Advice to travellers

[Cornish Steve]

In another thread, someone pointed out that bottled water is one of the biggest con jobs in marketing history. For the developed world, I agree. When travelling in the developing world, however, bottled water is the most precious commodity around.

Since I have travelled many millions of miles during my career (scary!), I thought I would pass along some useful tips about water to anyone who may be travelling overseas for the first time. I am a real stickler about drinking water - I never take risks in this area - and I can claim to have never been sick overseas.

1) Always, always, always use bottled water. If possible, pack some small bottles as an emergency backup.

2) Only buy bottled water overseas from trusted sources (e.g., hotels). Some street vendors refill empty bottles and resell them, so be careful.

3) Keep your mouth closed when showering.

4) Clean your teeth with bottled water only.

5) Always refuse a drink that contains ice.

6) Never eat salads or any food (e.g., local fruit) that may have been washed in water.

7) If a customer offers you something to drink, choose something hot (like tea) or something unopened (like Coca Cola).

For some, these precautions must be extreme. It's important to remember, however, that a majority of the world's disease comes from the local water supply.

[Cornish Steve]

Oh, and one more useful tip when travelling overseas, which I learned from people in India.

Choose a clean hand (usually your right hand) and an unclean hand. By this, I mean use one hand consistently to perform tasks that could result in a lack of cleanliness: to open and close doors, to handle money, and to perform various unmentionable tasks. Use your other hand for clean tasks, such as eating food.

This practice may sound odd, but it's often not possible to wash your hands before eating, and you can't exactly use a disinfecting lotion in front of customers. Having a clean hand is comforting when, during a business meal, you are expected to eat with your fingers. While the clean/unclean hand approach does not guarantee cleanliness, I have found that it does help.

[fastfences]

Thanks once again for your invaluable advice, Steve.

So many of us are on the verge of 'cracking' the international market, and will shortly be pulling out our AMEX cards for our business class international jaunts.

I think also that Rob and Ozzy are in the throes of setting up a new topic thread: Internnational Trade. :lol: :lol:
Cheers, Nigel

[Jayne]

Hi,

Great info' Steve, good advice for our hols'.

I must say though, if ever you go to Madeira, you don't have to bother. I drank the water and it was fine, it's filtered through rocks, natural mineral water and was a very clean place (Yummy cakes too :D )

Jayne

[silverpuresilver]

Great advice for the uninitiated traveller.

In Europe the issue isn't too bad, I normally drink bottled water, but am happy to brush my teeth with tap water (just too much hassle) and to add ice to my drink and eat local fruits.

However, if you do travel further afar I agree bottled water is a must. I have to admit to travelling in India and being seriously ill on several occasions, I was there for over 3 months and was ill 3 times. I was the "lucky one" who ended up on several courses of antibiotics (not more than 2 doses recommended within 6 months usually), my fellow travellers were all hospitalised. :cry:

With regard to drinking from bottled water, if you don't have a glass to hand (walking around in the baking sun) - the Indians don't actually put the bottle to their lips - they hold it a couple of inches away and literally pour it into their mouths. This takes a bit of practice and lots of wet t-shirts!!! :shock: Two reasons for this:

It means that you can share the bottle with friends - and not contaminate the water; and

You're not touching the bottle itself, which could have been left outside in crates - Indian urban myth suggests that rats can run over the crates, urinating, which could result in case of Weils disease (in addition to the expected bout of dysentery).

Despite being ill whilst in south asia, I had one of the best times of my life travelling around it.

Happy Holidays!!!

Karen

[altyfc]

There's some excellent advice here. It's also often a good idea to avoid those market vendors in the developing world that sell what might seem delicious food. Sometimes the food isn't properly refrigerated - has been out in the heat all day - and it can often cause upset stomachs... you can never fully avoid illnesses, of course, but a few basic precautions can protect you.

Aaron

[fastfences]

Tell you what-you have to be fairly careful with some of them here, too!!
Cheers, Nigels