Health and Safety while you travel. These are two of the most important concerns that people often have while they travel. So let's explore. There are three things you should know in order to travel safely. One is know yourself. Two is know the country conditions where you're going.

And three is no your emergency plan. So let's look at each of these. What do we mean by know yourself? Well, first of all, review your own health status and any medical conditions that you have that could be irritated, aggravated or exacerbated by traveling to different climates, traveling where there are different conditions and roads and accommodations and where you have to eat different foods and so forth. So you want to be clear about your own health status if there's been any recent change in it, or if you have any chronic long term conditions that you need to consider. The other thing is you need to know how to stay healthy while you fly.

Because you can get actually sick on a flight which could affect the rest of your travel experience. And you also want to prepare by seeing a travel doctor. How can you plan for your flight health? One is to try to protect your veins during a long flight. sounds funny, right? But sitting for long periods of time has been associated with developing blood class.

And so usually international travel and includes some sort of flight or periods of time where you're sitting and just not moving. You want to do things that are recommended by airlines even in their magazines. And then there's some short videos, such as walking and getting up and walking around every hour or two. doing small exercises at your seat where you're moving your ankles, your knees, your shoulders, your elbows, you can even do things like take a tennis ball with you and roll it up and down your legs so that you stimulate the circulation of blood in your legs. This is really, really important. The other thing you want to do while you're flying is to adjust your eating.

When you're so high up at such a high altitude, your digestion slows down. And so eating huge meals is really not recommended. That's one of the reasons why airlines give you such small portions when they serve you food when you're flying. So you want to eat smaller meals, smaller more frequent meals or snacks, and also stay hydrated, preferably with water, less sugary drinks and less alcohol. Water will help you to digest the amount of food that you eat in and help you to stay hydrated. You also want to look at how to strengthen your immune system.

Even something as simple like an a supplement such as vitamin C, so that if you're exposed to any viruses, which you're more more vulnerable to while you're flying and interacting with people from all over, that you have a stronger immune system. You can also stretch Your immune system by making sure that you get enough rest before you travel and while you travel. The other thing is to moisturize your skin. When you're in the closed air cabin with the research related air it can really dry out your skin, and so constantly going and putting a little water in your face. moisturizing it with lotion, or some facial moisturizer can really help so that once you arrive, your skin isn't completely dried out and dehydrated. And some people really don't understand the importance of CV seeing a travel doctor.

This is really a preventative measure. It's a way for you one to get information about how your particular health condition might be affected by travel to a particular region. Travel doctors are experts they know about the different health conditions and even the healthcare systems in different parts of the world. So you can really get some specific information about how your health condition might be affect By travel, you can get immunizations or vaccinations against certain viruses that might be common, where you're traveling to, and information about how to prevent illness such as traveler's diarrhea and other bacterial infections that could be common either from water, foods and other things that you might come into contact with. And also, some places that you traveled to. There are some mandatory shots.

There are certain parts of West Africa, for example, where you have to show proof of a yellow fever vaccination. That's because yellow fever, at one point was endemic and is a very serious and deadly disease. And so certain countries decided that in order to enter the country, you have to have this vaccination. You can find out what shots are mandatory and even get those shots. When you go see a travel doctor. The second thing is to know the country so one was know yourself to know the country.

You want to know things Like the season what what is the season that you're going to be traveling? Is it the rainy season dry season? Are there other weather considerations? You really want to understand the social and political climate at the time of the country that you're going to, and even the relationship with your own country? So are there tensions diplomatic or political tensions between your own home country in the country you're traveling to? You want to understand the condition, the medical facilities that are available, and even things like the road conditions?

And we'll talk about why. Why the season matters. This could affect things like the safety conditions in the country. We talked, we just mentioned roads. So if it's a rainy season, and you're planning to take a really long drive into the interior of the country, you want to be aware of that. What are the road conditions like?

Are there other safety things to consider, depending on the season, also, there might be certain insert insect borne illnesses that are more prevalent. For example, in a tropical climate during the rainy season, there might be certain mosquitoes that are more prevalent in the rainy season that transmit malaria versus the dry season or daytime versus nighttime. You also want to see if there are certain things around crowds and other safety considerations. depending on the season, if it's a high tourist season, it might be more crowded. And that could be a consideration. Maybe you're more interested in exploring when it's less crowded, and it might feel like it's a little safer to move around or not as congested.

Also, the political climate of the country really matters. Sometimes there could be tensions between countries that could impact how tourists are treated. And none of this is to say that you shouldn't go It's just that you should be aware if there are certain you know, tensions. Currently, there are many tensions between the United States and North Korea and there have been examples of tour, you know, visitors, American visitors to North Korea breaking laws and receiving really harsh sentences. There are other situations where their attention is not necessarily because of political tensions. But you know, there are many tourists that go to a particular country.

And again, culture clashes, that could affect how tourists are treated. There was a case recently in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, where tourists Western tourists, I think they were from the UK were seen kissing and expressing intimacy in public, which is against the law, and they were actually arrested and are facing trial for breaking that law. So it's really important to not just understand the political climate but the social climate and mores of the country. You also want to be aware of political instability and plan accordingly. There are places that are really beautiful. And there might be, you know, some instability or tensions because there's an upcoming election or that there's some problems between different political parties or protests.

There were recent protests in Turkey. And while people were traveling, they just needed to be aware of these two things. So they could know where there might be protests where there might be tensions between the authorities and protesters and so forth. When I was actually living in Bahrain, in the Middle East, there were many political tensions that arose between the ruling government and the population, there were protests and you know, there would be certain parts of the country or city that would be completely normal tourism and, and, you know, activities going on as normal. And then you could go a mile away where there will be protests. There could even be Things like tear, tear gas and other interactions are clashes between the population and the police and security.

So that it was important to just be aware of that and get information stay updated on information. And we'll talk a little bit later about something called the step program through the State Department that helps to keep you aware of these tensions and things that might happen unexpectedly. Also, medical facilities and rows, this is important to get information about that. Sometimes people they understand why I say medical facilities, medical facilities actually range in quality and cost across the globe. So there's some places where it's really hard to get good quality medical treatment in case you get hurt. There are other places where it's available, but the cost is really high.

So you just want to do a little research to know what's available just in order to plan in case you should get hurt. But also road conditions are really important to be aware of road crashes are actually very common across the globe in all countries. And they are increasing in number and frequency as there are more and more roads, you know, cars on the road. But people underestimate how often tourists and visitors are actually injured in road accidents. Just a little of information for you to know not to scare you. But there are currently more than 1.3 million road traffic deaths per year across the globe, and many other injuries.

You know, in addition to that, and they're all kinds of people they get hurt, but primarily people who are riding motorcycles, pedestrians, people walking, people who are cyclists riding their bicycles, and also passengers are drivers in vehicles. And so this is a risk that's part of travel. It's a risk. Just part of your everyday life even if you don't travel, but it's important to be aware of some of the road conditions. And then we'll talk a little bit later about travel insurance and why that's important. And that addresses some of the risks that are associated with road conditions, medical facilities, and so forth.

So, Part Three or number three is you want to know your emergency plan. You want to do things such as tell someone at home or you know, wherever you're traveling from, where you are, you want to keep them updated, either with an email or some sort of social media message so that people particularly if you're traveling by yourself, have a sense of where you are so that they know that you're safe. They won't worry if they don't hear from you for a little while. You also want to make sure that you purchase travel insurance. This is part of your emergency plan. And many people neglect this, but I always recommend no more matter how long you're traveling for that you actually travel, you actually purchase travel insurance.

You want to know the laws of the place that you're going to not, you know, to say that you have to go to law school and study every law book. But there are certain countries where things like even possession of a small amount of narcotic drugs can really get you into a lot of trouble. You want to know, as I mentioned earlier about the case in Dubai, whether or not it's a society that's socially conservative, where there are certain laws against how you interact with the opposite sex, and you know, public displays of drink of drinking or intimacy and so forth. So you want to be aware of those big sort of issues that have legal implications. The other thing is you want to register for what's called the step program. And this is a program through the State Department, the smart traveler enhancement program.

Program. Why do you need travel insurance? Getting sick or hurt abroad is very, very expensive. Most of the typical health insurance that you might have really doesn't include or cover some of the incidents that you might experience abroad. And so if you are in a situation where you need to be treated by a doctor, you don't want to have to choose between being able to buy food for the remainder of your trip, and going and being able to see a doctor to for example, get some antibiotic or get some medication for an illness. So getting sick, sick or hurt abroad is very expensive, and travel insurance can help allay those costs.

Also, it could be a matter of life or death. Again, I said medical facilities vary across the world. And so you might have either an injury from a serious illness or some other medical event that requires a higher level of care that you might need to be evacuated to a nearby country or even back home so that you can get the proper treatment. And if you can't, if you don't have the cash on hand, then many times place you know, you can't get that evacuation. And so, travel insurance covers those type of serious matters so that you can get if God forbid you're ever in a situation where it's life or death that you can get the treatment or evacuation that you need. Also travel insurance besides the health part, it helps to protect your trip things like lost or stolen luggage, if you have to cancel your trip or change your trip because of some unexpected emergency that is protected and covered with travel insurance.

So again, it helps to save you money. There are different benefits. There's all different types of travel insurance policies and companies. And one of the website links on this lecture will give you a sense Where you can compare different types of travel insurances, so some are better because they're more comprehensive for longer term travel. Some are better for shorter term travel. It's really up to you.

But there's certain benefits that you want to look out for one is a medical plan so that in case you are sick or hurt abroad, that your costs, your medical costs and treatment costs can be covered. And you don't have to have the cash at hand or the money to pay for it. Also emergency evacuation and repatriation again, you might have an injury that's really severe. I heard of a situation when I was in Senegal were a Peace Corps volunteer who was there was actually gored by a bowl and it went into her I think her stomach or something, and it was a pretty serious injury. She survived and she's okay but she had to be evacuated to I think somewhere in Europe to get treatment. Also trip cancellation.

Like I said, if your trip has to be shortened or canceled because of an emergency or even something like a pending natural disaster, anything that's unexpected where your trip is impacted, it can be covered with some travel insurance also stolen or lost baggage and luggage, personal belongings, this is happening more and more with different flights. And, you know, you know, the more people that are traveling, then there's more room for error with baggage and so some policies cover this. Also legal assistance. There's some benefits of travel insurance that can actually help you get access to a lawyer in case you find yourself unknowingly caught up in a legal problem. Also car rental damage. Some people when they travel, I talked to a young woman who actually went to Iceland, and she ended up renting a car but she didn't know before she rented it that the only cars they had manual or the cars of the rental agency had were manual stick shift, and she had only ever driven automatic.

And so she was having some problems. You know, once she rented the car really being able to drive it and I think she got a little scratch or got into a little crash and damaged the car. But she luckily had travel insurance and it covered the damage. She didn't have to pay anything. So there are all kinds of policies, you can compare price benefits, deductibles, and make your choice. And as I mentioned, the step program program, the smart traveler enrollment program, and this is a way to stay abreast of important information about the country's safety.

So general information about conduct health conditions, political and social conditions, but it's also a way that the embassy can know the embassy in the country that you're going to can get in contact with you in the case of an emergency. As I mentioned, when I was in Bahrain, I had already enrolled in the step program. And when there were different protests and other political and social tensions that were happening, we would get contacted by the embassy to say, Okay, this is an area of the city that you want to avoid on this day. This is there's a protest planned or this is where tensions are. And also when the it looked like maybe some of us would need to be evacuated or have to leave the country, the embassy had a very quick and easy way to get in contact with this. Also, with the step program when you register, it's a way for family and friends to be able to contact you in case of an emergency through the embassy.

So it's a really good way to make sure that you know, people can feel you and even your family and friends back home can feel comfortable that someone can get in contact with you. So, given these things that you need to be aware of your own Status the country's conditions in your emergency plan, I have a couple of challenges for you. One is to compare to travel insurance plans. So look on the link of the website where you can look at different travel insurance benefits deductibles and costs compared to travel insurance plans, just so you have an idea of what's out there. And you can be thinking about what you want to choose the next time you travel and also go and create create a step traveler. Again, that's this smart traveler enrollment program.

Create an account on the State Department website. The link is attached to this lecture where you can actually easily start to register in the country that you're traveling to next. The other challenge is for you to think about what concern you have about your next destination. Are there any specific health or safety concerns that you have, again, remembering When we talked about travel fears, awareness is very important. So you can think about some specific specific travel or health concerns that you have about your next destination. And then think about what you can do to plan for those concerns.

What is your backup or emergency plan or plan B for those concerns, so that you can be more at ease once you actually travel. So make sure that you do these two challenges, and I think you'll be well on your way to preparing yourself for safe and healthy travel.