Travel Tip 89
What to do if you get sick while traveling?
Maybe a water fight on a cold day wasn’t good for my health, but it was a lot of fun.
Last week I got sick.
I was in Cajamarca, in northern Peru, for carnival. The city goes all out and has many unique traditions, which you can read about in my blog below. Fun as it was, it also rained every day, and I caught a cold.
I wasn’t sick enough to need anything more than hot tea & soup, and extra rest, but what if it had been worse? If I had been sicker, or in a country where I didn’t speak the language, I would have needed help.
Here’s my top five tips for what to do if you get sick or hurt when you’re traveling.
Check what your travel insurance does and doesn’t cover. Most don’t cover “extreme” sports like mountaineering.
1. Make sure you have a comprehensive travel insurance policy.
Sometimes your credit card will cover certain kinds of insurance. Check if you have a card that will include rental car insurance if you use the card to pay for the car. Also check if it will cover lost or delayed luggage, if you use the card to pay for the flight. Some credit cards also pay out compensation for flight delays and other unexpected travel problems.
There will still be things your credit card won’t cover, so make sure you have a travel insurance policy that also covers getting sick or an accident.
I use SafetyWing and if you buy insurance through my link, I may get a small commission at no extra cost to you. I started using SafetyWing last year because it has lower premiums that the insurance I was previously buying, and it has better coverage.
Consider where you’re going when you decide on coverage. If you’ll be in an expensive place like Europe, you’ll need more coverage than if you’re somewhere that hospitals are cheap, like Thailand. However, if you’re going somewhere remote, like Hawaii, a cruise or Patagonia, you’ll need more coverage for medical evacuation.
An expensive policy isn’t always better.
When you’re comparing travel insurance policies, look at what they cover before you look at the price. There are over a dozen factors that go into pricing, such as the traveler’s age, the trip length and location, and other factors that have nothing to do with the quality of the policy, such as the marketing budget and shareholder expectations. I’m sure there’s a long list of things that affect prices that I’ve never even heard of.
At this clinic in Bogotá, I realized that I didn’t know any emergency numbers in Colombia.
2. Know emergency numbers
Each country has their own version of 911, so be sure you know what those numbers are. In many countries, there isn’t one comprehensive number for all emergencies, and you may need to remember different numbers for medical emergencies than for fire or police to report a crime. Write the numbers down on something you won’t lose, like a sticky note on the back of your credit card or passport. Something in your wallet is usually better than on your passport, since that should be left in your hotel safe when you’re out and about.
3. Check with pharmacies
The laws for which medications require a doctor’s prescription are different in every country. If you are bringing prescription meds from home on your trip, check if you can get refills where you’re going. If you lose the bag with your meds, or if you end up staying longer than anticipated, you may need to buy more meds during the trip. Flight cancellations and even global pandemics can prevent you from getting home as planned, so make sure you have a way to get more medications if you need them.
The clinic on Amantaní Island is very basic and you’ll need evacuation insurance if anything serious happens.
4. Research local hospitals
If you’re going to be in a particular city or country for a while, it’s worth checking which hospitals serve international travelers best. Some cities have private clinics that always have English-speaking staff on hand, or who have doctors trained in North America or Europe.
5. Trust strangers
If you break your ankle on a hike, you’re going to have to rely on the kindness of strangers, unless you happen to be traveling with people strong enough to carry you out of the mountains. I’m on high alert for scammers when booking hotels or tours and on high alert for pickpockets when in a crowd, but if I’m sick I know that most people who offer to help are Good Samaritans.
Years ago, I lost count of how many strangers went out of their way to help me when I needed it. I can count on one hand the number of strangers who have taken advantage of me in some way when traveling. Go with your gut when accepting help, but keep in mind that most people truly are kind.
Carnival costumes in Cajamarca were full of Inca symbols and sacred animals, like the condor, puma and snake.
Blog
Carnival, (carnaval en español), is a packed week of festivities in Cajamarca. Some of what I saw, costumes and parades, you can see at most carnival celebrations. Some, like “clon” dancers and the Ño Carnavalón, are unique to Cajamarca. Click on the blog title above to see everything I loved about carnival in Cajamarca.
