Sick while
you travel?
Or sick
of traveling?
As I hang out in London mainlining a
steady stream of cups of tea with honey, it occurs to me that perhaps I could
share a story about being
ill while travelling and general advice for dealing with illness while
away.
I’ve mentioned this in the past:
I’ve travelled a lot. Sometimes it’s been for long stretches of time (6 months,
or 3 months a few times), and with the additional stress on your body,
illnesses happen.
Between walking huge distances every
day (I often carry a pedometer and walking 30,000 steps a day, 20km, is not
unusual while exploring a new city), different and inconsistent meals, jetlag,
as well as exposure to different viruses and bacteria, your body often takes a
battering and succumbs to illness.
Some of the fun illnesses I’ve dealt
with while away from home:
- The cough that wouldn’t go away (5 weeks in Scandinavia and Russia)
- Conjunctivitis on three separate occasions (Oslo, Paris and Boston). Evidently my eyes hate me. It often comes on after a nasty cold/cough, so these days I’m super careful with my contact lenses when I have a cold/cough.
- Sprained ankle (while hiking in China)
- Countless colds/flu in a variety of places
I have to say that when you’re
coughing up a lung and wake up with your eyes glued together travelling to the next
city doesn’t seem very enticing. Sometimes all you really want is some time
to just put the world on hold and hide in a room for a few days. That’s how I
felt while on a Contiki
tour. Those tours are notorious for spreading the “Contiki Cough” as there are
usually 40-50 people together on the tour on a single bus so it gets passed
along throughout the group.
Arriving in Oslo, I
could feel my eyes being itchy in that unpleasantly familiar way so when we
were told we had the afternoon to go sight see (or otherwise) I decided to take
the opportunity to get some medical aid. Others headed to the nearest museum or
landmark for photographs; I headed for the information office and asked about
the nearest medical center.
This involved figuring out the
bus/tram service which, trust me, is not what you feel like doing when you just
want to be in bed and to be better.
Despite this, I acquired a tram
ticket, directions to the medical center and a little bit of hope. When I
arrived at the sparsely populated medical center, I explained what I needed and
the (surprisingly friendly) receptionist informed me that since I was a
foreigner with travel insurance
I was better off going to the other medical centre several blocks away. I was
not in any shape to argue so I took her hand-drawn map and made my way to
the next medical center.
There, again served quickly, the
doctor listened to my lungs and declared that it was the sort of cough that
would eventually go away on its own. As far as my eyes were concerned, he wrote
out a prescription and tried sending me on my way. When my hand touched the
door I turned back because I realized that often eye drops require
refrigeration, so I asked if these ones did. He said yes and at my request gave
me an alternate option which did not require refrigeration, (preferable when on
a bus tour). And so, after 3-4 hours of wandering between medical centers and
pharmacies I emerged victorious (and 90 Euros poorer). I was just glad I’d
gotten aid in a country where many people spoke English.
My eyes cleared up after a few days
and eventually so did my cough.
But these days I plan my trips
differently.
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Lessons learnt:
Travel insurance ! I like the peace of mind that comes with having it.
And even though I’ve been reimbursed more for items I’ve lost than for health
issues, it’s nice to know that if a huge cost at a hospital happened, I’d be
covered. Try to get coverage which doesn’t have a charge for every time you
make a claim.
If you’re
a EU citizen, get a European Health Insurance Card for while you’re roaming
around Europe.
If you’re
being issued a prescription for medication and you know you won’t have access
to a convenient fridge, ask if the prescription needs refrigeration while
you’re still in the doctor’s office.
When
planning a trip, give yourself a day or two of flexibility every 3-4 days.
These can be days to go on additional trips when you’re in a cool place to be
booked on the spot, or just days to chill out and catch up on sleep. I love
these flexi-days, because often they end up being recover-from-a-cold time,
time to let your body relax a little, or time to see something I didn’t realize
existed. In fact, some of my favorite trips have been only half-planned in
advance. All I plan is where I fly into, where I fly out of and perhaps the
first couple nights’ accommodation. It’s often better to figure out where you
want to go next than to push yourself into moving on simply because you booked
the flights.
I always
pack: a small supply of cold/flu meds, ibuprofen, paracetamol (often all three
in the same pill bottle, to conserve space); a few (4-5) band-aids; an ankle
brace; and a tiny bottle of germ-killing solution (50mL or so).
I always
try to allow for adequate sleep. My body and I have apparently made an
arrangement that I can get away with inadequate sleep for a few nights, but if
I push it for more than a week, I will probably get sick. So sleep and I are
good friends now, and I make time for it. I aim for an average of 7ish hours a
night, regardless of where I am, more if I’m pushing myself physically during
the day.
Wash your
hands before you eat and drink plenty of water.
I avoid
tours with too many people these days. Contiki goes for the fun party-bus
atmosphere of 40-50 people. Tried it, not going back. Call me old if you must,
but I really prefer the smaller adventure tour groups when I take a tour these
days. Groups like Intrepid,
or Geckos generally
only take 5-12 people on each tour and you end up taking public transport
throughout the country you’re seeing so you are side-by-side with a locals,
rather than riding around in a fishbowl-like coach. They also tend to spend
longer in each country so you’re not as rushed between cities.
When I get
sick, I take it slower. I get more sleep, I drink lots of tea and I know I’ll
get through it. So the momentary homesickness I occasionally have is only
temporary. I know that now.
Even in
the worst situation, remember you’ll get through it. A positive attitude helps
a lot.
(unknown)
I thought this was a good story
and mite help someone out there before it all goes wrong.
(James Brannon)
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