Passport Health of Oklahoma offers many travel medical services
I know for some travelers that planning that big trip can be very time consuming. One of the biggest challenges may be the type(s) of immunizations you have to have, and the other may be the medications you want to have on hand to avoid any unnecessary problems while traveling.
I recently asked some people I work with “when was the last time you had a tetanus vaccination”? I got a lot of blank stares because no one could remember. Not a single person kept a list of their vaccinations on a “International certificate of vaccination card”. Those people who had kept the same doctor over all the years said they would just ask their doctor. But, if you are out of the country you can’t always ask your doctor. It is always a good idea to carry a copy of the list of your vaccinations in case you have a medical problem.
Because of my travels, I have had a series of different types of immunizations. My doctor doesn’t do all of them. I went to three different places to get all the proper ones. This exercise involved a number of phone calls on my part calling either the local health dept, or the local university health center to see what vaccinations they offered. And this was after I had to do all the research on the countries I was visiting to find out the vaccinations I needed! Wouldn’t it be easier to have someone manage this for you? I believe so!!
I recently met Seth Haymore here in Oklahoma City who manages a company named “Passport Health” with offices in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Seth is a seasoned traveler and understands the many challenges that travelers face. His company, Passport Services, can handle many types of medical travel services for you. Below is a partial list of some of the things they offer.
They will:
- assess your health history and needs based on your Itinerary
- Provide info on health risks and required and recommended immunizations
- Security Tips
- Precautionary measures for dietary activities
- Provide the International Certificate of Vaccinations that I mentioned above
- Recommend travel and evacuation insurance options
- Offer additional on-site services.
They offer other medical travel services in addition to the above. If you are planning a large or small trip out of the country, it may be worth your while to call Seth in Oklahoma City at 405 563-8961 and in Tulsa at 918-770-4290. Or check out his website at www.passporthealthok.com. Your health and security are the two most important things to plan for when traveling.
The Grab Guard(R)-a really neat travel security device
A really neat travel security device-the Grab Guard(R)
I am always on the lookout for cool travel accessories. Some of them are listed in my travel tips column. I am huge believer in practicing security when I travel. I have heard too many horror stories from other travelers who have had backpacks, purses or bags stolen right in front of their eyes. So, I was particularly intrigued with this easy to use locking device called the “grab guard”
The Grab Guard in black
It is an easy to use two (2) number combination cable lock that is extremely lightweight and serves the purpose of temporarily delaying any thief that is trying to make a “quick getaway” with your stuff. Usually all it takes is a slight deterrent to make a thief choose a different target.
I often travel with a 22 inch roll aboard suitcase and carry a small backpack. The problem is when I am sitting in an airport waiting area and trying to keep both the suitcase and the backpack secure. With the Grab-Guard, I simply put the cable lock through both pieces to keep them secured together.
I recently used it on a trip to New York and it eased a lot of my concerns with keeping my bags secured together. I really liked using it. My next trip was to Chicago, where I forgot and left the Grab-Guard at home. On that trip, I had much more anxiety about my bags when I wasn’t using the Grab Guard.
The grab guard in brown
I wanted to get some other people’s opinions about Grab Guard. I started out with my daughter who travels a lot. Her comments were “Yeah! I can totally see this in the airport. I am always afraid I am going to fall asleep and someone will walk off with my purse” “Now, I can attach my purse to either me or the armrest while waiting for my flight. This would be perfect for travel”!!
When I showed it to my wife, she said, “Wow that is a neat little gadget! It’s cool! It’s small! I wish I would have had that this morning to have secured my purse in the restaurant when we were having breakfast”!
My friend Kim said, “I think it is perfect for securing my purse in the cart at the grocery store.” “I see women all the time that are getting ready to have their purses stolen because they just set them in the grocery cart.” ” I am going to have my husband get me one”!
I then interviewed some random 20-something(ages) young women at Starbucks. Their comments were, “I would use it at the airport or in the grocery store”. “It would be perfect”! “I really like it.” The most shocking comment I got from the younger girls was a shrug when asked if they would use in a restaurant. Several of the younger ones said “I probably wouldn’t use it to secure my purse in a restaurant, because no one in this city would ever steal your purse off a chair” (???) Famous last words of the uninitiated!
Grab guard secures purse to chair
Grab Guard used to secure backpack to chair
Do yourself a favor and check out their website for ordering info. Plus you can see the video on the various uses of the product. www.grabguard.com
Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net
Read about my travel tips here
Read about the rest of my other world travels here
Comments? Please post below or email me at ssb11@prodigy.net
Travel Tips (Part 10-Tips from Stacey Part C)
(Cont’d from Part 9)
Part 10: Stacey recently updated her comments from above with the following:
“I still love my list, though here are some technological updates:”
1) I’ve moved from film cameras to digital with an underwater bag to a new waterproof digital camera – sweet!
2) I also pack a photo memory card reader so I can blog photos on a trip and leave the memory card instead of the camera when I have a CD made of my photos for backup.
3) I carry a small UV water purifier Steripen instead of a water purification pump system.
4) Instead of a clothesline with pins I braid small-gauge surgical tubing which makes a stretchy, easy to tie up clothesline that doesn’t require pins since you can just poke the corners of your clothes into the braid.
5) Instead of packing around guide books I razor out the pages and chapters I need and just pack those. I also make copies of guidebook maps and laminate them so they’re handy and hardy.
6) For travel to really hot areas I’ve grown fond of the neck coolers that have crystals in them that swell when soaked and stay really cool for hours; they’re reusable, but may be confiscated as “gel” if you try to take them in a carry-on or wear them on the way home (but they’re cheap, so no big deal).
Ok, that does it for travel tips. Thanks to Stacey for her contribution.
Next stop is Taipei, Taiwan, across the Pacifc and back in 61 hours! Can you do it? It’s a fun blog to read. Don’t miss it!!
Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net
To read about my other travels click here or http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/mytravels/
Comments? Please post below or email me at ssb11@prodigy.net
Travel Tips (Part 9-tips from Stacey Part B)
(Continued)
Here are some more of Stacey’s Travel Tips, all written by her:
“Email to yourself anything you might need including airline and hotel reservation numbers and contact information, emergency numbers, email and snail mail addresses, travel websites, and scans of your passports and traveler’s checque numbers in case you somehow lose everything you were carrying.
I’ve traveled “heavy” and now that I’ve experienced travel with only a carry-on, I can’t imagine what anyone would want to take that would be worth lugging around more. Here are 2 helpful websites about packing light, not specific to Latin America:
http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/tips/packlight.htm
My own(Stacey’s) Central Am. packing list is #14 here:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=828622&tstart=0
Also, here is the preamble to the 2003 travelogue of our family’s trip to Belize, more philosophical.
~As Mason Williams would say, “Don’t go down to the ocean with a notion of what you will find”. In other words, expect your adventures to be wonderful but don’t expect them to be predictable;
~grab every opportunity to get to know the people as opposed to just seeing places and scenery. Hanging out in small villages and seeking out locals gave us many of our most special memories;
~take advantage of things that are every day experiences for locals, like beans and rice, bus rides and bike rides, and shopping for produce;
~remember the Peace Corp adage: “It’s not right or wrong, it’s just different”;
~stay as long as you can and adventure out from bases; we typically had 3-7 days in each location, and were glad for it;
~when traveling as a family, listen to the kids, plan to enjoy your together times and to spend times exploring on your own, as safety allows; our individual strengths and interests were woven together to make the trip more memorable for all of us;
~see a lot, but allow time to lay around in hammocks or sit and drink a coke with locals;
~read before and during your trip: guide books, identification books, the Belize Forum, and books set in Belize and written by Belizean authors, both fiction and non-fiction;
~pack a comprehensive medical kit that includes an antibiotic like cipro and a good quality water filter;
~take school supplies or books to donate along the way and gifts for kids and hosts (we took little rubber frog finger puppets and photo magnets showing a view of the wildflowers, mountains and Columbia River Gorge from our house);
~for bugs we preferred Sawyer’s Time Release Deet bug repellent, which worked wonderfully and allows less deet to be absorbed into your skin than most formulas. We took hefty doses of B vitamins and garlic pills starting weeks before we left in an effort to smell repugnant to those smallest of pests, and found that it worked perfectly in areas where there really weren’t any mosquitoes, but failed miserably where there were (hence, the Sawyer’s).
~other things we were glad we had: headlamps, plant and animal identification cards, copies of our lodging reservation and payment emails, sun hats, sunblock and aloe, sarongs (for the females) and bandanas, blank journals, a variety of cameras (including underwater ones) and lots of film, good quality waterproof binoculars, clothes line and pins, cable ties, our own fishing equipment, including a great collection of hand-tied flies, open minds, a desire for adventure, and our senses of humor.
Thanks to Stacey for those.
Stay tuned for “Part C” of Stacey’s travel tips–
Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net
To read about my other travels click here or http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/mytravels/
Comments? Please post below or email me at ssb11@prodigy.net
Travel Tips(Part 8-Tips from Stacey Part A)
Stacey is an ardent traveler and has many tips to share. She is a frequent traveler to Central America and was my source of information when I decided to make my first trip to Honduras a couple of years ago. I asked Stacey about posting some of her advice:
Here is what she has to say when she travels to Central America:
“Sometimes I travel alone, sometimes with one or more of my kids and/or my husband, sometimes with a group in tow. I don’t feel overly paranoid but have never had a problem and would like to keep it that way. Here are my concessions to safety when I travel in Central America:”
:: I avoid the big cities as much as possible
:: I don’t “party”
:: Where recommended I take specific transportation (Hedman Alas in Honduras, for example, or avoiding chicken buses on the mountain runs in Guatemala, taxis after dark)
:: I know where I am and where I’m headed
:: I don’t wear jewelry (not even my wedding band) and try not to flash camera equipment or money around
:: Some trips I carry a “throw down wallet” with an expired card or 2 and the day’s cash in it
:: I keep important documents and cash under my clothes (except what I need for shopping, buses, etc. for that time period)
:: I ask locals about safety in an area – evenings, hiking, etc.
:: I travel really light so I don’t feel vulnerable getting my bag off and on buses, shuttles, etc.
:: I continue to build skills in Spanish
Here is her trip report when she went to Honduras: http://sidewalkmystic.com/CopanRuinas.htm#Stacey
And some links to some of her other blogs:
MY PHOTOS ON FLICKR: http://flickr.com/photos/staceyholeman/collections
LIVE AND LEARN IN HONDURAS: http://liveandlearninca.blogspot.com/
LIVE AND LEARN IN GUATEMALA: http://liveandlearninguatemala.blogspot.com/
BLOG FROM 3 WEEKS ON THE BAY ISLANDS LAST SUMMER: http://holemansinhonduras.blogspot.com/
Next week-I will post some more of Stacey’s travel tips and philosophies–
If you have an travel tips, post a comment here or e-mail me at ssb11@prodigy.net.
Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net
To read about my other travels click here or http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/mytravels/
Comments? Please post below or email me at ssb11@prodigy.net
Travel Tips I have learned (Part 7)
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Here are some more travel tips I have learned:
31. Hope you like my photos, you thief!-Those valuable photos are priceless-Cameras get stolen all the time and with them the photos. Keep your memory cards in a separate place when possible or download them to a CD or flash drive whenever you can. You spent too much money to lose the memories.
32. Microfiber towels-You can buy these at Backwoods in Oklahoma City. They take up very little space and can really come in handy. They are easy to fit in a backpack when you are at the beach. Of course, if you are staying at the Four Seasons you can just call the desk and tell them you need another towel!!
33. Some favorite products-here are a couple of products some people have told me about. One woman really likes this travel purse with a steel cable in the strap: www.daymakers.com.
34. Another lady told my wife she likes the skirts from www.macabiskirt.com/ My wife likes to buy travel clothes from www.travelsmith.com
35. Stick it- Since most hotels have the plastic room cards now in lieu of keys, it means you have to remember your room number. Just carry a supply of those colored stick-on dots with you and put one on your outside door handle or at the top of the outside of your hotel room door. You can always find your room—unless your next door neighbor is doing the same!! This also works well to help the kids remember your room.
In my next couple of posts- I will share some travel tips from my friend Stacey. She has traveled frequently to Central America and will share some good advice.
If you have any tips you would like to share, you can add a comment here or e-mail me at ssb11@prodigy.net
Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net
To read about my other travels click here or http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/mytravels/
Comments? Please post below or email me at ssb11@prodigy.net
Travel Tips I have learned-(Part 6)
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Ok, here we go with more travel tips:————
26. Oh, Stop it!-Whatever you do, don’t forget to stop the newspaper while you are gone. Usually there is an opportunity to donate your copies to an education program with the local newspaper.
27. Tell me where you’re going-E mail someone back home a copy of all your hotel reservations, airline reservations, copy of your passport, emergency contact info., etc.. In other words, anything you think your relatives might need in case they need to get in contact with you should be e-mailed to them.
28. Wet stuff-pack plastic bags for wet swim suits. Sometimes you want to swim the last day of vacation and you didn’t think about what to do with the wet swim suit.
29. Keep it clean–Been to many places where soap was not available. Best to pack hand sanitizing wipes and constantly keep your hands washed. One of the best ways to keep yourself from getting sick is to wash your hands frequently. Not all bathrooms always have paper towels. Also spray pumps of hand sanitizer can work well.
30. What do I do now or how do you say toilet paper in Russian?-A good idea to get one of those little travel rolls of toilet paper at and drugstore or discount store and keep it in your purse or backpack. I just returned from Quito and over half the public restrooms did not have paper towels or toilet paper.
Stay tuned for more travel tips!
You can post your comments here or e-mail me at ssb11@prodigy.net
Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net
To read about my other travels click here or http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/mytravels/
Comments? Please post below or email me at ssb11@prodigy.net
Travel Tips I have learned (Part 5)
Here we go with more travel tips (Part 5)
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21. Put your suitcase on a diet-Whenever possible, I only travel with carry-on luggage. If you do have to check luggage it is a good idea to buy a luggage scale and weigh your luggage at home. This is especially important with all the new, increased over-weight charges. It is a lot easier to try to re-balance your suitcases in your living room than trying to do it in the airport with 50 people standing behind you in line and looking into your suitcase. Pack the luggage scale in your suitcase so you can weigh your luggage on your return trip after you have purchased all those extra souvenirs. You can buy these luggage scales at Kambers or The Travelers Pack in Oklahoma City.
Some people use a system where they pack their suitcase then go back and pull out one-half of everything. I’ve never been on a trip yet where I thought, “gee, I wish I had packed more stuff!” How many pairs of shoes do you need, really?
22. Map it out first-Before I leave on a trip, I always like to have a map of the countries and cities that I am going to visit. Suggest you study the maps before you leave so when you get there you will already have an idea of distances, transportation systems, etc. You can hit the ground running when you arrive at your destination. Great place to buy maps in Oklahoma City is at the Travelers Pack. If they don’t have them in stock, they will order them for you. Give them a little advance notice.
23. Tour books-Everyone has their favorites. I prefer the Lonely Planet series of books. They seem to be complete and packed with info. I also like the Fodor’s travel books as well. A trick I recently learned from other travelers was to buy the tour books and then razor out and carry with you only the pages that pertain to the places you plan to visit. A couple of things happen when you do this: #1: you don’t have to pack a thick book that will add to the weight, #2: you don’t look so much like a tourist sitting in a café reading a big, thick, tour book. Most of the books are out of date the following year anyway, so no need to worry about destroying a good travel book.
24. Protect the liquids or suffer the consequences-some liquids don’t survive well under pressure on an airplane. Suggest you double bag your liquids in your suitcase. Ever had suntan lotion explode on your clothes? I have!
25. Toiletries-Often times it is just easier to buy your toiletries when you get to your destination. Why haul a big 99 cent can of shaving cream around when you can buy it there?
Stay tuned for some additional travel tips from other travelers-
What’s your favorite travel tip to share?
I am sure that many other people have additional ideas as well. It would be helpful if you would add your comments and suggestions here so other people may benefit from them. You can also e-mail me at ssb11@prodigy.net
Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net
To read about my other travels click here or http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/mytravels/
Comments? Please post below or email me at ssb11@prodigy.net
Travel tips I have learned (Part 4)
Travel tips I have learned along the way (Part 4)
16. Change down- Whether you are dealing in U.S. dollars or the local currency, I always try to keep bills in very small denominations. Depending on the country, often times taxis and vendors may not keep much change. If I have big bills, I am constantly “changing down” when the opportunity presents itself in order to maintain a small bill inventory. I know people who always start out their trips with $100 in USD $1 bills for tips.
17. Only small bills in your pocket-I always keep some small bills in my pocket for incidentals so I don’t have to pull out my money belt every time I need to pay for something. When you do have to access the money belt, always do it out-of-sight. I also carry a “decoy” wallet with a little bit of money in it.
18. Customs and immigration forms-Always have the customs and immigration forms filled out BEFORE leaving the plane. Saves you a lot of time and hassle later trying to do it as you are going through the line–or worse yet, the line gets longer while you stop inside the airport to fill out the forms. Always carry a pen with you for this purpose.
19. Have cash-When I land in a foreign country I always try to have a little bit of the local currency with me just in case my ATM card won’t work (I have had this happen several times) or in case the airport change booth is closed.
20. Multiple credit cards-I always try to travel with 2 different types of credit cards in case there in a problem. In Shanghai, the hotel refused to accept my VISA card because they said it was a problem with the Bank of China to process Visa cards. They wanted a different type of card, either a MasterCard or Amex. Unfortunately, I only had a VISA card with me. They were just trying to be difficult! I had to call my wife in the states where it was 4 a.m. and have her get VISA to call the hotel. This was even after I had executed on Tip #3 above! Plus, the first ATM machine I went to would not accept my ATM card. I had to walk through unfamiliar streets where no one spoke English and try to find an ATM that would accept my type of card. Save yourself the hassle!!
More travel tips coming-stay tuned!
If you have some travel tips post them here or e-mail me at ssb11@prodigy.net
To read about my other travels click here or http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/mytravels/
Comments? Please post below or email me at ssb11@prodigy.net
Travel tips I have learned (Part 3)
11. Talk it up-Travel with a phrase book in foreign countries. Even though you butcher the language, the local people will appreciate your efforts, and will be more helpful. Nothing worse than someone who thinks everyone else in the world should be able to speak English. It’s also makes it more fun to try to learn a foreign language along the way.
12. Jewelry-Leave the ”bling” in your safe deposit box at home. Buy cheap “travel” wedding bands. Don’t wear expensive watches. Thieves look for this sort of stuff to set up their “targets”. One time, I was studying Spanish in Quito, Ecuador. My Spanish teacher came to class one morning and told me of seeing a thief run up to a lady on the street and rip her gold earrings right through her ears. Ouch! That’s a good reason not to wear them!
13. Wash your clothes-Washable, light-weight “wick-away” travel clothing is a blessing. Easy to wash and dry, easy to pack and light to carry. I like the kind that dries in less than two hours. Many times when traveling I have washed my clothes in the shower. My wife likes to carry a “carry-on compliant” laundry soap that comes in paper-like sheets that dissolve into soap when held under the faucet. The brand is “Travelon”. You can buy it at Kambers in Oklahoma City. I personally like to use a backpacker’s concentrated liquid soap that I buy at Backwoods in Oklahoma City. A friend of mine wears his old clothes on vacation and leaves them behind as he goes! He then has more room for souvenirs!
14. Get ‘em laundered-If you don’t want to personally wash your clothes along the way, simply have them laundered someplace. It’s cheap and easy. You only have to pack one-half the amount of clothes you need. I am doing this more and more.
15. Entry requirements-Always check, double-check, triple-check the entry requirements of the country to which you are traveling. Some have restrictions about how close your passport can be to the expiration date. This can save you a lot of headaches. Depending on the country, you may also need a entry visa. Do your research.
More travel tips coming next week–Look for Part 4!
Steve Barrymore ssb11@prodigy.net
To read about my other travels click here or http://blog.newsok.com/thewanderer/mytravels/
Comments? Please post below or email me at ssb11@prodigy.net
