The anticipation for an upcoming holiday is one of life’s most exciting feelings. Whether you’re heading to a beach town in Mexico, and ashram in India or climbing the Rockies in the US, there are a few things you shouldn’t leave without.
1. Get Vaccinated
See a travel doctor to get the right vaccinations for the areas you’re visiting. Things like Hepatitis A are transmittable via water or infected food, and will affect your liver. The B and C versions are a little harder to get, but can be very damaging and are best avoided. A simple vaccine beforehand avoids any infections even if you are exposed. The same goes for other often found and hard to recover from diseases like typhoid, yellow fever and a handful of others. Malaria is wide spread throughout many regions. Anti malarial treatments come in the form of easily ingestible tablets, but can have side effects, so make sure you ask your doctor to discuss these with you.
2. Pack a Medi-Travel Pack
Bringing some basic supplies can be a quick save solution for common ailments. Diarrhoea, nausea and headaches are easily treated if you have a small pack of medical supplies on hand. This should include, headache pills, bandages, anti nausea (travel sickness) pills, hydrolites and a doctor prescribed anti biotic in case of infection. Hydrolites may not be an obvious item to pack but in case of diarrhoea or vomiting this will ensure you rehydrate your body quickly.
3. Get Travel Insurance
Bringing back a souvenir from your world exploration is cool. Bringing back a foreign virus is not. What’s equally not fun is having to pay for medical expenses whilst stuck in a hospital in a foreign country. According to Phil Sylvester at World Nomads, there are 3 main areas of travel insurance. These are:
- Medical costs and medical evacuation
- Loss or theft of belongings
- Cancellation and delay expenses
You can buy each of these as separate products or as a combined package. “This all-in-one product is common elsewhere in the world and increasing in popularity in the US, “ Phil says. “If you have money to burn and wouldn’t notice the expense of re-booking a cancelled trip, or can afford to pay for an emergency medical evacuation flight (including the medical staff to accompany you, in business class) then don’t bother with travel insurance.”
Better safe than sorry and broke!
4. Pack Smart
Cover yourself for various environments you’re visiting. Check the weather of your destination in advance and bring appropriate clothing. Consider a long sleeved thin white shirt if you’re heading towards excessive sunshine or an area that has mosquitos. A water and/or wind proof jacket coupled with a fleece can substitute a bulky and heavy winter coat if you’re heading into the mountains in warmer months. What footwear will you need? Are flip-flops enough, or do you need a light pair of trainers to do your exploring? Make a plan before you throw a whole lot of unnecessary items in a suitcase you then have to carry around.
5. Back up your Documents Online
Imagine having your bags stolen and being left without a document to prove who you are. A simple solution to this is to keep a digital copy stored in an online account like Dropbox, iCloud or any cloud storage that you can access from anywhere.
A little bit of planning ahead can save you a whole lot of time, worry and money, leaving you more time to concentrate on having fun on your holiday.
Bon voyage and travel safe!
Sandra is a freelance writer and spends most of her disposable income on travel and food. She captures those experiences at www.sandrashakespeare.com