What Happens When You’re Sick on Vacation?

I don’t know about you, but it’s an apprehensive suggestion: what happens when you are sick, traveling away from home? Today, travelers are encouraged to pack ultra-lightly. It’s not like we can go through security and hop on an airplane loaded with Pepto-Bismol, ibuprofen, and antibiotics. Those days are over. If you are traveling out of the country, what happens when you need medicine or medical help?

A relative of mine was traveling through Mexico a few years ago. She had become sick with an abscessed tooth, and needed dental care and antibiotics. Thankfully, she located a Mexican dentist who took care of the tooth and infection. As a matter of fact, my relative said she’d never had such good, inexpensive dental care before then. She did not share how she managed to find that dentist. What happens when you need help, and you are in a foreign country?

If you can access the Internet, there is a website called SickAwayFromHome.com. The website was started by a young man who, while traveling to Africa, saw people with horrible diseases and sufferings. He was told that simple medical treatment would end the suffering of so many people. This is true– this is why Christian missionaries are also usually medical professionals; they can carry with them the medicines and techniques necessary to help people. It’s a tragedy that the native countries themselves cannot help themselves with such simple medical treatment.

So SickAwayFromHome is a website that lists doctor reviews and contact information for all hospitals, clinics, and more than 15,000 medical providers, including those listed by American Embassies abroad. The website is available for mobile devices as well as computers, and is in fifty languages. This is a terrific resource. You may not be able to carry the bottles and tablets of medicine with you when you travel, but you can carry an electronic resource to help you should you need aid. Check out the website, bookmark it before you travel abroad! And stay safe!

The Fast Food Finder

Have a hankering for some food but don’t know where to go? I run across this problem all the time. I want to eat out, but just can’t make up my mind where to go, nor do I know what’s new or even what’s out there. Here’s the perfect solution to the problem! Restaurantica.com! I think I love this site! So far they have over 184,000 restaurant reviews and 400,000 North American restaurant listings all across the United States.

I think this site is perfect for travelers. You no longer have to fumble through the yellow pages or rely on the cheesy restaurants promoted in hotels brochures. The site is very easy to search. I found a comprehensive listing of restaurants for my little town in Upstate New York, even! The site covers a wide range of cities, like Pennsylvania restaurants and etc, but there’s a search engine where you can look for restaurants in your little neck of the woods. I am very, very impressed with the site. The restaurant listings feature the restaurant name, location, phone number, a “Restaurant Rank” and, where included, a review of the restaurant. If you search one locality, it also offers you the opportunity to see other restaurants in nearby towns. I just love this.

Also very interesting is, if you become a registered member of the site, you can create your own reviews and offer input. This is a site to bookmark and check frequently! I know I absolutely will!