Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
People always ask me—what do you do when you get sick while traveling? Well, I do the same thing I do when at home.
I rest, take medicine, drink lots of fluids, see a doctor if I have to, and watch movies until I get better. We live in the
twenty-first century. Globalization and technology have made medicine and treatment widely available throughout the
world. In fact, one of the fastest-growing areas of the tourism industry is medical tourism, in which people travel to des-
tinations around the world in search of affordable health care. Mexico is popular for dental work (many of their doctors
are trained in the United States), Israel for in vitro fertilization, Argentina for plastic surgery, and Thailand for just about
everything.
There is a common misconception that the United States is the only place you can get good health care. That is not
true. Most countries in the world actually have a first-class health care system, even what we would consider “develop-
ing” countries. Think of all the Westerners who live in non-Western countries around the world—they aren't going to
move and live in a country where they will get poor-quality medical care. After all, it would be too expensive to fly back
home every time they got sick.
I spend a lot of time in Bangkok. It's like my second home, and while I'm there, I often get medical treatment. I
spent $40 USD for a dermatologist appointment, and getting my eardrum looked at after my scuba diving accident, plus
the follow-ups and medicine, cost me less than $200 USD. I've had dental work done for $20 USD. And these aren't at
back-alley places. They are at internationally accredited hospitals and clinics, like Bumrungrad Hospital and Samitivej
Hospital.
Just because you are overseas, don't assume you can't get any quality treatment. You can, and if you need something
done, you can look up international accredited hospitals (jointcommissioninternational.org/JCI-Accredited-Organiza-
tions).
Outside of some very rural areas of the world, you will be able to find all the basic supplies you need at a local
pharmacy. I have never encountered a problem where I couldn't find cold medicine, ointments, or allergy medicine. It's
important to remember that the whole world doesn't call every product by the same name. Oftentimes, travelers go in
asking for Tylenol or Benadryl, find the pharmacy doesn't have it, and leave discouraged. Well, they do have it, but they
just call it by a different name. We are used to calling medicines by their brand names and not their medical name. To
ensure I get the medicine I need, I simply Google search to find the active medical ingredient in the product I'm looking
for, give that name to the pharmacist, and get what I need. Same thing, different name. Here are some examples of pop-
ular drugs and their medical names:
Tylenol is often called acetaminophen or nurofen.
Pepto-Bismol is bismuth subsalicylate.
Neosporin is a simple antibacterial ointment.
Sudafed is pseudoephedrine.
Benadryl is diphenhydramine.
The point is that you'll find what you are looking for overseas, so don't feel the need to overload on medicine before
you leave.