I love traveling internationally. And I’ve done it enough that I’m perhaps getting a little cocky. I no longer worry about forgetting stuff in packing, and I can get through international security and customs without breaking a sweat. I’ve also polished up on conversational Spanish, French, and Portuguese, so I can get around pretty well once I’ve landed. I even have friends in places where I tend to travel. So I’ve got it made, right? Wrong. There are always things that can go wrong when traveling internationally, just as there are things that can go wrong when you’re at home. It’s just harder to take care of them when you are far away overseas. So whether you need to be thinking of air medical transportation or alternate communication channels, I’ve got some tips to keep even the most seasoned international traveler safe and happy.
What if You Get Sick or Hurt Overseas?
Medjet is a great example of an international air medical transport service that can get you to great care if you become seriously injured or ill while traveling. I love being overseas, but not every nation on the planet has the same standards of healthcare that America does. Nor do they have my doctor. For this reason, when I travel, I make sure that I have air medical transportation lined up, at least as an entry in my phone contacts. That way if I get hurt, the ambulance can take me from hospital to air medical transport plane, which will fly me straight to my hospital of choice back in the US. International air medical transportation is a fairly new industry. It has existed in some form for a long time, but it was usually reserved for heads of state and other VIPs. It’s not cheap now, by any means, but air medical transportation is available for all that need it, as long as they can afford it. This isn’t something you’ll need very often, or at all, but it’s good to have ready in case you do need it.
What if You Don’t Have Phone or Internet?
There are plenty of places on the planet where you still can’t get 4G or WIFI. If you are in one such locale and need to make contact with loved ones nonetheless, you’ll have to forego the immediacy of a text and opt for the more occasional messages instead. Even though you won’t be able to Skype, you’ll still be able to communicate. You’ll just need to wait a little bit. Believe it or not, there are remote couriers who live and work all over the world. Using pre-industrial communication techniques, these can relay a message from nearly any point on the globe. Drones are also becoming really useful in the passing of messages from remote locations to more populous ones. So wherever you are, see what communication avenues are available to you, and take advantage of them if your mobile device or email machine become disabled.
There are plenty of other things to prepare for when traveling internationally, but these are two of the biggest problems you can run into. There’s nothing like getting seriously injured or incapacitated when away from your home nation. And there’s nothing that will make you feel homesick like not being able to keep in touch with the people you love. So make sure that you work out these details before you ever buy your plane ticket overseas. You’ll have the peace of mind that only comes from being prepared. And you’ll be able to help other world travelers who almost certainly will not be as prepared as you are for what lies ahead.
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Images credit by order:      Moyan Brenn, Freddy Enguix, David Becher