Two and a half days on the Trans Siberian RR in 1995 and I was the only one from our group who was NOT sick (the toilets were goners in only one and half days) because I was the only one who did not jump off the train to buy "whatever" from the local woman whenever we stopped. Yes, I was hungry but the toast with peanut butter I had prepared ahead keep me from starving to death. I'm still smiling about it.
Never been sick while traveling - we laugh about what a diverse gut culture I must have. But one of my firm rules is - I check out the establishments bathroom before ordering. If there is no water in the sink, and soap, I leave.
For street food - I buy the food as it is made in front of me.
I haven't gotten food poisoning while traveling, but have gotten it at local restaurants. It's awful--feel like you are going to die but afraid you won't.
If you are allergic to shellfish, you probably are allergic to insects, so be careful on what you eat.
DiaResQ (DiaResQ Diarrhea & Immune Support Colostrum Drink Mix for Adults) can be a vacation saver when distress and diarrhea strike. A natural product made from colostrum, it has saved me.
I have no connection to this product except as a consumer, and I do not receive any compensation for the recommendation. Your local pharmacy and Amazon carry this product. Also, I always travel with my homemade sandwich and snacks for the first leg of the flight or car trip.
One thing - a family member who is an MD reminds me frequently that food poisoning doesn’t always take hold immediately. You think it’s the very last thing you ate but just aa often it’s something you ate as much as a day or two before. And fruits and vegetables won’t necessarily save you unless you’re peeling them yourself. Some of the worst E. coli outbreaks have been linked to lettuce and other leafy greens.
All the more reason to choose cautiously when traveling!
I came down with severe gastric issues while in Korat, Thailand. I was ever vigilant while eating and drinking but still got a "bug", Spent two days in a Bangkok hospital, stabilized enough to fly back to Hawaii. A very long and miserable flight. I continued to get worse with kidneys and liver failing. They brought in a tropical disease specialist who spent ten minutes with me before diagnosing amoebic dysentery and prescribing Flagyl. My situation improved immediately, but not before I had lost 25+ pounds. After extensive review with my traveling companions, we believe we were served in a clean restaurant on "clean" plates that were still wet from washing, I happened to get the one with amoebas. That was the only explanation we could come up with!
I will add that my wife got very sick on our last trip to Iguassu Falls. We change plane in São Paulo, and as we sat in the first class lounge, my wife had scrambled eggs. Needless to say the first day of her trip was spent sightseeing in the bathroom avoid eggs, sitting out, even if in a heated tray
I have a sensitive stomach, so I should’ve known better than to eat a burger at a tiny Galapagos airport. It was a very unpleasant food poisoning experience.
Respectfully disagree with the advice to avoid street food. The safest approach is to eat from stands the locals patronize - look for lines of local folks, and steaming hot food.
Street food can be delicious, but sometimes tourists are not adapted to the local water and it can have unfortunate side effects. Best to make sure everything is boiled.
Yes! A few years ago when I was in my late 20s my husband and I were on a southeast Asian trip with a couple days in Hong Kong before going to the Philippines. Went to one of floating restaurants on the bay, ate raw fish appetizer with extreme hot sauce. Long story short I had diarrhea for a year and was constantly in medical care with testing. Finally my doctor said l needed to go to a specialty clinic in Seattle for more testing. They were thorough and removed a non cancerous tumor in my stomach area. Haven’t ever eaten recklessly again when traveling!
I was so careful on my trip to Cancun. I even avoided the ice. Then at lunch in the only restaurant in Chichinetsa, I must have lost it when I ate the salsa on my lunch. So tasty, so sorry.
We treated ourselves to first class tickets from fort Myers to Manchester, England. In the first class lounge in Atlanta I ate a chicken sandwich. It ruined my flight and the first few days of my trip for a family wedding.
I’ve been lucky not to get travel related illness, but I will share some stories of people who have. A woman I took care of was heading to the Galapagos out of Quito and ran into the bakery next-door to her hotel, and grabbed an empanada one week later she was hospitalized with severe salmonella poisoning. It was sitting out on the counter and she didn’t have it heated up.
The next person decided to eat raw muscles at a party on Long Island. Two days later, he was in intensive care unit.
The third and last was a man who loves to stay in Cabo and make his own hamburgers, but he loves them, medium rare so with local meat, bought in the store, he made hamburgers. Needless to say within a week, he was hospitalized near death when he returned in New York. be very careful!!!
Also be careful swimming in freshwater in central and South America. Brain eating amoeba are very dangerous there.
You forgot drinking something-liquids. I went to Peru a couple of years ago and the first night we were in Lima we went to a very nice restaurant. The food was great but I made a rookie mistake. I ordered a Caipirinha. I finished the drink and while waiting for a taxi I thought to myself "What the hell were you thinking?" it had ice cubes in it. So I was fine for a couple of days then halfway to Cuzco it hit. I felt like I took the prep for a colonoscopy. Fortunately I had Imodium, Lomotil and Azithromycin with me (I was a pharmacist) and treated it aggressively. Though I only had a few tablets of Azithromycin with me I was able to obtain some more from a local pharmacy in Cusco as it was non-prescription in Peru. I never travel without things like Neosporin or oral Antibiotics and Anti-Diarrheals because as people find out, it only takes once to screw up and you'll remember it a lifetime.
My wife and I love food. When traveling, we meet many individuals along the way who tell us how much they enjoy street food and never get sick. We are both very cautious and do not take chances. We feel at times we are missing out, but our health is more important. I remember being in Marrakesh and feeling that we we were depriving ourselves of a great culinary experinence by only trying the grilled vegetables. The smells were so very tempting, but we decided to err on the side of caution.
Two and a half days on the Trans Siberian RR in 1995 and I was the only one from our group who was NOT sick (the toilets were goners in only one and half days) because I was the only one who did not jump off the train to buy "whatever" from the local woman whenever we stopped. Yes, I was hungry but the toast with peanut butter I had prepared ahead keep me from starving to death. I'm still smiling about it.
Very smart!
Never been sick while traveling - we laugh about what a diverse gut culture I must have. But one of my firm rules is - I check out the establishments bathroom before ordering. If there is no water in the sink, and soap, I leave.
For street food - I buy the food as it is made in front of me.
That's a very good policy. Make sure you know how it's made.
The times I have had problems are all connected to under prepared dishes in supposedly good restaurants.
Ooh, good point. It's definitely not just street food.
I haven't gotten food poisoning while traveling, but have gotten it at local restaurants. It's awful--feel like you are going to die but afraid you won't.
If you are allergic to shellfish, you probably are allergic to insects, so be careful on what you eat.
Yeah, I would never eat an insect. They offered me a grub when I was in Australia's Red Center, and I politely declined.
Good comment and absolutely correct if you’re allergic to shellfish you’re probably allergic to most insects!
DiaResQ (DiaResQ Diarrhea & Immune Support Colostrum Drink Mix for Adults) can be a vacation saver when distress and diarrhea strike. A natural product made from colostrum, it has saved me.
I have no connection to this product except as a consumer, and I do not receive any compensation for the recommendation. Your local pharmacy and Amazon carry this product. Also, I always travel with my homemade sandwich and snacks for the first leg of the flight or car trip.
One thing - a family member who is an MD reminds me frequently that food poisoning doesn’t always take hold immediately. You think it’s the very last thing you ate but just aa often it’s something you ate as much as a day or two before. And fruits and vegetables won’t necessarily save you unless you’re peeling them yourself. Some of the worst E. coli outbreaks have been linked to lettuce and other leafy greens.
All the more reason to choose cautiously when traveling!
That's true, and I should have mentioned that in the article.
I came down with severe gastric issues while in Korat, Thailand. I was ever vigilant while eating and drinking but still got a "bug", Spent two days in a Bangkok hospital, stabilized enough to fly back to Hawaii. A very long and miserable flight. I continued to get worse with kidneys and liver failing. They brought in a tropical disease specialist who spent ten minutes with me before diagnosing amoebic dysentery and prescribing Flagyl. My situation improved immediately, but not before I had lost 25+ pounds. After extensive review with my traveling companions, we believe we were served in a clean restaurant on "clean" plates that were still wet from washing, I happened to get the one with amoebas. That was the only explanation we could come up with!
I will add that my wife got very sick on our last trip to Iguassu Falls. We change plane in São Paulo, and as we sat in the first class lounge, my wife had scrambled eggs. Needless to say the first day of her trip was spent sightseeing in the bathroom avoid eggs, sitting out, even if in a heated tray
Ugh. Sorry to hear about that.
I have a sensitive stomach, so I should’ve known better than to eat a burger at a tiny Galapagos airport. It was a very unpleasant food poisoning experience.
My son had a similar experience in Phuket. Do not eat the burgers at the airport!
Respectfully disagree with the advice to avoid street food. The safest approach is to eat from stands the locals patronize - look for lines of local folks, and steaming hot food.
Street food can be delicious, but sometimes tourists are not adapted to the local water and it can have unfortunate side effects. Best to make sure everything is boiled.
Just remember though they have different gut flora than you have. They are used to the E. coli, etc. that’s native to them.
Yes! A few years ago when I was in my late 20s my husband and I were on a southeast Asian trip with a couple days in Hong Kong before going to the Philippines. Went to one of floating restaurants on the bay, ate raw fish appetizer with extreme hot sauce. Long story short I had diarrhea for a year and was constantly in medical care with testing. Finally my doctor said l needed to go to a specialty clinic in Seattle for more testing. They were thorough and removed a non cancerous tumor in my stomach area. Haven’t ever eaten recklessly again when traveling!
A year? OMG.
I was so careful on my trip to Cancun. I even avoided the ice. Then at lunch in the only restaurant in Chichinetsa, I must have lost it when I ate the salsa on my lunch. So tasty, so sorry.
We treated ourselves to first class tickets from fort Myers to Manchester, England. In the first class lounge in Atlanta I ate a chicken sandwich. It ruined my flight and the first few days of my trip for a family wedding.
I’ve been lucky not to get travel related illness, but I will share some stories of people who have. A woman I took care of was heading to the Galapagos out of Quito and ran into the bakery next-door to her hotel, and grabbed an empanada one week later she was hospitalized with severe salmonella poisoning. It was sitting out on the counter and she didn’t have it heated up.
The next person decided to eat raw muscles at a party on Long Island. Two days later, he was in intensive care unit.
The third and last was a man who loves to stay in Cabo and make his own hamburgers, but he loves them, medium rare so with local meat, bought in the store, he made hamburgers. Needless to say within a week, he was hospitalized near death when he returned in New York. be very careful!!!
Also be careful swimming in freshwater in central and South America. Brain eating amoeba are very dangerous there.
You forgot drinking something-liquids. I went to Peru a couple of years ago and the first night we were in Lima we went to a very nice restaurant. The food was great but I made a rookie mistake. I ordered a Caipirinha. I finished the drink and while waiting for a taxi I thought to myself "What the hell were you thinking?" it had ice cubes in it. So I was fine for a couple of days then halfway to Cuzco it hit. I felt like I took the prep for a colonoscopy. Fortunately I had Imodium, Lomotil and Azithromycin with me (I was a pharmacist) and treated it aggressively. Though I only had a few tablets of Azithromycin with me I was able to obtain some more from a local pharmacy in Cusco as it was non-prescription in Peru. I never travel without things like Neosporin or oral Antibiotics and Anti-Diarrheals because as people find out, it only takes once to screw up and you'll remember it a lifetime.
ER nurse here. Always have a zpack or two with me (for friends) along with augmentin etc. tidy little first aid kit stays in my pack
Pepto-Bismol is a lifesaver, great for travels diarrhea. Imodium is bad. Keeps everything inside you when it should be saying bye-bye to your body.
I agree about the Imodium. Don’t take it unless you are taking antibiotics also
My wife and I love food. When traveling, we meet many individuals along the way who tell us how much they enjoy street food and never get sick. We are both very cautious and do not take chances. We feel at times we are missing out, but our health is more important. I remember being in Marrakesh and feeling that we we were depriving ourselves of a great culinary experinence by only trying the grilled vegetables. The smells were so very tempting, but we decided to err on the side of caution.