A vacation should be a relaxing experience, but unfortunately, accidents and injuries do happen at home — and when traveling. The latter brings up more questions and stress. Will your insurance policy cover you? Will the airline let you board the plane? Avoiding incidents is imperative if you want everything to go smoothly. To do that, you should consider the following vacation travel tips.
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How to Avoid Injuries When Traveling
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One of the most overlooked vacation travel tips is how to avoid injuries when traveling. You go away to relieve the stress of normal life. Getting injured, then, isn’t on the to-do list.
Sadly, lots of people do trip and fall and land themselves in a hospital. I’m one of those travelers.
When traveling in New Zealand several years back, at a dinner party followed by a DJ, I tripped and fell, catching myself with all my weight on my left wrist. And oh the intense pain.
After a 20-hour visit to the Wellington emergency room, the diagnosis: a broken wrist. I still had two more weeks left exploring New Zealand. Trust me, I managed, but not without pain.
Few want to even consider that an accident or incident might occur while in the middle of their vacation, but it is as important as purchasing health or car insurance.
Here are some vacation travel tips to help you prevent and hopefully avoid injuries when traveling.
Get Legal Coverage
Adding legal coverage to your insurance policy won’t prevent any freak scenarios. However, it may give peace of mind for the duration of your trip.
With expert personal injury attorneys on your team, you know that you’ll receive a high level of representation.
Not only that, but the legal professionals will do the hard work and let you recover. It’s amazing how coverage can put the cherry on top of the icing and improve your mood.
Plus, after the year we’ve had, it’s apparent that it’s better to be safe rather than sorry!
Use Public Transport
How can hopping on a bus or train impact your health?
It’s really about driving in a foreign country with different local rules and regulations — and even a different language.
For instance, some countries such as the United Kingdom, India, and Thailand all drive on the left-hand side of the road. The former uses roundabouts, too, which are tricky enough without worrying about going the wrong way!
Even if your destination drives on the right, the car will probably have a manual gear shift, not an automatic transmission.
Just because your license says you can drive a stick doesn’t mean you can, especially if you haven’t done it in ages.
The worst place to take a refresher course is on a packed highway overseas.
Be Careful Around Water
You can swim, so you’re happy to jump in the sea or a crystal clear lake and enjoy the refreshing coolness of the water.
However, the number one killer of Americans abroad is drowning. Yes, it’s not crime or terrorism, the two usual suspects, but tourists that don’t treat bodies of water with respect.
The key is to search for warning signs. If there are red flags, stay out of the ocean. If there are no lifeguards, don’t take the gamble. It’s tempting to assume it will never happen to you, yet the stats say otherwise.
Stick To Your Limits
The greatest vacations are active ones.
Walking around and exploring the local culture and customs is what makes traveling incredible.
Still, your body might not be used to the rigors of walking tens of miles every day. As a result, you could suffer from sore feet, a bad back, or shooting pains in your lower body.
Understanding your level of fitness will help you to take precautions when necessary, such as paying for a taxi now and again.
Injuries aren’t any fun when you’re at home, and nothing takes the fun out of travel more than an injury.
