Posted in Travel Tips on February 14, 2012

No one likes being sick or injured at any time, but falling ill or having an accident on holiday is a particularly nasty experience. Far from home, in a place you’re meant to be enjoying, being sick is the absolute pits! Of course, a good travel insurance policy can help with the financial burden of injury or illness abroad, but it’s miles better not to have to use it in the first place. Follow these tips and stay healthy abroad.

Watch Your Mouth

Of course we’re referring to what goes into your mouth, rather than what comes out (hint: if it’s the same thing then you know you’ve eaten something dodgy…). One of the best things about learning about other cultures is being able to sample the local fare, and indulge in the same delicacies as the locals. In itself, this is not dangerous, but be mindful of the fact that sanitation might not be to the standards you’re used to in a new country.

For this reason, eat from street stalls with lots of customers rather than the ones who don’t look as though they have a high turnover. The likelihood of the food having been sat out for longer is understandably higher here. Also, find out the situation with drinking the water, and if it’s a no-no then you also must be aware that ice, salad and other drinks could also contain local water. Make sure you check with establishments where they get the water for their ice from and where they wash their salads.

Ironically, it’s more likely to be a green salad that gets you sick than that big hunk of meat roasting over flames on the side of the road!

Watch Your Step

Whether you’re staying in serviced apartments in Sydney or a beach shack in Thailand, the chances of you hurting yourself due to your own clumsiness are just as high. The difference, of course, is that slipping over in the shower in Sydney is something that can be easily remedied in a nearby hospital, whereas in Thailand or another developing nation, access to health care might not be quite so easy.

For this reason, exercise extra caution when you’re somewhere remote or removed from medical access. A cut on your foot at home might simply require a trip to the doctor for stitches, whereas a cut on your foot in the Amazon could lead to serious infection before it is sorted out.

Use Common Sense

An extraordinarily high number of people who injure themselves abroad do so by overestimating their physical limitations or getting themselves into sticky situations while drunk. For this reason, it is vital to exercise common sense while you’re travelling, and not allow all those tropical cocktails to go to your head!

Don’t go swimming after you’ve consumed alcohol, be honest with yourself (and your guides) about your fitness levels, and be careful both in the sun and cold. As long as you’re doing what is right by you, the chances of you hurting yourself are greatly reduced.