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The Traveller World Guide | Best Travel Tips and Vacation.

This Won’t Hurt a Bit – Travel Vaccinations

Travel Tips - Ross French - October 18, 2010

This Won’t Hurt a Bit – Travel Vaccinations
By: Mike Argyle

You’ve booked your flight and your hotel booked. Your passport is updated and you have the time off work booked. Your neighbour is feeding the cat and you’re pretty sure if it dies when you’re away, he won’t replace it without you knowing – but if he did, whatever… new cat! Wicked, all ready to go, right?

Not so fast captain ignorance!

Colonel Buzzkill is here to remind you, as your superior officer, that you may want to look into your personal safety before departure. A few simple things can do a world of good for your adventures, like travel insurance, money belts and of course vaccinations.

Why do you need injections before visiting some places? Let’s take a trip back to high school history class and human migration, so take a knee. Just as certain animals and plants grow in certain areas, so too do viruses and diseases. This doesn’t mean you can’t get all these fun illnesses if you stay at home, as they will find you (take 2009’s H1N1 outbreak and basically every other flu in the history of the world), but going to new places exposes your body to things it can’t handle. Malaria is a threat in certain areas but you might not need it depending on your activity or length of stay while some countries just want a tuberculosis test done for a visa.

It works the opposite way too. Don’t forget, when you go to a new place you are bringing all the illnesses your body can handle to a new place where the people may not be so lucky. Most of the America’s First Nation’s people wiped out during European settlement were severely affected by foreign viruses. You don’t know what is hidden in your clothes or the products you bring with you, which is why there are restrictions on bringing back fresh food or animal products.

That’s not to say every place you go to will require shots, but the more remote and different the location, the more likely you will need them. It also depends on what you’re going to be doing while traveling, as sometimes all you will need are booster shots.

If in doubt, ask your travel agent or check the embassy’s website of the country you’re traveling to. It will depend on where you are from, so do your best to stay informed. Not doing so can result in a few days with a rash, refusal of entry to your destination, quarantine, death or worse. What’s worse than death? How about a pandemic?

Be smart. Get your shots.

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7 Comments

  • Alex October 18, 2010 at 7:08 PM

    now that my friends is the face of someone getting a suppository.

    Reply
    • Hogga October 18, 2010 at 7:16 PM

      you dig it!

      Reply
  • ayngelina October 18, 2010 at 9:14 PM

    Having had to get a bunch of shots before my trip I’d also suggest if it’s a long trip, get the shots in another country, far cheaper and in some cases free.

    Reply
    • Hogga October 18, 2010 at 9:33 PM

      Touche! I had 5 shots, 3 days before leaving. I’m a procrastinator. Bleh.

      Reply
  • Mike October 19, 2010 at 8:29 PM

    The only thing I would warn against that is if it’s a, let’s say, less than stellar country, you might not want to do that, or else risk greater infection.
    Colonel Buzzkill out

    Reply
  • Aunt Judy October 27, 2010 at 9:35 AM

    Lindsay Hi!

    I see you’re doing great! Pretty amazing year you’ve had. I won’t comment on the script (probably much like Christian’s stay in Lima) but your pictures are awesome. I just touched the surface of them. Definitely want you to send some so we can frame. Vietnam looks fabulous. I DO notice there are no early dawn pictures… like most photographers have. LOL.

    Take care and be careful
    Love Aunt Judy
    ps Christian’s accepted a job in Wasington DC. Will move Jan. Marissa is doing ok.

    Reply
    • Hogga November 1, 2010 at 10:41 PM

      Oh hi there!
      Yes, most pictures would be mid day or sunset haha. Usually if I am awake for dawn, it’s from not sleeping and I would be in no state to take nice photographs!
      Kudos to Christian!
      xoxo

      Reply

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    About Me

    Ross French grew up outside Toronto, blah blah… he went to the University of Western Ontario for fine arts and like any degree, has since done nothing in that field. More seriously, Ross French is a travel junkie & a tech nerd with a slightly concerning love for beer & wine. he a has a great awareness of life outside the 9-5 and hopes to aspire to be a hammock bum one day.

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