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Ecotourism Tips:
Checklist for Travel Health
and Safety
The scouting motto, "Be prepared," is our travel mantra. Our checklist for travel health and safety while you're on the road can help ward off the icks, or at least abate them. Nothing spoils a vacation like getting sick or encountering some other species of unwelcome adventure. We want all your ecotourism forays to be amazing ones.
An Apple a Day... Well, Yes,
but Wash It and Peel It!
Health Tips for Happy Trips
Especially when you are traveling in foreign countries, everything is new and different. You eat different foods, are exposed to different insects and creepy crawlies, and are in different environs.Airplane action. First of all, if you are flying long distances to get to your green travel destination, be sure to walk up and down the aisles of the airplane a couple of times and/or flex your legs and feet and toes while you are seated to keep your circulation flowing healthily. Wearing compression socks are also a good idea on longer flights. You want to avoid any sort of circulatory complication before starting your vacation and being sedentary for extended periods of time at altitude can increase your chances of deep vein thrombosis (blood clots) if you are predisposed to that condition. Before you travel, research. Depending on the country you are visiting, you may need particular vaccinations before entering its borders. For a comprehensive list of vaccination requirements and suggested medical preventative measures, check the
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website.
The CDC maintains a current list of travel health warnings and precautions worldwide, along with detailed research on what to do if you become sick or injured while away, advice on traveling with infants and children, and up-to-date feedback on various medications commonly prescribed for malaises such as malaria and diarrhea. Gear Up for Success. Particularly if the ecoadventure you are planning is an active one, involving trekking or climbing--or any other prolonged times of physical activities--please, and I cannot emphasize this enough--please break in your footwear or packs and any other gear that may cause discomfort, injury or health issues. • Inspect all sporting gear or equipment you plan to take with you before you leave so that you can replace or repair anything that needs it. You do not want to have a safety or injury issue because of faulty or broken gear when you are away from home.
Keeping feet happy keeps your trek on track.
• Break in all shoes before you go so that no matter how much or how little walking or hiking or climbing or strolling you do, you will not be sidelined by blistered feet. I speak from excruciatingly painful experience. (See my I almost didn't summit story in First-Aid Necessities below.) Even sandals worn for leisurely touring need to be broken in before you leave home.
Culinary Cautions:
As they say, when in Rome... True it is exciting and part of the whole experience to sample the native cuisine when you travel, but do it smartly. Particularly in regions that run high risks of water contamination (from sewage, feces, run-off, etc.) be extra careful about what you eat and drink. Following these health tips can keep your digestive system happy and your ecotourism adventure on track:
• Don't drink the water! Now, don't take me literally. Staying hydrated is extremely important. Dehydration can lead to serious problems. But be careful to drink only bottled or canned water. And check to make sure your bottle is properly sealed before drinking. Some vendors may refill water bottles and sell them as new. Not acceptable. Do not drink water from the tap or waterfountains, even in restaurants.
• Ice is not nice. When canned and bottled beverages have been stored on ice, consumption of contaminants from the ice can cause a nasty surprise. So be sure to clean the mouthpiece area before drinking. Wiping is a start, but cleaning with an antibacterial hand wash is even better. Also, don't drink beverages over ice.
• Boil before drinking. Especially when trekking or camping, when it is not possible to drink only bottled water, boil your water or treat it with a purifying tablet before drinking.
• Brushing your teeth. Even in hotels, when you have any question at all about the water sanitation in a region, use bottled water to brush your teeth. It doesn't take copious quantities of contaminated water to make you ill.
• When swimming... use caution about wading or swimming in fresh or salt water bodies, or even swimming pools, when traveling. Disease-causing bacteria and other troublesome organisms can be dangerous when ingested through your mouth or nose, even through abrasions on your skin.
• Wash and peel. Raw fresh fruits and vegetables, tempting though they may be, should be washed and peeled before you eat them. Ideally, you should wash and peel them yourself as you can wash them with bottled water to make certain the food is not carrying contaminants from bad water. As it is not always possible to wash foods yourself, in restuarants and the like, you'll simply have to make judgment calls. In general, staying away from salads can be a wise move.
• Vendor foods. Some of the most tempting and economical local fare is sold on the streets by food cart vendors. If you are feeling intrepid, like world traveler and gourmand Anthony Bourdain, or if you are staying long-term in a region, sampling street foods can be a culinary adventure in the best sense. If you are staying only a short while, it can be best not to cramp a brief trip with digestive meltdown. As with any food that is exposed to the elements and insects for a prolonged time, you want to be careful about particularly cooked meats that have cooled, creating a bacteria-friendly environment.
First-Aid Necessities:
Depending on the kind of activities you are likely to be involved in on your adventure, bring essential safety equipment with you. If you are cycling or motorcycle riding, bring your helmet and padded gear. If you are scuba diving, bring your regulator, dive computer, skin, mask and snorkel.
And bring a first-aid essentials kit that can patch you up until you can get to a doctor if need-be. Most injuries when traveling occur from motor vehicle accidents or from falls. So including burn ointment, gauze, an ace bandage, and antiseptic ointment is wise. But customize to your activities: if you are doing a lot of walking, bring moleskin, bandages, and blister treatments. I cannot emphasize having ample blister treatments enough. On a recent trek up Mt. Toubkal, my broken-in trail shoes revolted and gave me gargantuan blisters that refused to be tamed by my bandaging efforts. If there hadn't been doctors on my trek who were kind enough to cushion and tape my heels with serious blister treatments, I wouldn't have been able to summit. Other general first-aid items to think about, depending on your destination and likely activities, are oral and topical pain relievers, anti-diarrheal and digestive upset relievers, prescription medications, eye drops, bug repellant, sunscreen, and hydrocortisone cream for skin irritations. Just in case... Remember how pre-cell phone moms always used to remind us to take a quarter in case we needed to use a pay phone? In case of an emergency, prior to your travels, you may want to look into purchasing special travelers medical and evacuation insurance.
Staying Safe in an Unpredictable World:
Tips for Well-Being While World-Traveling
A quick glance at the news headlines will tell us that almost always there is unrest somewhere in the world. Unless you are keen to adventure into a war zone, if you are looking at an ecotourism getaway in a potentially unstable region, check on the most recent status report before you book your trip. The U.S. Department of State issues
Current Travel Warnings
for countries around the globe. If your destination is recently posted on this list, the warning will detail the action in-country, its location and nature, and will provide registration information and emergency contact information for those travelers entering that country. If your destination is not currently in a military conflict, you can also find a wealth of information from the
Consular Information Sheets.
These offer a sort of primer on the country, giving an overview of general information as well as entry and exit requirements, crime statistics and patterns, road conditions and transportation safety, medical and health information, embassy contacts, and helpful special circumstances information.
Street Smarts
Good common sense can keep you
trouble-free
in most situations. But perhaps one of the most frequent crimes to be on guard against is pickpocketing. Pickpocketing prevention can be enhanced by taking the following precautions:• Carry your important documents and cash on your person in a hidden sealed pouch or pocket, worn around your neck (and under your shirt) or inside your belt.
I was pickpocketed walking amongst a group of religious schoolgirls. It pays to be aware and alert no matter where you are.
• Carry a small amount of cash in a dummy wallet with expired IDs, so that if you are relieved of your money against your will, you won't lose your main cash stash or your valid IDs and documents.
• If you carry a backpack or daypack, wear it slung around your front so that all zippers and pockets are under your nose and guarded at all times. Be especially mindful of packs as one strategy is to slash the straps and run away with the entire pack.
• Do not fall prey to scams of distraction where, especially in a crowded place, someone might spit on you or try to otherwise engage your attention while their scam cohort lifts your wallet.
• Do not flash large sums of money or dress to call attention to your wealth. If you have a very valuable engagement ring, for example, it can be a wise strategy to leave it at home and wear just a wedding band when you travel, particularly to poorer countries. If you are a walking billboard of excess, expect unwanted attention.
For more on Travel Health and Safety, check out Women's Travel Wisdom.
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