How to Guarantee Safe Travels

Vacations are meant to be to be an escape from the everyday, filling your life with fun, excitement, and creating lasting memories. However, even the best prepared traveler can suffer an injury or accident. Even in the best of cases, it’s a minor accident or injury and your health isn’t compromised. Still, it’s likely that the rest of your vacation is partially or totally affected and your ‘vacation’ as we know it, is over.  Your best bet when traveling, especially internationally, is to have travel insurance.  To learn more about travel insurance, click here to read a previous post. 

Listed below are just a few tips to ensure safe travels and avoid adversity, so that you can enjoy your much-deserved trip instead of worrying about how to recover: 

Be Prepared

Follow the motto of the Boy Scouts and “Be Prepared.” Considering vacations cost so much, it’s worth taking the time to be completely prepared for your trip. Going camping? Check your gear ahead of time to make sure everything works properly and is adequate for outdoor living. Pack plenty of sunscreen, bear spray (if necessary), bug repellents, a first aid kit, and cell phone battery chargers.

Heading to a new country? Make sure you are aware of any recommended vaccinations, drinking water issues, and any customs requirements. Also, be sure to pack a decent supply of antibacterial cream as well as medication for common conditions like motion sickness/nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, indigestion, headaches, fungal infections, ear aches, toothaches, and foot care (moleskin, band aids).  When in a foreign country, it might be too difficult to locate a pharmacy or know what you’re buying because of the language barrier.

It’s never a good idea to sporadically take a vacation, especially overseas. It’s best to learn everything about where you are going, what you’ll be doing, as well as the weather, customs, the variety of hotel accommodations, water quality, and the rules of the road to make sure your vacation goes as planned.

Choose Appropriate Accommodations

If you’re a frugal travel and decide to go with cheap accommodations, don’t be surprised to wake up with weird bites. Old and cheap motels can harbor all kinds of insects like ants, mosquitoes, and bedbugs. Poor air quality, mold, and abundance of dust mites can become a serious issue when it affects someone with a weakened immune system or someone who suffers from allergies or asthma. If you’re sleeping outside at a campsite (or are exposed to outdoor air), make sure you have adequate mosquito protection. Mosquitoes are known for being able to pass blood-related diseases from one person to another. Diseases like malaria, yellow fever, and the Zika virus are all transmitted by mosquitoes. Ensure that you have proper accommodations especially if you’re in a developing part of the world. Being frugal isn’t smart when your health is at risk.

Drive Safely

During any road trip, you can spend HOURS on the road. You can get distracted, get drowsy, or simply get frustrated, leading to a decrease in concentration. This can lead to an accident. Unfortunately, traffic accidents are surprisingly common these days. You’re always going to be vulnerable on the road, but when you’re driving in unfamiliar territory it becomes that much more dangerous. This is especially true when the roads are rainy, snowy, or icy. Familiarize yourself with your route before starting out, learn the rules of the road when driving in a new country, or simply stop and let someone else drive. You never want to put yourself, your family, nor anyone else in danger. Drive slower, take breaks, speak up when fatigue sets in, and be more aware when you are driving in unknown conditions. 

Avoid Tourist Accidents

On a rare occasion, you may experience what’s called a “tourist” accident. This is essentially an accident that happens as a result of you being a tourist. For example, you might accidentally get hit by a cyclist because you didn’t realize that you’re walking in a bike lane, or you might be treated poorly by someone in public due to a misunderstanding or discrimination towards you. You could be injured on a boat, in a car, or on a train due to someone else’s negligence. We don’t want to think about these kind of events, but they do happen.

If you’re ever in this situation, then you may want to see Dolman Law Group or another injury lawyer to help you seek compensation. Accidents like these should be dealt with as soon as possible, whether abroad or at home. Having travel insurance would also help to ease the pain of situations like these.

Avoid Overexertion and Reckless Behavior

Sometimes on vacation, people tend to overdo physical activity and/or behave badly. Whether it’s too much alcohol, too much sun, or too much exercise, it’s important not to get carried away and injure yourself. Indulging in too much alcohol increases risk-taking behavior, which can lead to recklessness and foolish acts. Don’t drink so much that you end up getting arrested and ruin your family’s vacation.

Overdoing outside physical activity is not smart while on vacation either. That extra game of tennis while out in the sun, pushing to get more miles done on your hike, or spending too much time in the kayak can put stress on your heart and lungs. Even if you are in the best of shape, why push yourself to the extreme when you’re in a new environment and away from home? The same is said for time in the sun. A bad sunburn can ruin any vacation. Be smart and don’t get so caught up in the activity that you forget to give yourself time to relax and rest. It’s important to have both happy travels and safe travels also.

One of the best things about vacations is being able to experience new places and moments with the ones you love. Unfortunately, there are always going to be issues like food compatibility, sunburns, or physically pushing yourself too hard, all of which can lead to injury or discomfort. The best course of action is to always be careful and pay attention, to keep you and your family safe and accident free while traveling. We all want safe travels, it just takes a little more effort to make sure we do.

Happy and SAFE Travels!

Julie

This post was published in collaboration with other companies and may contain affiliate links.  All opinions in this blog are my own and are not affected by any advertiser or product. Per FTC guidelines, this website may be compensated by companies mentioned through advertising, affiliate programs, or otherwise. Any references to third-party products, rates, or websites are subject to change without notice.