The idea of taking a trip around the world with your family is really exciting and full of adventure, the trouble is once you get started on planning, you realize man there is a lot of prep work. The first question people ask when you tell them you are doing a trip is the itinerary and not many people think about the vaccine requirements, which vary depending on which part of the world you are in, how tolerant are you of side effects, and how much money do you want to spend on ‘the good stuff’.
A good example of this is Malaria, if you are planning in hitting up Africa for a safari (which hasn’t been ruled out yet of the planning) or if you are going to India & SE Asia, you might want some meds. The creme de la creme of the malaria medication is Malarone, you take it 1-2 days before you are in the zone, every day you are there, and a week afterwards. The trouble is that it is kinda pricy, and if you are weaving in and out of malaria areas on a budget, it might not be worth it. Now the on the other end of the perspective there is Doxycycline, the cheapest of the malarial drugs, you take the same steps before and during but it is 4 weeks of pill popping on the back end. Luckily, this drug doesn’t have the side effect of psychotic dreams, which we experienced, when taking Mefloquine years and years ago when we did our first world trip together.
I got jabbed today so now I am building immunity to Tetanus, Diphtheria, Typhoid, Hep A, in addition to the others that I already had in the bag like MMR, Hep B, Polio, and Yellow Fever. Basically, I am invincible and could get hit by a bus right now and not have a scratch on me. Mosquitos, we are ready for you.
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