Adventure Doc Travel Health

Travel is one of the best things people can do. It broadens your ideas and makes you understand other people. Travel also helps you learn more about yourself. To travel healthy, go to your doctor and discuss your travel plans well before you have to leave. If you are traveling internationally, try to do this at least 2-3 months before you leave. Depending on where you are going, you may need some immunizations or medications. Some of these take a few months to take effect or require a few visits back to the doctor’s office.

I have a specialization in travel and tropical medicine and I love to travel, myself. Travel is good for the spirit. Seeing how other people live and work makes you understand them better. The world is not just your little corner of it. Through understanding other people, their lives and difficulties in that different part of the world, you become a better person.

When you travel, even if it is across the city you live in, you may come into contact with things you don’t normally find at home. This is part of the excitement of the trip! However, some of these things can make you sick. Your body develops immunity to certain bacteria and viruses that are in your part of the world. When you leave your area, you run into things you don’t have immunity to. “Common sense travel” is what I call following your mother’s advice when you were a kid. Don’t eat things from places that look dirty. Wash you hands after touching things like handrails in train stations, bathroom doors and always before you eat. Some people travel and carry a little bottle of hand-sanitizer gel in their bag to rub into their hands. I try to not touch things many other people touch and then rub my eyes or nose. This is how the flu spreads. Somebody coughs or sneezes into their hand and then touches the telephone. They may not have the flu, because they have immunity to it because they live there. You are not from there and probably don’t have an immunity. Make sure you keep your hands clean.