just got off phone with Travel Advice nurse. traveling sounds scary coming from her.

[Darth-Baiter]

i travel a lot (before pandemic).  going to Brazil in october.

 

i am fairly well protected with vaccines.  the Travel nurse was delightful, right up until she started talking about rabies.  what the heck?  there is a human vaccines now.  pills or injections.  i declined for now.

 

Malaria. just a series of pills.  she said it isnt the old pill that gave people mental issues..she said it is new and can only cause some GI issues if you dont take with food.  okay.

 

other than one more vaccine, i am going in with some anti biotics - just in case.   i am pretty sure i wont run across any rabid bats..or monkeys.  geesh...world travel is fun, until it isnt.  hahahha

[Choporoz]

I'm late to get on the bandwagon....but I really should find a way to cash in on fear....it is a massive opportunity in this day and age...seems like everyone either is scared, or wants me to be scared...or both.

  I'm a long ways from the anti-vax community,  but I think it is foolish to put blind faith in idea that Pharma has my best interest foremost

[gim]

I travel internationally for work.  Most recently went to South America (Peru) in 2016.  Had to pass a health check and take several shots prior to the trip for exactly the same stuff already mentioned.  Some of my co-workers travel to much worse locations than Peru or Brazil and have to do a lot more to go there.  Southeast Asia, specifically.  Some places are currently restricted and we cannot go there according to the State Dept.

 

Be grateful you live in the United States (or Canada, we have a few here).  There are a lot of unsafe, unsanitary, undeveloped countries that lack basic healthcare, safe drinking water, and other daily luxuries we take for granted here.  I could do without leaving the country again if I had any control over it, but unfortunately at some point I'll have to venture out to an undesirable location in the future.

 

If I were you @Darth-Baiter I'd cancel your trip and stick to the homeland.

[GreenPig]

Have fun. My traveling days are done, if I can't take my truck it ain't happening.

[Darth-Baiter]

i think if the entire planet traveled and got to peek at each other cultures we would be way ahead of the game.

 

and vaccines are time proven. take polio for example.  we can thank a scientist.

 

my title was sarcasm.  i dont scare easy..unless it;s bigfoot or something.  

[roadwarrior]

The only foreign country I might travel to is California.

[Deephaven]

Work puts me in Europe 3-4x a year.  Used to go to Asia a bunch as well, but that's mostly over.  Not really so worried about it.  If you are hitting 3rd world spots then it's a different story.

[TnRiver46]

I hate traveling but it’s a necessary evil if you have women in your life 

[Tennessee Boy]

1 minute ago, TnRiver46 said:

I hate traveling but it’s a necessary evil if you have women in your life 

So very true.   I don’t mind exploring the world,  I just hate airports and cities.

[Darth-Baiter]

i think Airports are the first peek to the city you are about to step foot into.  the airport at Lima..it was "oh-o".  yup.  pandamonium.  the cab ride was like Death Race 2000.  without the hot chick co-driver and machine guns.

[gim]

35 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

the cab ride was like Death Race 2000

I've experienced that first hand in Lima myself and I'm not going to do it again.

 

Once we got outside city limits though, my driver hauled major a** on the Pan-American Highway.

36 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I just hate airports and cities.

I hate the long plane rides.  Anything more than about 4 hours is pretty unbearable for this guy.  The constant air pressure, confinement, and rubbing elbows with a complete stranger is a major turn off.

 

Then there's the tiny little hot cramped restroom that stinks like a porta poddy.  Hard pass

[Darth-Baiter]

noise cancelling headphones changed the game for me.  i just go to my happy place..last time it was binge watching two seasons of the Mandalorian.  

 

flights are cool..the anticipation for me is a drug.

[casts_by_fly]

I just arrived home this morning from 2 weeks in southeast Asia and I experienced the myriad of things already mentioned in this thread. For this trip we were diving is east Indonesia.  Our route was NYC to Bali via Singapore, 2 nights in Bali, 3 hour prop plane flight to middle of nowhere Indonesia (plus a boat ride to get to the resort), then a return with 24 hours in Sing on the way.  
 

Bali is the Wild West for driving. Much like China or Vietnam- lanes are suggestions and the more aggressive driver wins. Singapore roads are like London- calm, organized, courteous. The respective airports are similarly representative.

 

we lived in the UK for 12 years and traveled a ton both for work and personally. We went all over Europe, Indian Ocean, south East asia, china. Like DB said above, if more people traveled and saw more different cultures I think the world would be a better place overall. Learning and understanding how and why people do what they do or how they are can be eye opening. 
 

And noise cancelling headphones are mandatory.  I actually travel with 3 sets of headphones, two wired and one wireless to ensure I am covered no matter what device I’m using or how long I need to use it. 

On 5/24/2023 at 9:41 AM, gimruis said:

 

I hate the long plane rides.  Anything more than about 4 hours is pretty unbearable for this guy.  The constant air pressure, confinement, and rubbing elbows with a complete stranger is a major turn off.

we just did New York to Singapore direct. Touch over 19 hours and the longest flight currently operating. The dry air was a lot over that time and hydration is a big thing. But it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. 

[Darth-Baiter]

@casts_by_fly WOW!!  what a trip!!

 

i drove for a short while in Vietnam when my driver got drunk.  he had a diesel Hilux, so i was, "give me the keys!".  it was in the jungles and not a city so i never felt outgunned.

 

in the city?  i would have walked.  no thanks. 

[casts_by_fly]

1 minute ago, Darth-Baiter said:

@casts_by_fly WOW!!  what a trip!!

 

i drove for a short while in Vietnam when my driver got drunk.  he had a diesel Hilux, so i was, "give me the keys!".  it was in the jungles and not a city so i never felt outgunned.

 

in the city?  i would have walked.  no thanks. 

 

Ho Chi Minh City is bonkers to drive in and I would never do it.  There is a literal river of scooters and motorbikes on every road.  The main roads will fill 2 lanes with them.  I've never seen anything like it before or since.  

[Darth-Baiter]

i was super curious, so i went and saw the remains of Ho Chi Minh.    i am not convinced its the OG laying there.  looks like a wax figure.  

 

one of my coolest visits ever.  did you ever try that "Breakfast beer"?  almost no alchohol and it's intent is to be a sterile, hydration method for the locals.  i dont think they really wash the cups, but i can attest to it's hydrating capabilty. 

[gim]

28 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

 

Ho Chi Minh City is bonkers to drive in and I would never do it.  There is a literal river of scooters and motorbikes on every road.  The main roads will fill 2 lanes with them.  I've never seen anything like it before or since.  

Lima, Peru was just like that too.  Except it was these 3 wheeled moto-taxis instead of scooters.  They sounded like old stroke motors.  It was about 75 cents to take one across town, dirt cheap, but extremely dangerous.  I was astonished that I didn't observe any get into an accident when I was there.

[Darth-Baiter]

LIMA is the nuttiest road trip ever.  i almost learned to say, "i dont think we are going to fit!!" in Peruvian the first 5 minutes of riding in the back of a taxi.    4 lanes roads are just a suggestion.  they are really 8 lanes.  

[casts_by_fly]

2 hours ago, gimruis said:

Lima, Peru was just like that too.  Except it was these 3 wheeled moto-taxis instead of scooters.  They sounded like old stroke motors.  It was about 75 cents to take one across town, dirt cheap, but extremely dangerous.  I was astonished that I didn't observe any get into an accident when I was there.

 

That looks like the equivalent of the Thai tuk tuk.  Crazy little things.  Cheap to hail, get friendly with your seat mate, and hold on for dear life.  Some drivers in Bangkok will even do races if you hail 2 to fit all of your people.

 

[Soulfisher]

I live in South America / Colombia most of the year and my work takes me all over the country. Never caught anything exotic in 20 years or so except the Rona and it wasn’t that bad. I wouldn’t worry about anything in Brazil. Most of the countries down here you can purchase OTC antibiotics at any pharmacy. 

[dirvin21]

On 5/24/2023 at 2:04 AM, Darth-Baiter said:

i travel a lot (before pandemic).  going to Brazil in october.

 

i am fairly well protected with vaccines.  the Travel nurse was delightful, right up until she started talking about rabies.  what the heck?  there is a human vaccines now.  pills or injections.  i declined for now.

 

Malaria. just a series of pills.  she said it isnt the old pill that gave people mental issues..she said it is new and can only cause some GI issues if you dont take with food.  okay.

 

other than one more vaccine, i am going in with some anti biotics - just in case.   i am pretty sure i wont run across any rabid bats..or monkeys.  geesh...world travel is fun, until it isnt.  hahahha

Just don't pat any dogs and you'll be fine as far as rabies goes 

[thediscochef]

I've gotten crazier diseases from Colorado in the last month than I did from cumulative months in Central Mexico and Sub-Saharan Africa. Not to say I'm the rule or anything...but only so much prophylaxis is necessary. I think the anti-malarials and yellow fever make sense in most places at those latitudes but a lot of the others don't make sense, unless you expect increased chances of contact with wildlife or are staying in remote areas without access to clean water. Deet, a good water filter system, and protective clothing can deal with a hell of a lot. I didn't realize there was a rabies preventative out there now...I always thought that was a treatment reserved for mammal bites after the fact. Also a note. The newer anti malaria meds are better than the old ones, but are not at all free of other side effects. Mostly issues with my dreams, but the pill also tastes like envelope adhesive that doesn't go away without help

[Jar11591]

I’m traveling to Iceland in less than 2 weeks. Good thing about being right near the Arctic is it seems to cut down on the infectious diseases. 

[N Florida Mike]

Driving in Florida has become very dangerous. I drive all over Northeast Florida nearly every day, and pray fervently that I don’t die in a wreck or have a heart attack…

[islandbass]

You all are so funny about driving. On the contrary, our country and a few others, are the exception to the world norm that lanes are not always used or followed, lol. 
 

Personally, I don’t go 100% full noise cancellation on my buds (meaning only using one at a time) and the greater the potential for crap in a country to go down against me, the more I want to have one ear focused on paying attention to sounds around me. Americans can be deemed as targets. Easy money, so some tend to believe, and they know you don’t/won’t have much recourse.  Heck, even now in some cities here, so what do I know, lol.  Always be aware of your surroundings.