We recently returned from a two week trip to South America, visiting Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. It was a tough journey, probably the most adventurous trip in several years that we have taken. We were actually on the ground for only 12 days and seeing four countries in that time was ambitious. What made it more so was the fact that we covered much of it overland, taking a 14 hour overnight bus, and then boarding other local buses for six hours and two hours, along with a 90 minute ferry ride. We also crossed four borders overland, exchanged money between each and had to rely on our high school Spanish throughout, which made things take longer and resulted in some comedic situations.

Don’t get me wrong - this was all planned and we had a great time. In fact, the original itinerary was even more ambitious, but I have learned from experience that my need for balance is greater than my desire to “see everything” so several destinations were left on the cutting room floor this time. What was left was a great combination of big cities (Buenos Aires and Montevideo), history (Jesuit mission ruins in Paraguay, a well-preserved colonial city in Uruguay) and the natural beauty of Iguazu Falls in Brazil and Argentina.

I couldn’t help feeling at one point in the trip, however, that maybe I was getting too old for this. We had just arrived in Foz do Iguacu, Brazil, after several days of hard travel, including the 14 hour overnight bus trip that brought us from Buenos Aires to the Paraguay border. The long days leading up to arriving in Brazil began with the Paraguay border crossing, and then navigating through finding a decent hotel in town in 90 degree heat. Early the next morning we made our way to two beautiful Jesuit mission sites, which included getting dropped off a public bus in the middle of nowhere to visit the first site and then negotiating a taxi to take us to the other set of ruins 12 km away. Then to top all of that off, we spent the next day getting to Brazil on a six hour bus odyssey, with hot air from open windows blowing in your face as the bus literally stopped every mile of a 150 mile trip to let people off and pick others up along the highway. Now in Brazil I had reached the end of my patience, it was hot, I was tired and my husband and I were arguing.

I began to think that we weren’t 20 years old anymore and perhaps this type of adventurous independent travel wasn’t for folks that were in their 40s. It was then that I asked myself, why do I travel and does this all still make sense to me at my stage of life? We went to sleep that night frustrated but had a big day planned in the morning at Iguazu Falls. If you are not familiar with these falls, they consists of 275 distinct cascades over a two mile stretch of river, which the tallest fall at 269 ft. When we got up the next day and took the public bus to the falls we engaged in conversations with other travelers. Soon we were speaking with Australians, Dutch, Brits and other Americans, who like us, were independent travelers who had come a long way to see these falls. It was a variety of people, from a couple in their 20s to a woman in her 60s. There was a sense of excitement to be in such a remote place.

When we got to the falls, I was not prepared for what lay ahead. It was truly one of the most spectacular sights I have ever seen! I felt like a child who was at the biggest, best amusement park ever. But this was different because it was all natural, the weather was perfect and we had this day and the next (on the Argentina side) to experience this incredible place on our time, seeing what we wanted in the order we desired. In fact, on both days, we even retraced our steps in both places since we had the time. If I didn’t travel I would have missed this place (which I don’t think most people have heard of) and I wouldn’t have been able to talk to others I met that day and share an universal moment with them as well as enjoy a special place with my husband. Usually pictures don’t do things justice but I have shown many people our photos since we returned and now they appreciate this place as well.

Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime. - Mark Twain

Later on this trip we spent a leisurely lunch in Colonia, Uruguay talking to the cook / waiter about life in that country and his various jobs he has had throughout Europe. Again, this was a unique situation that one doesn’t experience when staying at home. The exchange brought back for me other meals and similar conversations with people in Ecuador, Germany, Sweden and Uganda. In fact, when I think about the 44 countries I have now visited, I can truly say that there is something unique about each and every one I have seen. Like children, there are those special things about each that give them a different personality of sorts. The things I learned about other people and countries were amazing, both in viewing our differences and our similarities as world citizens.

So “Why Travel” do I ask? It is to live, to feel, to experience, even on those days when you are hot, tired and uncomfortable. For it is those things you see and those people that you meet, that you would never view in your own backyard, that makes even the toughest days worthwhile and the entire journey rewarding in the end.

When traveling internationally for an extended period of time, there is a balance between bringing what you want and not being weighed down by a ton of luggage. In this day in age, when airlines pose stringent weight limits on individual bags and even charge to check in luggage it is even more important to carefully plan what to bring.

Luggage Considerations

Starting with the type of bag to bring, the best ones, from a portability and storage standpoint, are either backpacks or sturdy rolling duffels. Within the backpack or duffel, using smaller bags or even something as simple as baggies to keep like items together and accessible makes it easier to find things. I always include extra plastic bags to use for dirty and wet clothes that need to be kept separate from everything else.

Whatever bag you end up choosing, you must be able to lift it and carry it for long distances and off and on trains, planes, buses and other forms of transportation easily. In situations where overground transportation may be used, it is best to have an outer bag or cover to keep dirt and dust off the bag. Using a basic outer bag helps it to blend in with other luggage to discourage theft. Couple this bigger bag with a small backpack that can be used as a carry-on item and for day trips, and you have a great combination for long trips.

Successful Clothes Strategies

Clothing choices for an extended trip are important. Having some variety while maintaining a practical approach to your apparel with go a long way in striking the proper balance in what you bring. Since an extended trip will likely bring you to multiple climates, having layers is important, as is gear for rain and other inclement weather. Everyday clothes should consist of some neutral colors (i.e. beiges and blacks) that can mix and match with some more multi-colored articles. For example, bringing a pair of black pants and beige pants and then some print tops that go with both colors provides you with several outfit variations with just a few clothing items.

Another way to add variety is through numerous smaller items, such as belts, earrings, hats and scarfs. No matter what I bring, I always throw in at least one pair of good old jeans. Shoes are a real challenge. After many trips of having too many or not enough pairs, I have now tried to stay to three types, one that I wear and two that I pack. Those are (1) a good pair of sensible walking shoes, (2) a pair of waterproof sandals (I personally love Tevas because you can walk / hike in those) and (3) a pair of dress shoes.

But What About Laundry?

Laundry is a fact of life on long trips and can get expensive and time consuming to send out to be done. I almost always do my own, and, therefore, rely on non cotton items where possible (with the exception of those jeans I mentioned previously). There are many wonderful fabrics out there that wash well and dry quickly, including quick dry clothes offered by REI, Travelsmith, Magellan, Ex Officio, Columbia. These type of clothes end up being somewhat pricey, so look for sales or close out items. I also seek out tried and true polyesters and silks at my favorite discount stores. One of my favorite tops is a $12 raw silk shirt that I bought at TJ Maxx. It had a subtle pattern that went well with black and beige and dried quickly when washed.

To wash clothes I use the hotel bathtub (or once in India we even used a bucket). I bring little packages of laundry detergent, double bagged to keep them from leaking, and use just a minimal amount with warm water. After washing and rinsing, I take each item and wrap it one of the hotel towels and then wring it out to get all the moisture out. Next I hang it over the bathtub and it will usually dry within a couple of hours.

Electronics and Other Creature Comforts

After choosing my clothes, then there are tough decisions to be made about other items that can be of great necessity during an extended trip, at the cost of the additional weight. The next article will focus on those items that I believe are the most important to have on a long international journey.

During the journey we visited 12 countries on four continents while home schooling our girls, who were in 5th and 7th grades at the time. Taking a trip of this magnitude would be challenging enough, but the planning was just as, if not more, complex. There were all kinds of interrelated tasks that had to be completed before, during and after the trip to ensure it was safe and successful. Combining the education of our daughters into the trip made the planning even more challenging. We started out by treating the planning process as a project, allowing us to divide and conquer the to do list and trip task management.

Trip Charter and Overview

We first created a trip charter, which was reviewed with several people for feedback, including the school principal. Out of this came a one page scope summary of the trip that was easily communicated with others and modified as we moved into more detailed planning:

Detailed Planning Schedule

A schedule was created to incorporate all the various pre-departure activities, from setting the destinations and day-by-day itinerary to creating the budget and financial plan, to determining the logistics with the house (which we rented while we were gone), to formulating the education plan. Then, once we returned, we had many post-trip activities to complete as we settled back into our work and school routines. We actually kept a Microsoft Project schedule that was over 1,000 lines. The excerpt here includes some of those major tasks, durations and predecessors / successors converted into Excel:

Visa Requirements and Day-by-Day Itineraries

Many documents were created to track the planning of the trip. Among the most important were the visa requirements, as we were visiting so many countries, and the detailed, day-by-day itineraries. The documents below show the visa summary for most of the countries on the trip and an example of the itinerary planning from Australia and Brunei:

Education Plan and Meeting with the Principal and Teachers

The education plan was just as important as the trip itinerary. We began meeting with the school principal over a year before the actual trip and his help and support were instrumental in making this a success. We discussed the logistics of home schooling both the girls, subject by subject, including the trip education materials and test administration / communication with the teachers on the road while in such places as Zambia and India.

A couple of months before the journey we began meeting with the teachers as well. The result was a week-by-week education plan for each girl, that listed the lessons, dependent on where we were going to be, what we were going to see and how much time we had that week for schooling. For example, those weeks that we were in Africa on safari were the poorest for studying. The documents below are an actual teacher meeting agenda and a portion of the education plan for Lauren who was in 7th grade during the trip:

Overall the trip was a great experience. We had the time of our lives and the girls gained a world view that they carry with them today. They were both ahead in their lessons when we returned and, most importantly, we all came back safe. Careful attention to all the details and thorough planning were major factors in the overall success of this journey.

No matter how young your children are, there are ways to bring them along on a family vacation and still have a wonderful experience. We have taken great trips with our two daughters from age three through their teen years. They have been to a total of 30 countries all over the world. Successful trips with children just take a little planning, communication and creativity. So, here are 10 tips that can work with all ages to make your next vacation the best ever!

1. Plan a progression of travel with your children

Just like we would not hop on a plane and travel to a new and different country on the other side of the world without some kind of preparation, children also need some progression to prepare for a big trip. So before you take them to Europe for two weeks, try some short journeys to prepare them. For example, visit museums close to home, camp overnight in the backyard, drive for a few hours in a car or take a short plane flight. As we traveled more with our daughters as they grew up, we found this to be very useful as we prepared for each trip.

2. Let the kids have a say in the pre-trip plans

While planning the trip, get the children’s ideas of what they want to do and try to include one of them in your final plans. This will provide them with a sense of contribution to the vacation and something to look forward during the trip. For example, when we went to Australia with our 10 and 13 year old girls they wanted to go to a zoo so we planned our time to include this request.

3. Provide them with some background on the place you are visiting

No matter what the age, there are books, DVDs and Internet materials available on your destination to share with your kids prior to the trip. Look at book stores, your local library or teacher supply stores. When our children were six and nine we took them to Europe for three weeks. We spent time before the trip reading and looking at pictures with them of the Swiss Alps and Paris to get them acquainted with these destinations.

If they like music, find examples of the latest songs. Check out the popular sports and teams in the area and learn about them. When going to a foreign country with older children, teaching them a few words of the local language (“Hello, Please, Thank You”) will help them feel more comfortable with the country they will be visiting.

4. Have age appropriate material for them

Vacation items for children can be inexpensive, such as travel games, coloring books, picture / reading books, and small toys. The important thing to remember is that the material is something that children can have when they are in the car, at the airport, or on the plane when they can easily get bored. On longer vacations, give them some things at the beginning of the trip and save other items for later in the journey or even for the trip home to provide some variety.

Along these same lines, purchasing small mementos along the way can serve as a reward for a child’s good behavior. On the first international vacation with our three and six year old children, we bought the six year old a small plastic toy lamb (for less than $2.00) in Oxford, England, as a reward for her good behavior during the first part of that trip. She loved that lamb and played with it during the rest of the vacation. Other barnyard friends were added from toy shops along the way as a continued motivator throughout that trip.

On the three-week trip to Europe when our daughters were six and nine, we gave them index cards at the beginning of the trip and added stickers on them when they were well-behaved that day. At the end of the trip, they were able to buy small souvenirs depending on the number of stickers each one of them had accumulated.

5. Carry a map and show them where they are

While in the car, train or plane, pull out a map and show your child where they are and where they will be going. Show them where the current location is relative to their home. Besides providing a sense of geography and navigation, it also helps kids understand how far away they are and what landmark or destination to look for in the future. Talk to them about where they have been so that they can talk to others about it when they get home. For older children, giving them the job of navigation will keep them looking forward and engaged.

6. Provide them with a camera to take pictures

You can buy a small, used digital camera on eBay and give it to the kids. They will love taking pictures of themselves and the sights they see. With a memory card there is no need to spend money developing pictures, so it does not matter how the pictures will turn out. Besides being another way to keep them busy and engaged, who knows, a budding career in photography might develop!

7. Plan some activity every day for them

This may not be possible every day of the vacation, but even a short excursion, such as a visit to a park or the swimming pool, can provide children with an activity they want to do. We took our children to park playgrounds in England (when they were three and six), Japan (when they were eight and 11) and Thailand (when they were 10 and 13). We also went to swimming pools in Switzerland (when they were six and nine) and Australia (when they were 10 and 12). Zoos all over the world have also been a hit. When they were older, the desired activities changed to wanting ice cream, going shopping or checking the Internet.

8. Find time for you and the other adults on the trip

As with the tip above, it is important to have some ‘adult’ time on the trip if at all possible to keep everyone’s sanity in check. After all it is your vacation too. If you are with other adults take turns watching the children and have some time for yourself to see that museum, park or to shop. When we traveled with our young children, we would take turns doing this. When they got older (in their teens) we would even let them get fast food (a treat for them overseas) and have it in the hotel room while we went down the street for a quick dinner alone.

9. Go through each day’s itinerary with them

Each night on the trip let the children know about the next day’s activities. If appropriate, ask for any suggestions they might have as to the order of events, lunch possibilities, etc. If there will be time for a ‘fun’ activity that day (see tip #7 above), let them know that as well. Overall, this knowledge will set their expectations and lessen the possibility of the dreaded “are we there yet” question.

10. Create a memory of your trip when you return

When our children were little, we saved mementos, such as ticket stubs, brochures and maps, while on each vacation and made old fashioned scrapbooks. Now this has evolved into creating websites or Facebook photo albums but the concept is still the same. Even today, when we look through the old pictures, it brings back memories of those special family vacations that we have taken.

Jet Lag Prevention while in Transit

Preparing and coping with jet lag is really important since you can literally be on the other side of the world from the US in less than 24 hours, with your body playing catch-up in the process. Starting out a trip falling asleep and feeling ‘out of it’ is not fun for anyone. So what follows are a few tips to consider during your flight and after arriving at your destination.

I am a big believer in trying to get into the new time zone as soon as possible, which means I change my watch to the local time when I board the plane and try to eat and drink accordingly from that time forward. Many times when traveling internationally the flight is overnight and you arrive early the next day at your destination. Try to sleep on the flight, even if it is just a couple of hours, to get a head start in the new time zone. I usually try to have a glass of wine with the flight dinner to relax me. Darren prefers supplemental Melatonin to assist with the hormone already naturally produced by the body. I don’t advocate anything stronger than that as it just seems to make you groggier.

Jet Lag Recovery in your new Destination

Once you have landed and it is a new day, do everything you can to stay awake until evening. I have seen people ’sneak naps’ and then not be able to sleep that night. Then the process of adjusting to the new time zone seems to take longer. I have traveled with others who get stuck in this rut and are still out of sync a week later.

The best way to stay awake is to stay active. Some light sightseeing the first day can help, as can a long stroll outside in the sun. Eating small meals every few hours can also do the trick and keep you going until nighttime. Drinking liquids is a must, although watch having too much caffeine late in the day.

Even with sleeping on the plane and staying awake the first day, that initial night in the new time zone may be a challenge. Most likely you will be exhausted and fall right asleep, only to wake up a few hours later staring at the ceiling and being wide awake. In this case I try to stay in bed and at least doze and ‘rest’ that way. For Darren, counting backwards from 100 works for him when he is trying to go to sleep. By relaxing and not getting uptight about lying awake, I feel at least that I am still resting and can then make it through the next day without the need for a nap.

If you can make it through the second day, that night should be much more restful and then you will be on your way to adjusting to your new vacation time zone and being alert to the fullest!

Introduction and Early Years of Travel

Travel is many things to many people. For some, it represents the break from work, getting away from the daily routine, and could be as basic as sitting by the pool or on the beach. For others it is visiting family and friends or the opportunity to go somewhere different, whether it be in one’s own country or in another part of the world. There are still others that use it as their “trip of a lifetime”, saving for that special, one-time event and then having the time of their life.

Then there is one more type of traveler, one who makes it part of their life and themselves, who is thinking about it even when at home, continually dreaming and living the previous experience while planning the next adventure. When away, they genuinely have a passion for those things different and they want to share their experience with others. I had someone ask me once if travel was one of my hobbies and I responded that, no, I saw it as a way of life. As such, sharing that with others is a natural extension of me and my family.

So this is a story about a family of four who decided to make travel a part of their lives and see the world. A little background is probably in order. Travel has been a part of my life since I was a child. My parents were both teachers and took my brother and me on long summer trips each year in a camper. By the age of 13 I had been to 45 states. When I was in high school, I saw a presentation about foreign exchange students and ran home begging my parents to let me go abroad. I was able to spend a summer in Sweden, living with a family, between my sophomore and junior years in high school. It was an incredible experience that changed me as a person.

Upon my return home from Sweden, my family hosted a foreign exchange student, named Barbara, from Germany for a year. This resulted in a family trip for 3 ½ weeks to Europe the next year, partly to meet my Swedish host family and Barbara’s parents.

Getting Married, having Children and Traveling in Between

Darren and I met in college. After he and I got married and began working, I began to bug him about taking a vacation in Europe. He had been around the United States and on a couple of Caribbean cruises, but not out of North America. We were able to save a little money and, in 1987, took a two-week trip to Europe. We started in Paris, where Darren suffered a classic case of culture shock. He stayed in our hotel room, unwilling to venture out. Once we got going, though, there was no looking back. We did took a traditional Eurail Pass trip and serendipitously made our way through France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany, where we met up with Barbara and my parents. After that trip, Darren was hooked.

We took a few short vacations before our daughter Lauren was born in 1990. Then Kristen came into the world in 1993. We were able to get away here and there when the girls were little, and, as soon as they were old enough to walk, we began to take them with us. Our first international trip as a family was to England in 1997. Kristen was not quite four, Lauren six. We only went for 10 days, figuring we could cope with the worst if need be. Our fears were not realized. The girls made it through with flying colors and really enjoyed the experience.

Other Travels leading up to our Around the World Journey

We then took other trips, expanding our horizons in the process. In 2000 we took a three week vacation to Europe with the kids. Darren and I visited China in 2001 for three weeks and we went to Japan for two weeks as a family in 2002. This culminated in our 4 1/2 month long trip around the world in 2003 – 2004, which we called ‘Cosmos’. After that we continued to explore in other parts of the globe, now having been to 40 countries for Darren and me on six continents (still have Antarctica on the list). The girls have each been to close to 30 countries themselves.

During these trips we have built up a following of people who have desired to follow our adventures, beginning with emails we sent from China in 2001 and now from the six continents we have visited. We have progressed with photos and video to continue to chronicle our journeys. Darren now has an HD video camera and I take the majority of the still pictures.

We have shared the sights and sounds from our travels, as well as our advice and wisdom, with numerous civic and school groups over the past five years, speaking about Cosmos (Around the World), Peru and Uganda, with Ecuador in the works. So travel has and continues to be an integral part of who we are.

Planning Discussions and Financials

When we first began discussing our 4 1/2 month around the world trip with our family in 1999, we wanted to get away from everyday life, experience the world, be with our daughters (12 and 10 at the time) and learn something in the process. It was that simple. However, planning it and actually making it happen were anything but that. Once we made the decision to take that trip, it took thousands of hours of planning, discussion, support and faith to make this happen.

The thought of taking such a journey was daunting from several standpoints. First, there was the financial situation. We were well-off, but not rich. A trip like this would not be cheap and we could not afford to go first-class the entire time. Second, there was the girls’ education to worry about. How would we keep up with their studies while we were gone? Would taking such a trip hurt them academically? And, last, there were our jobs. Could we ask for a leave of absence? If we had to quit or couldn’t get our jobs when we got home, we would need money to live on for a period of time. We would have to save for that too.

Right away, we built a strict financial budget that required us to keep our old cars, fire the house cleaner, and minimize restaurants and other leisure expenses. The one thing we didn’t cut back on was travel. The trips we took from 2000 to 2002 were all part of a progression scheme that we thought was important to exposing our family to international travel. Through our planning and the funneling of any extra raises and bonuses to our savings account, we were able to meet our goal of putting aside about $70,000 for the trip and potential unemployment afterward. We were also able to pay off our house, which would be useful for lowering our fixed expenses while we were gone and after we returned.

Educational Concerns and Safety

As far as education went, we tried to build the journey around areas and activities that would provide a balance of ‘real-life’ educational opportunities. We knew, for example, that the girls both studied Eastern Hemisphere history in 5th and 7th grades at their private school, which is when we went, so we definitely wanted to build the trip around that part of the world. Working closely with the school principal for over a year was essential to making this a reality. In the last few months leading up to the trip, we also met with the teachers for that year to ensure that our plans aligned closely with what the class would be learning in the girls’ absence.

The world was also a scary place, especially after September 11th. We needed to balance a sense of adventure with staying safe and mitigating risk. We tried to keep this in mind as we planned our destinations. Even though we started planning and talking about places to visit a couple of years in advance of the journey, we didn’t settle on the final destinations until about six months before we left. Things kept changing, due to world situations, such as the Iraqi War, the SARS epidemic and travel advisories put out by the US Government.

The Trip and its Aftermath

Well, we finally took the trip, which we called ‘Cosmos’ (visit the Cosmos link for more information about the actual journey) from September 2003 to January 2004. Looking back on it all five years later, that trip was an unqualified success, from the standpoint of us all getting through it safe and sound and the effect it had on the two of us, as well as the girls. They have become well-rounded young adults who carry a true world view and appreciation for what they have in relationship to others they have seen. They have both continued to travel, Lauren as an exchange student in Russia for six weeks in 2006 and with her school in villages for a month in Malawi in 2007, and Kristen volunteering at an orphanage in Mexico. We were also able to take a three week family vacation to Peru in 2005 and had a wonderful time, allowing us to all add our sixth continent in the process.

Even more than five years after we took our 4 1/2 month around the world trip with our girls in 2003 to 2004, we still get questions about what the circumstances were leading up to that journey and why we decided to do it.

Global Travel Inspirations

We received our initial inspiration from several sources. The first experience that influenced Darren and me was during a backpacking trip in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California. On this trip, we met a couple who was on their honeymoon. They were hiking the John Muir trail from Yosemite Valley to the top of Mt. Whitney, a distance of about 210 miles. The husband explained the he had just sold his business and that they planned to climb Kilimanjaro (the tallest peak in Africa) in two weeks. After that, they planned to tour Europe for six months.

We were also greatly influenced by Michael Palin (of Monty Python fame). He has made several travel documentaries and we watched them all. These included “Around the World in 80 Days”, “Pole to Pole” and “Full Circle”. We admired how he used public transportation and was able to mingle with the everyday people of each country that he visited. His time in Africa, on train, bus and ferry was especially breathtaking.

In the summer of 1998 we rented a motor home and drove around Colorado for two weeks as a family. We had a great time visiting national parks and camping in the forest. One day, we were driving around Estes Park, just outside of Rocky Mountain National Park, when we noticed a recreational equipment store with a sign indicating a free Nepal slide show that night. We decided to come back to see it. We were mesmerized with the scenery and the stories that the presenter told. In addition to being the store owner, he also led treks to Nepal and Switzerland.

Making the Decision to Travel Around the World

Finally, all of these influences culminated at Los Angeles International Airport in March of 1999. After only have traveled to Europe, we were breaking out to take a two week backpacking trip to New Zealand. Darren had just returned from the pay phone to check his work voicemail while I waited at the gate for our 8pm Friday night flight. We had both worked all day and had raced to the airport. We would be coming back home on a Monday and going right back to work the next day, to maximize every minute of our time away. We both began to discuss how hard it was to leave work. There was so much going on and it would be so depressing to return. How long would it take to really get away from it all? One month? No, too short. How about longer than that? Well, maybe three or four months. At that length of time, you could really see the world and put work and everyday life behind you.

Was it possible to leave everything for a multi-month trip? If we did this, we would have to take the girls. How could this happen with their schooling? When would be the best time to go, given their ages? What about our jobs? What about our house? The questions kept coming. It was both an overwhelming thought and a challenging one at the same time. Over the next two weeks of our New Zealand trip, we discussed the possibilities. By the time we got back to California, we figured that it was possible.

How did we actually plan this type of trip to make it really happen? See our article on How to Plan an Around the World Trip for the details.

Feeling bad while on the road and being in a strange place is one of the worst situations one can experience, especially when so much time, money and effort have gone into planning a trip. Watching what you eat and drink can go a long way in preventing this scenario from happening. While I have had my share of feeling ‘under the weather’ during my travels, I have developed techniques for preparing and dealing with food and drink that have helped me from not getting sick more times than not.

This discussion falls into three categories: Food challenges, Drinking dilemmas and What to do if the Worst Happens. Hopefully this advice will be useful for your next journey.

Food Challenges

As far as food goes, I have been most successful in following a few simple rules. I tend to want to try the local food when I travel. So I will look for a restaurant that has other people in the establishment, which tells me that it has some kind of reputation and that the food is probably being cooked to order to keep up with the demand. I prefer to order off the menu and avoid any buffet items that look like they had been sitting out for awhile or anything that contains milk or cream that is not being refrigerated. Even a little bit of the wrong thing can end up being a problem. For example, I know someone who had a little cream in their coffee that had been sitting out and got sick because of that. To be really safe I minimize my meat and cream-based dish intake and stick to soup, pizza and vegetarian food, although there is the risk of missing out on some of the local delicacies by doing so. Try as much as possible to be in control of what you eat and do not let others order for you. In general, if it looks good, smells good and is hot, it is probably OK. If not, don’t eat it.

Drinking Dilemmas

With the water in developing countries, I absolutely use bottled water for everything, including brushing my teeth. Some hotels claim that they have pure water, but I never take the chance. Many hotels in developing countries provide you with free bottles in the room or provide a convenient way to purchase them, so access shouldn’t be a problem. One very important thing to remember is to always check to ensure that the seal is on the water bottle before drinking from it for the first time. Many bottles are re-used without being cleaned and re-sealed. This happens more than you might think and I have saved myself from becoming sick numerous times by checking first. Once, when traveling in India, I tried to warn a friend about this and he didn’t hear me and drank from a reused bottle. He got sick a short time later. Most places have tea and coffee and that is fine to drink, due to the boiled water. I haven’t had problems with soft drinks but always take a look at the can or the bottle in the same way that I mentioned earlier regarding the bottled water.

When the Worst Happens … Now What?

If you do get sick, you should have some medicine with you in your travel bag (i.e. Imodium) and take that as soon as possible, as well as drink water to help speed things along. See the upcoming article on packing for more suggestions on the contents of a medical kit for the road. If you are able to catch it early, hopefully you will just feel bad for a few hours and can be back at full strength quickly, especially after a good night’s sleep. Occasionally you may feel bad for a day or two. In that case you will have to slow down, get some rest and make sure that you are staying hydrated. If you continue to feel bad beyond that, then you may need to seek out some medical help, but I have never had to do that, fortunately.

So, by following these few guidelines, hopefully your trip will be a healthy and happy one!