Great chapter.
The book review continues! More about “How to Shit Around the World” by the “Shit Doctor.”
Let’s start with some good news. The book says that infectious and communicable diseases only kill 4% of those travelers that die abroad (accidents are the most likely way to go). Comforting (maybe?).
Next, the snippet in the book that really stops you in your tracks:
Who takes their three-month-old infant trekking in the Himalayas? And what the heck does it matter that it was “along a forested ridge that crossed a road halfway”? Any guess what happens next?!! I will tell you. Someone steals their diapers, and Harriet gets bronchitis.
While we’re on the subject of Nepal (where I will be in less than a month, ahhh!):
So many questions! What do smart female trekkers in Nepal do? And what exactly does she mean by “unwanted nocturnal encounters”?
Onto some more gems I’ve mined from the pages. The most common ailment of the traveler is, of course, none other than traveler’s diarrhea, which seems easy enough to handle:
Simple enough.
But then she implies that a book may be necessary as well:
What does reading have to do with shitting?
In any event, when you are dealing with the shits around the world, you will have no toilet paper. Which you should feel good about:
And, for the record, I’m willing to bet that I am way above average when it comes to toilet paper usage.
On a slightly more serious note, though, here’s my basic strategy on trying to stay healthy on the Big Trip:
- Smart preparation (vaccines, meds, insurance, awareness).
- Keep in mind the trusty travelers’ maxim: “Peel it, boil it, cook it, or forget it.”
- Eat freshly cooked, piping hot food. This will mean a lot of eating local (pad thai in Thailand, folks, not lasagna) and, likely, not being afraid of the street vendor, however questionable his setup.
- Never touch a salad. Someone probably shit all over it in the field, and no one has bothered to wash it. And even if they did wash it, it was probably with shit water.
- The fact that water is bottled means jack. When in doubt, sterilize. Yay for my Steripen!
- Be more hygienic than I am at home = in particular, lots of hand washing.
I’ll let you know how it works out! Comment below if you’ve got a suggestion for me.
How are you liking your steripen? I was at the outdoor shop yesterday and debating whether or not to add it to my Xmas list but the one thing holding me back is how many batteries it seems like I would go thru. What’s your experience been? I’m leaning towards the aquamira chlorine drops.
Any thoughts you have would be fantastic.
Evan
Hi Evan,
I’ve got the SteriPEN Freedom, which plugs into an outlet or USB (so no batteries). It took some getting used to (and can get slightly annoying to do a couple times a day), but so far so good. The most important thing is that, despite my initial skepticism, it does seem to work. I’ve drunken some sketchy water (to include creeks and semi-rusty pipes) with no ill affects (yet). It has also made me a subject of fascination among travelers. Few people have seen them, and so they are very interested in how (and if, haha) it works.
That being said, bottled water in most places is not that expensive. So I don’t reckon I’m saving tons of money, but it’s nice (1) not to be contributing to the bottle wasteland and (2) to be able to purify my own water whenever I want.
I brought some sort of iodine or whatever drops as a backup but have yet to use them so no reference point there.
Lucie
Awesome, thanks again and happy thanksgiving.