Staying healthy on your travels
How to plan your first trip by yourself
Boarding the plane to head to another country alone is often an emotional experience – there's the excitement, the anxiety, the anticipation. It can also be totally nerve-wracking. When Angie Orth made the choice to leave her job and embark on a solo year-long journey around the world in 2011, her friends and family cautioned her about safety concerns. “Everyone was horrified,” the Florida native told USA TODAY. “The fear was all I heard.” The then New York City-based Orth kicked off her 12-country solo trip in Fiji before making her way to New Zealand, Australia, and Southeast Asia.
She trekked through Europe, then stopped in Turkey and Egypt before ending in Kenya and South Africa.
To safeguard yourself and others against preventable illnesses while exploring new places, look up any recommended vaccinations for the countries you plan on visiting. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website is a good starting point, with in-depth travel health notices and recommended vaccines and medicines posted all in one place. The CDC website also offers travel advice on managing non-preventable illnesses, like preventing bug bites to reduce the risk of contracting diseases such as dengue or Zika.
Typically, you'd want to give yourself at least a month before departing on your trip to get everything you need from your doctor. And if you don't know who to go to, the CDC can help you find a clinic as well. Orth recommends having a doctor help you put together a medical kit with you with some necessities and medications, like for food poisoning. “It's helpful to have some things on hand so you're not scrambling on a remote island and no one knows what you're talking about,” she said.
As you're making the big purchases for your trip, don't forget about travel insurance for the unexpected. Orth said she never travels without this layer of protection. Travel insurance not only helped with her medical costs from her bike collision but also replaced her camera, which was smashed in the accident. She also recommends a service called MedJet, which offers worldwide security crisis and medical transportation assistance for its members.
Kathleen Wong is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Hawaii. You can reach her at kwong@usatoday.com.