolyte sachet (you can easily pick them up from any pharmacy or 7-Eleven) and dissolve it in your water - it'll sort you right out!

• Talc

Most kids you see here look like ghosts because their faces are hidden under about 2 inches of talc. Trust me they know what they're doing. Buy some menthol talcum powder or cooling powder and chuck it on after your shower. 

*Note there are some areas I would not recommend you apply the powder to unless you enjoy a cold stinging sensation. I'll leave you to work out what those are....

• Showers

Again it sounds obvious as I assume you intend to wash but on a hot day here I would not consider 6 showers to be excessive. 

Actually we call them 'wets' as opposed to showers as we are not so much washing and just standing under the water cooling down. And take your time, really let your body temperature drop otherwise you'll be back in in 10 minutes!

• Sun cream

Listen to Baz kids! Lobster pink skin is not attractive, not safe and not comfortable so cover up or slap on the factor 50.

• Shave your head!

Ok so this might be a bit drastic if you're just on a two-week holiday but if you're looking to survive the heat long-term, we would recommend ditching your locks :)

• The ice-bucket challenge is actually a great way to cool down

All these thing will help but I really think it's mainly a case of mind over matter. We still get hot, we still sweat, it just bothers us less now!