BEFORE YOU GO
With so many of us traveling and with our busy lives, it's often easy to forget one or two things. The following are some pre-travel tips to help keep your escape enjoyable. YOu may wish to check out one or all of these government websites if you have any questions regarding health.
Seven Great Tips for Travelers
1. Do a basic vaccine check. Four to six weeks before an international trip, ask your doctor whether you’re up to date on common vaccines, such as those for influenza and tetanus.
“Nearly 50 percent of adults over 65 are not up to date on tetanus immunizations,” says Steven Mawhorter, M.D., an infectious disease specialist at the Cleveland Clinic.
And consider that flu is prevalent in Australia and South America in June, July, and August.
2. Schedule a doctor’s appointment. If you have a chronic condition or other health concerns, or you’re going overseas, you can get travel tips to follow as well as prescriptions for your regular medication and others you may need, such as motion-sickness drugs.
3. Check your coverage abroad. Ask your insurer whether you’re covered for medical care while away. (Medicare usually doesn’t reimburse for doctor visits overseas, but supplemental plans may.) If not, consider buying travel insurance. Elizabeth Talbot, M.D., medical director of the Travel and International Health Clinic at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, N.H., tells patients traveling overseas to choose travel insurance that includes access to U.S.-trained clinicians and evacuation to high-quality medical care.
If you’re traveling in the U.S., your regular doctor or private group health insurermay be able to help you find local doctors. (In an emergency, go to the nearest ER.) Here and abroad, hotel concierges can often help you track down a doctor who might make a “room call.”
Internationally, you can find clinics, doctors, and hospitals through the International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers and the International Society of Travel Medicine. The local U.S. Embassy can also provide a list of doctors and hospitals but usually not recommendations.
New Friends
Making new friends is like unlocking bonus characters on your life’s adventure—more laughs, more stories, and way better snacks!
4. Prep right for tropical destinations. Heading to a developing nation or the tropics? Ask your doctor about unusual immunizations (such as those for hepatitis A, typhoid, and yellow fever) and special medicine (such as antimalarials) recommended or required for particular areas. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers health-related travel tips at cdc.gov/travel.
5. Pack meds properly. Take enough for the duration of your trip, plus an extra week’s worth. Keep them in their original containers in your carry-on baggage, in case your luggage gets lost.
Take paper copies of your prescriptions; a copy of your insurance card; contact information for doctors; a doctor’s note if you carry needles or syringes, or you had a test that used radiation up to two weeks before; and a list of your medications. (If you lose or run out of it while traveling in the U.S., see whether a local pharmacy can call your doctor or if your pharmacy back home will mail it to you. If you’re overseas, ask someone at the nearest U.S. Embassy to direct you to a trusted facility.)
And don’t forget a first-aid kit, eyeglasses, hearing aids and batteries, and any other medical necessities.
While You're En Route
6. Ease jet lag. Crossing a time zone disrupts your sleep-wake cycle; the more zones you traverse, the more off-kilter you’ll probably feel. Some people take melatonin supplements to help them sleep, but Marvin M. Lipman, M.D., Consumer Reports’ chief medical adviser, says that supplements aren’t regulatedcarefully, so what’s on the label may not be what’s in the bottle.
Instead, start acclimating to a new time zone before you depart by going to bed 1 to 2 hours later (if you’re traveling west) and 1 to 2 hours earlier (if you’re traveling east) each day for a week. Get exposure to sunlight when you arrive at your destination.
7. Flex those legs. Sitting for more than 4 hours in a boat, car, plane, or train can boost the risk of potentially life-threatening blood clots.
If you can’t walk around for a few minutes once an hour, do calf raises while seated: With feet flat, raise your heels for a few seconds, then raise your toes, making sure to keep your heels down; repeat each 10 times per foot.
