Comments on: How I deal with getting sick when traveling

By: The Longest Way Home

The Longest Way Home — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:04:43 +0000

Hi & welcome. There’s nothing quite like travel to open one’s eyes to the realm of possibilities out there. Dealing with illness when traveling is indeed very different than dealing with it from home. Good to hear you are in touch with medical people through Skype. I think virtual doctors may be one the way!

All the best on your journey to Asia!

By: The Longest Way Home

The Longest Way Home — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:01:09 +0000

Always good to see what others do in this situation

By: soultravelers3

soultravelers3 — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:40:41 +0000

An important topic!

We are into our 5th year of open-ended, non-stop travel as a family, so have dealt with much on the road too from surgery twice in a foreign hospital to 11 months with a totally paralyzed dominant right arm when I broke my arm and almost severed a major nerve biking the Danube.

All 3 of us have dealt with illness, serious dental problems and accidents, but like you say, not really any more than we probably would have had at home and in fact we almost never sick. 99.9% of the time we are healthy as horses, but when you travel a long time, especially with a child, life happens. We haven’t even used our first aid kit! With a kid who is super skinny , we are very careful when we visit the third world and she is almost never sick. We are much older than most long term travelers ( and I’m over weight and mobility challenged) so we have more concerns than most to consider.

We have some fantastic MD doctors and alternative PhD doctors ( and dentists) that we use via Skype and email with that have been a godsend for us. I am going to be doing a whole series about things that we have used that have had miraculous results as soon as we have time, probably when we get to Asia.

Thanks!

By: David @ Malaysia Asia

David @ Malaysia Asia — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 10:33:28 +0000

Dave, thanks for sharing this. Very useful for those always on the road

Regards,
David

By: The Longest Way Home

The Longest Way Home — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 13:08:15 +0000

Cheers. Yep, that book saved me quite a few times. Really small too. Lives in a corner of my backpack.

By: Dave and Deb

Dave and Deb — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 01:12:38 +0000

Good advice, I am going to buy that lonely Planet book before I leave on my next trip.

By: The Longest Way Home

The Longest Way Home — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 05:44:45 +0000

ah yea, i recognise it. I used a similar one in africa. But just use string to attach it to the wall and pull it out from the bed a bit. I prefer this type if staying in a place for a while.

By: Gary

Gary — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 16:52:12 +0000

Thanks. A mosquito bar is a rectangular canopy used over a camping cot or regular bed. Visit this link for picture: here

By: The Longest Way Home

The Longest Way Home — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 14:26:24 +0000

@Simon Yea I carry a load of broad spectrums too. In fact I’m carrying far too much at the moment! Only been sick once in the Philippines, unfortunately I didn’t have my med bag with me at the time! That’s a good point about Tamiflu. Never thought of it as a regular flu protector, just heard about it recently with the H1N1 stuff.

@Gary In West Africa yes a Mosquito net saved me, and others plenty of times. To be honest in all my time in the Philippines I’ve not come across Malaria. There are Mosquitos, but not so voracious. By Mosquito bar I’m not sure if you mean the smoking incense type, or bar as in hanging bar? Not seen the incense coils for sale. Even in Africa I was not a fan of them. Preferred the net. A fan if you have electricity works wonders too.

By: Simon

Simon — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 06:34:14 +0000

Sound advice. I also like to carry a broad-spectrum antibiotic as these can be difficult to find and vital should infection occur. I have also recently started travelling with Tamiflu and this has already saved me from influenza on one occasion. It’s powerful stuff though and should only be used when absolutely necessary.

By: Gary

Gary — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:38:12 +0000

You did not mention anything about mosquito netting? Is a mosquito bar or netting very useful, especially when going to bed? How about the Philippines? Is a mosquito bar good for use over your bed?