Posts Tagged ‘health’

Staying healthy while traveling

Posted on: June 20th, 2010 | No Comments

In Somalia, acute watery diarrhea (AWD), which includes diseases such as cholera, regularly hospitalizes and kills people. According to the UN, a whopping 72% of children are affected by AWD. This is a direct result of the decades of fighting and lack of clean water. Half of the entire population is in need of life-saving assistance.    

When I travel in places like this, prevention is key. Washing hands and drinking water from known sources is the easiest and best thing to do. True, food can also make you sick but that’s usually less of a concern than most people worry about (for example, any meat is fine as long as it’s cooked through). That’s why Neveret’s Essential Journey’s Kit includes things to keep clean (especially your hands) rather than tablets that will block you up after the fact.

How the Pros Pack

Posted on: May 4th, 2010 | No Comments

In the last twelve months, I’ve traveled to – and spent chunks of time in – more than a dozen countries and many of the most challenging places on earth such as Iraq and Zimbabwe (if you’ve been following this blog, you already know about my travels to Afghanistan, Haiti and Sudan). This is not to mention all the great places in between including San Francisco, Hong Kong and London.

On these trips, I’ve really had to be prepared. Just as when dressing for cold weather layers are best, the pros approach packing for their next adventure by thinking in three layers:

Layer 1 – Pockets: Here, important items of immediate need such as identification, travel documents and money and, depending on the circumstance, pen, paper, matches, multi-tool with blade and even a whistle. All these later items are found in Neverest’s Essential Journey’s Kit and Neverest’s On-the-Go items also help keep you organized while traveling.

Layer 2 – Belt/Shoulder bag/Vest: These items should help a person a day or more without support such as water, a bit of food and maybe sunglasses. Depending on the environment and challenges faced, items such as first-aid supplies, a compass, scissors and a bandana are also important. The Essential Journey’s Kit has many of these items and has features which allow it to be worn on a belt or, using a strap, hung over a shoulder.

Layer 3 – Backpack/Luggage: Everything else can be included here such as appropriate clothing, extra food and water, and all those items that help make travel easier and more enjoyable. When there is not an immediate need, the Essential Journey’s Kit is still small enough to be included on any trip.

Exiting Haiti through the Dominican Republic

Posted on: February 17th, 2010 | No Comments

It’s been a month since the earthquake, and it’s time to head home. The work has been rewarding, the friendships developed deep, and the experiences will last a lifetime.

In Port-au-Prince, economic life has slowly returned, and along with it traffic that turns any trip around town into a long one. Fuel shortages are largely gone, and restaurants are starting to open again for dinner (it is still too early for traditional nightlife). People still sleep outdoors in makeshift tents, not trusting their homes. The economic vulnerability continues and will continue. Haiti will remain the poorest country in the Western hemisphere—earthquake relief will not end that.p10402271

Two days of R&R are in order. I’ve made my way to the coastal hotel in the Dominican Republic filled with tourists, mainly European, seemingly oblivious to what is going on a few hours away. I sit at dinner alone and for a moment have the feeling I’m at the center of the cinematographic technique where the camera focuses on one person in a crowd and everyone else goes about their lives in time-lapse.

I had taken a shower, but my skin still has the dirt and dust from the camps in Haiti. My clothes are even worse. Someone looks at me as if I’m a scrappy visitor who belongs somewhere else. Maybe I do.


25 signs you’ve been traveling too much or too long

Posted on: November 19th, 2009 | No Comments

1.   You can drive on the right or left with equal ease.

2.   You have trouble answering the question “Where are you from?”

3.   You have clothes and other personal belongings in at least three countries. 

4.   Your driver’s license, diving certificate or other important documents are not in English.

5.   You know the word for “toilet” in at least five different languages.

6.   You speak at least two languages, but can’t spell using either.

7.   You consider airplane flights less than 6 hours to be short.

8.   You watch nature documentaries and think about how good that animal would taste.

9.   You speak with authority on the subject of packing, airline travel and tropical diseases.

10.  You read the international section before the comics.

11.  You have a handful of mobile phone SIM cards.

12.  You’re regularly on the phone at odd hours to reach family, friends and colleagues in other parts of the world.

13.  You think it’s normal to fit 15 or more people into a car or mini-van.

14.  You think 100 degrees Fahrenheit is a “cool” day.

15.  There are certain things for which you actually don’t know the English word.

16.  You’ve haggled with the checkout clerk for a lower price.

17.  When home, you miss the sound of prayer call and/or citywide afternoon naps.  

18.  You’ve eaten things like rambutans, brain, eel and French fries (chips) with mayonnaise.

19.  You think you’ve died and gone to heaven when you go into a foreign grocery store.

20.  You have a nickname in at least two different languages and it’s not the same one.

21.  You miss the sub-titles when you see the latest movie.

22.  Your dog or cat’s first language isn’t English.

23.  You feel you need to take a trip after you’ve lived in the same place for three months.

24.  You’ve come home, found yourself confused in supermarket (or other ordinary place), then realized that reverse culture-shock is a real challenge.

25.  Months after leaving a country, you’ve found coins and other currency hiding in odd pockets.

Can you tell who has been traveling too long?
Can you tell who has been traveling too long?

 

Traveling in a pandemic: The 101 on H1N1

Posted on: October 29th, 2009 | No Comments

sany0396We have no way of telling how serious the H1N1 influenza strain (so called “swine flu”) will be, and so it seems each country handles it differently. Traveling in China, it is common to see people in face masks; they have lived through epidemics before, so they are probably onto something. But the differences between Hong Kong, where health information and face masks are everywhere, and mainland China are significant. My temperature was taken at customs, at any large public event and at hotels. Usually, an electronic sensor was used, but at one hotel in the city of Hangzhou, they used a thermometer. While checking in, I was helped to my room, and after being shown around the room by a porter, another hotel staff member arrived. Wearing a face mask, he held a thermometer and a clipboard. With his weak English and my nonexistent Mandarin, he simply offered the thermometer, and I immediately put it in my mouth. After a second or two, he gestured that I should have put it under my armpit. I embarrassed us both, but all I could think was thank goodness he didn’t insist that it went further south. So now I pay closer attention and try to follow some basic precautions:   

1.      Washing hands frequently

2.      Not touching my face, especially my eyes and mouth

3.      Avoid touching things like escalator railings and door handles

4.      Where it’s appropriate, using a “fist bump” instead of a handshake 

5.      Eating right, taking a mix of vitamins and getting plenty of sleep 

Btw, these tips also are helpful if yo’re in a cholera-stricken place, such as Zimbabwe.