We are going to develop super powers!
- Where To Go Next By I&P
- Sep 15, 2022
- 2 min read
When you think that it has been more than 2 years since we started spending our time washing our hands excessively, sanitizing our phones, using hand sanitizer compulsively, wearing face masks and limiting our travels, you get worried that your body will go into shock the first time it will be abroad.
Since the moment I started traveling, I was always careful about the food I ate. I can still vividly remember a really bad gastritis, 20 years ago, after I dared to try some tripes in Thailand, just before getting on a flight to Hong Kong. And again, a few years ago, when returning from Peru where we ate some fresh tomatoe slices… 🤢
When you travel for such a long time, getting sick is inevitable. So it is very important to understand how you can have access to medical assistance abroad and the process to be reimbursed by your travel insurance/public health care system when you come back.
As we are also going to south east Asia, we need to be careful with mosquitoes. Oh how many nights have I spent chasing the invisible buzzing enemy! Of course, you can use a weapon like the mosquito zapper racket and use mosquito repellent, but the enemy's large numbers and relentlessness are going to be stronger. And let's not talk about other microbes, virus…
The only choice is to make sure to get the appropriate vaccines and develop super power protection!
Of course, the routine vaccines need to be up to date (varicella, polio, MMR, tetanus and potentially flu) but you may also need the usual traveler's vaccines against hepatitis A and B, Typhoid, etc.. For some countries, like Indonesia and Cambodia, Japanese encephalitis and rabies vaccines can be useful, if you're spending time in rural areas.
Malaria prevention medication can be also necessary - you may have to start taking it a few days before you visit the area/country where you'll be at risk, and keep taking it up to 1 month after leaving, which would mean you would have to buy a ton of pills beforehand or plan to buy onsite.
Of course, this is all based on our experience and the countries we are going to visit, so we highly recommend checking a website like the CDC Traveler's Health and scheduling a visit at your local Travel clinic.
And let's not forget the newcomer, the Covid-19 vaccine!
All of these vaccines will probably cause us to grow a 3rd eye or glow in the dark! 😆 But it will, hopefully, offer us some additional protection. Make sure you plan your vaccines early on as some may have multiple doses, taken months apart.
And last but not least, make sure to carry on you the prescription for all the prescibed medications you're traveling with. Being taken to secondary by security and questioned about your bag of pills is not fun...and not being able to show how or why you got them could get you in trouble.

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