Maximize Experience
Travel is all about the experience. If you are going to journey half-way around the world and then stay in your hotel room watching CNN, or lounge by the hotel pool, you might as well stay at home. Also, if you go
that far and then hang out with a group of people that are exactly the same as you (tour group), you could probably get more out of a good documentary. In this section, we are going to share our experiences in the hopes that you can not only learn from them, but also be entertained by them. We make a lot of mistakes along the way, but it is all part of the experience.
The Gobi Desert – Trans-Siberia Episode 06
Our trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway took us through one of our most memorable countries ever. Mongolia was truly an unforgettable experience. The first half of this portion of our trip, the Gobi Desert, is presented in this brief 4 minute video. Also, you will learn that the toilets in the Gobi are almost as nice as those at home.
The Great Wall – Trans-Siberia Episode 05
One of the most impressive places to visit in Beijing is, without a doubt, the Great Wall. It was as impressive in person as you would imagine. The secret to getting the most out of a visit here is to arrive as early as possible. If you delay, the crowds will be huge, but the first thing in the morning, you will be one of the only people on the Wall. The second most important thing to know is, if you are visiting the Mutianyu section, you HAVE to take the slide off the Wall when you are finished. It is a four or five minute ride down the mountain and is quite fun. You can see more in the video.
A Day of Firsts – Arriving in Kota Kinabalu
Drugs are bad, mmkay? In Malaysia, drugs are really bad. Possession of illegal drugs can get you executed. I wondered why the Malaysians are so against drugs, but having been here for a bit, I quickly figured it out. It seems that whoever created the traffic patterns and road layout here in Kota Kinabalu was high as a kite and they wanted to put an end to that nonsense.
Just as an example, let’s say you are traveling down a road that comes to a T-intersection and you need to turn right because the place that you are going is RIGHT THERE on the right. Nope, you cannot turn right, even though there is a perfectly good two way street there. You have to turn left, go about a half mile down the road, do a loop around a roundabout and come back the other direction to get where you just were. It helps to visualize this when you realize that they drive on the left side of the road here, so a left turn does not cross any traffic.
All of this would not have been a problem, except we made a big mistake. We arrived in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, which is on the island of Borneo, and found that all of the action here is downtown, right on the water. There are lots of hotels, restaurants, a waterfront walkway and a big pier where you can catch a small boat to the outer islands. There you will find white sandy beaches with beautiful clear, warm water and exotic tropical fish. It is a great location to walk around and experience new sounds and tastes. So what was the problem? Well, we booked our hotel about twenty minutes away (or an hour away when there is traffic). There is a free shuttle, but it is not very convenient and a taxi is not cheap.
Ever the problem solver, Sara quickly came up with a solution: rent a scooter. Thus began my day of firsts. I have not ridden a motorcycle since 2000 and a scooter since 1985. I have never driven anything in a foreign country, which, of course, means that I have never driven on the left-hand side of the road. I have never white-lined a motorcycle (in California, it is legal, when traffic is less than 35 mph, to drive down the middle of traffic, i.e. down the white line between cars). I have never ridden a motorcycle with more than one other person on it. I have now done all of these things.
Since I had not been on a bike in over 10 years, Sara gave me three laps around the very small parking lot to get back in the swing of things. After that, we loaded up 3/4 of our family on the scooter and took off. It was then that I really took notice of the (excuse my French) f-ed up traffic patterns in Kota Kinabalu. Not only did I have to quickly get used to driving on the opposite side of the road, but they have dozens of roundabouts here, which have to be the stupidest invention in road design school. Now, I have read that they are supposed to be efficient, yadda yadda yadda. Not here. Traffic backs up for miles during the busy times with, quite frankly, not that many cars. A simple traffic light would work wonders, and the few that they have seem to efficiently move the traffic without any difficulties. Sorry, I digress.
So Sara is on the back of the bike and Ender, our four-year old is in front of me. We are armed with shorts and flip flops and set out to find our way around a new city, going in circles, the wrong way, through crazy traffic. Did I mention that Ender likes to play and did not seem to grasp the concept that it is not ok to tickle Daddy while driving 80 kph down the road. She also amused herself by singing and waving to people…and to our hotel (because we had to exit to the left out of it, drive 2 miles and do a U-turn, and go back by it to get to downtown, so she would wave to it as we passed it again).
I normally think white-lining on a motorcycle is crazy, but after being stuck in traffic for quite some time, with all the other scooters scooting by us, Sara and I had a mini-conference on the back of the bike and decided to go for it. We shot down between all of the cars and made it to downtown in record time. Ender was loving it, “Go faster, Daddy!”
The first day on the scooter was a white-knuckle ride for me. After three days, we are all loving it. I have noticed that the drivers here are very courteous and do tend to let us in when we need to be in a different lane, or need to turn at the last minute. They are kind to us obvious tourists with “For Rent” stickers on the back of our very cool scooter.
We have found that when we travel, sometimes the mistakes we make result in better experiences. This is one mistake that I am glad we made. I had as much fun riding that scooter as I did on the islands and the white sandy beaches. Don’t be too shocked to see me on one in San Diego one day soon.
Six Weeks in Taipei
It has been quite some time since we updated our blog with travel notes. Sara and I have spent the last six weeks or so in Taipei, Taiwan where our younger daughter was going to school to learn Chinese. We had lots of local adventures, but also worked on a few projects quite a bit, so it really wasn’t much of a vacation. I did come to realize that I very much love Taipei and want to move there someday.
We stayed with Sara’s family and really want to express our thanks for an incredible experience. We did not write anything about this part of the trip for a few reasons. The biggest was that we just did not have time. Things were always quite hectic and the little down time that we had was spent relaxing. Another big reason is that we do actually plan on living in Taipei for a few years at some point down the road. I have a lot of good ideas for blog posts, but I want to save them for when we actually live there. It is such an incredible country that it is my goal to build the best Taiwan blog out there. I don’t want to do a half-assed job, and there is so much to write.
It is nice to have such inside knowledge of a country as we do with Taiwan. Sara’s family lives there now and her sister, Sophia (whom we have written about several times before) knows all of the best restaurants and other activities throughout Taipei and most of Taiwan. She shared much of that knowledge with us on this trip and we really did have an amazing time.
Our daughter, Ender, is really picking up Chinese and I even learned a handful of words (even some written characters). I think I could do a series of posts on learning Chinese…it’s pretty freaking difficult. I did surprise everyone in the car (including myself) one night when I read a sign with five Chinese characters on it as we passed by. Only a few thousand more to learn and I’ll blend right in…except for the height thing. I tend to stick up above everyone else (but other than that, I blend).
One thing I do want to mention is how good the food is. I can say that I am fully adapted to Taiwanese cuisine. In the whole six weeks, we only ate at one Western restaurant: Outback Steakhouse, but we went there for Sunday brunch, so I had a Denny’s style breakfast!?! Since I had already been to McDonald’s in Taiwan on several past visits, I didn’t even go there (I try to visit McDonald’s in every country). A large portion of our upcoming Taiwan blog will be about food and all of the good restaurants from which to choose. A quick reveal, though, what is my favorite? Din Tai Fung. It is famous for its steamed buns and it is unbeatable. For a quick meal on the go, though, grab a rice-ball from 7Eleven.
The last thing is to thank Sara’s parents, Michael and Michelle, her sister, Sophia, and brother-in-law, Daniel, for everything they did for us over the last six weeks. It had to be difficult to let us into their home, disrupting their normal routines. We really do appreciate it and hope that we can return the favor someday. A special thanks to Daniel for loaning me half of his wardrobe!
Last September, Sara and I had a life changing experience with our good friends Charles and Vina on the Trans-Siberian Railroad (yes, we still have to finish that story). This summer we continued down that path by living (albeit short-term) in another country. Now, we have embarked on the next stage…Southeast Asia for a month. To be continued…
Rent vs. Own For Travelers
A popular debate in the U.S. right now is whether to rent or to own your home. There is much advice and speculation on the Internet as to what is the right thing to do. Every situation is different and what works for one person/family might not work for another. Here we will attempt to share our opinion on what works if you like to travel a lot.
In 2005, Sara and I sold our home to buy a new home which was under construction. During that period where we were living in an apartment, I became obsessed with the housing market and what I began to think might be a housing bubble. After extensive research, we decided to not go through with our new home purchase and just rent for a few years to see what would happen. Long story short, we guessed correctly and sat out of one of the worst housing value declines in U.S. history.
Since then, we have periodically looked at houses to purchase, but we have remained renters. To us, the pros of renting far outweigh the cons. We found that there was an internal tug when we owned our home to constantly upgrade things and make them nicer. New bathroom, counter tops (Granite for everyone!), flooring, etc. have a certain appeal. This conflicted dramatically with our frugal/minimalist nature. As a renter, we do not feel this tug. We still want to live in a nice place, but there is a limit to feeling like we need to “make it our own”.
Ownership
It is nice to own something, so you get to call all the shots. You can paint the walls whatever color you like, you can buy just the right furniture for each room. You can get to know the neighborhood and all of the neighbors. As a renter, you, for the most part, take what you get. You are never viewed by the neighbors as “one of them”, but as a transient who will come and go from their lives and probably not be remembered by many in a few years.
As a homeowner, what happens if your roof leaks? You call the repairman and pay, pay, pay. As a renter, you call your landlord and he takes care of it. Worst case, you move. In fact, any major disaster is met with the same mentality. The house burned down (a very real possibility in San Diego): Is the family safe? Yes, well, I guess that $20 per month I paid for renter’s insurance is going to buy us some new stuff. Go find a new house to rent and don’t worry about dealing with rebuilding.
Taxes
One of the biggest arguments to owning your own home is the incredible tax break that Uncle Sam gives you for owning: You get to deduct all of your interest from your income each year and pay taxes on the remainder. I have always found this amusing because it is one of those arguments that looks good on the surface, but when you start to evaluate it, it might not make as much sense.
Quickly, let’s look at an example. Let’s say you want to buy a $300,000 house. You will need to put down $60,000 as a down payment. Now that is money that is tied up and cannot be used for anything else. If your house goes down in value, that is the part that goes down first. You will still owe the bank $240,000. The normal interest rate these days is an amazing 4.5%, so your payment on a 30-year loan is $1216 per month. That is not the important part in this argument (you will need to look at comparable rent for this to be relevant). The important part is the interest. In year 1, you will pay $10,721 in interest. You can also deduct some taxes, but I do not want to get too confusing here and I am not an accountant. So, look at that, you get to knock $10,721 off of your income in year 1…awesome!! Except, as a renter last year, Sara and I took the Standard Deduction on our taxes. This is the deduction that Uncle Sam gives us non-homeowners who cannot come up with enough itemized deductions each year. What was our Standard Deduction last year? $11,400. Oops. And I didn’t have to pay any property taxes, homeowner’s fees, or fix anything that broke. Now, as I said each situation is different and the more expensive the house, the more you get to deduct, but as a sole argument, it doesn’t quite wash. Also, keep in mind that at the end of year 1, you still owe over $236,000 on your $240,000 loan.
Freedom
I think the biggest advantage, though, is the fact that Sara and I both thrive on ‘change’. We like things to be different from time to time. I have known Sara now for 11 years and in that time we have lived together in seven houses. We stayed for three years in one because Sara was pregnant and we just did not feel like moving with all of the baby gear. When you own your home, it is much more difficult to move. As a renter, when the lease is up, you are free. As an owner, the mortgage is always weighing on your mind. Yes, there is a mythical date 30 years in the future when you’ll be free, too, but in the meantime, you’d better not move or refinance, because guess what? That 30-year clock resets to Day 1.
Some people like the security of owning their home. They feel safe knowing that they always have a place to come home to. I can understand that, but I find that I feel safer knowing that with fairly short notice, I am free to make a change to my lifestyle. If I need to relocate for a job, I have the whole world as a option. I am not tied to a house. If I need to put my child in a better school, I’ll just find a house in that area and rent.
Travel
Please keep in mind that this whole argument is for those who like to travel and the best illustration that I can give is the fact that Sara and I have just packed up everything we own into a storage unit and are now in Asia traveling for two and a half months. We saved over $2500 per month by not having any significant housing expenses at home and can use that money for travel. If we owned, we could still rent out the house, but that is quite a hassle. When we return in August, we’ll just rent a new place and be back to normal.
Conclusion
Renting is not for everyone, but neither is travel. I believe, however, that if you have the travel mindset, you probably will be happier renting your home at least with the knowledge that you can just pack up and go if the urge overwhelms you. As I have said before, my home is where the majority of my underwear is.
If You Only Have One Day in Beijing…
The Great Wall
Beijing has a lot to offer, but if you only have one day there, here is a solid itinerary:
Start the day as early as possible with a quick, simple breakfast of traditional pastries, bread, or cake and milk tea at 85°C.
Take a taxi or bus ride to the Great Wall (Mutianyu Section). If you get there early, there won’t be many tourists and you can see it and go. Take the cable car to Tower 14 and then walk on the Wall back to Tower 6. Then ride the toboggan to the bottom, buy your “I climbed the Great Wall” t-shirt, get back in your taxi and head back to Beijing.
Temple of Heaven
Arrive back in Beijing for shabu-shabu lunch at Honyuan Hot Pot. This is an incredible meal that you cook yourself in your own hot pot. Not to be missed.
After lunch, go to the Temple of Heaven Park to walk off your meal. This is a huge open air park with lots of locals walking, hanging out, playing cards or musical instruments. You can walk for an hour or two and then head over to the Forbidden City for a view of how the emperors lived. From this historical site, head across the street to Tiananmen Square to a site with more modern significance.
Take a taxi to Da Dong Roast Duck Restaurant for a Peking Duck dinner that is both traditional and modern (not to mention delicious).
Head back to the train station or airport for your next stop.
Tiananman Square
There are many more things to see in Beijing, of course, but these are some of the top tourist sites. If you want to get more personal with the locals, you
will hopefully be staying a bit longer and can take your time. This itinerary is for the traveler that is pressed for time and wants to see the highlights. If you are the type that eschews the tourist crowd, you will want to steer clear of the Forbidden City, as it is packed with people. However, I would still suggest seeing the Great Wall, just go really early. It is worth it.
85度C咖啡蛋糕烘焙专卖店
北京阜成门店
西城区阜成门内313号房屋A单元
Tel: 010-66153545
Hours: 24H
宏源涮肉城(日坛路店)
朝阳区日坛东路9号(近使馆区)
Tel: 010-85628899
大董烤鸭店(东四十条店)
东城区东四十条甲22号南新仓商务大厦1-2楼
(东四十条桥西南)
Tel: 010-51690329 51690328
Trans-Siberian Railway Official Start: Beijing (Part 2-The Great Wall)
All of us at the Mutianyu Great Wall
Our trip to the Great Wall started with an early morning pick up from our drivers. Unfortunately, they turned a 45-minute ride to the wall into a 2-hour tour of the outskirts of Beijing. I was under the assumption that since the Great Wall stretches for thousands of miles, you could just drive north and you would eventually hit it. Apparently these guys didn’t get that, and they had quite a time locating it. Once we got there, though, it was about as incredible as I had imagined it would be. The Wall itself is built along the top of a mountain range, so not only did the ancients build a really long wall, they hauled all of the materials to the top of a mountain to do it.
Charles & Vina at the Great Wall
According to a survey in 2009, the Great Wall was announced to be approximately 5,500 miles long. To help fully comprehend this, the distance from San Diego, CA to New York, NY is 2,432 miles. Although the exact history is not known, it is commonly understood that the Wall started sometime before 200 BC as a series of walls to keep out foreign invaders. It was eventually unified under the Emperor Qin and then extended or repaired by each succeeding dynasty up through the Ming in the 1600′s. Contrary to popular opinion, the Great Wall is not visible from space (under favorable conditions it might be seen from low-Earth orbit), and from the Moon it is the equivalent of spying a human hair from two miles distance.
Vina & Charles on the toboggans
The section of the Wall that we chose to visit was Mutianyu. We rode a cable car to Tower 14 and were nearly alone on the Wall. The pollution was a bit lighter here, so the view was good, but not incredible. The real thrill came with the imagination that at one time soldiers manned these walls to defend their country against the barbarians from distant lands. About mid-way through the walk, we said farewell to Sophia, her husband, Daniel and their son, Charlie. They had to return to Shanghai and we were officially on our own.
Scorpion shish kabobs at the night market
We walked the rest of the short distance to Tower 6 and made our way to the toboggan. The toboggan is a slide that takes you back to the entrance to the park and is well worth trying out. Each person climbs on to their own sled and then slides down a concrete path, using a hand brake to maintain control. The ride is at least five minutes and is quite fun and can be very fast if no one is in front of you.
You can buy a delicious centipede at the night market
As night fell, we had a few hours before boarding our train. We decided to hit the local night market which we had heard had some fairly exotic food. We were rewarded with a chance to try such fun things as starfish, snakes (with or without skin), sea horses, beetles, pigeons, crickets, centipedes (small or large) and scorpions. We watched a girl eat a scorpion and then went to KFC for some ice cream.
A very brave girl eating scorpions
At last, nine days into our trip, it was time to embark on the Trans-Siberian Railway route. Only, it wasn’t the Trans-Siberian Railway. Our first stop was going to be Datong, which was only an overnight ride, and it made more sense to just take a local train to get there rather than the more expensive K3 Trans-Sib train. We boarded a very local, very run-down train, climbed in our bunks for the night, and went to sleep knowing we had officially begun our Trans-Siberian journey.
Trans-Siberian Railway Official Start: Beijing (Part 1)
The Forbidden City
The highlight of Beijing, aside from the Great Wall, is undoubtedly the food. Sara’s sister, Sophia, and her family met us in Beijing and any time Sophia is along, it is guaranteed to be culinary bliss. None of us, including Sophia, had been to Beijing before, but you wouldn’t know it based on our itinerary. We saw most of the major sites and had some pretty amazing meals in three days.
Sophia hired a driver for us for the three days, so we were able to move fairly quickly around the city without having to wait for taxis or public transportation. While this goes against our ‘Minimize Costs’ philosophy, we were able to split it amongst six people, so it was not too bad. The driver did not speak English, but in our case, this was not a problem as half of our party spoke Mandarin. It should be noted, though, that most taxi drivers do not speak English, so it will be necessary to carry pre-printed note cards of where you would like to go. Be sure they are written in Mandarin and not the pinyin form of the language familiar to English speakers, but totally foreign to the Chinese. You can print out the addresses at the bottom of this post and hand them to the drivers.
The Famous Northern Style Noodle
Our first meal was the iconic noodle dish of the Northern region of China, at the famous Haiwanju Beijing Noodles. Soph and Sara were super excited about this meal, since their grandmother was from the north. This particular noodle dish is the most traditional meal to their family. Every female family member has her own little variation of this dish. The noodles were served plain in a bowl with the eight ingredients all on the side, so you can mix them in as you please. You can order the traditional one with meat sauce, or the vegetarian variation with the sesame sauce. We ordered both and everyone had a taste of each.
After the meal, we had to step out of the restaurant into the open. The pollution around Beijing is really something to experience. Just as it is difficult to fully comprehend what 120 degree weather in the desert feels like until you have actually felt it, so too is the pollution in Beijing. Sara is asthmatic and pumped herself full of medication the whole time we were there. She still was on the verge of hospitalization most of the time and probably would have had to go if we had stayed another day or two. Part of the pollution problem is due to the rapid industrialization of China and part is due to the proximity of the Gobi Desert, which tends to creep closer to Beijing every year.
Mongolian Inspired Lamb Hot Pot
One of the sites that I looked forward to the most was a visit to the Forbidden City. Unfortunately, the pollution has really taken its toll on it and I was not as impressed as I thought I would be. There are plans to restore it, but as it stands now, everything (even the indoor exhibits) is covered with soot, the paint is peeling and things are just run down. There is no shortage of visitors, though. It is packed with tour groups with matching hats following flag-waving, bullhorn-toting tour guides.
My favorite meal in Beijing was the hot pot, more well known to Westerners as “shabu shabu”, the Japanese name for this type of dish. If you have never had it, shabu shabu is a real treat. They bring you a pot of water with a heater underneath to bring it to a boil. Then they bring out an assortment of vegetables, thinly-sliced meat (chicken, pork, beef), spices and sauces and you cook your own meal, just to your liking. It is easy to fill up on a very healthy, but delicious fare. The restaurant we went to was the Honyuan Hot Pot. It served Mongolian inspired hot pot, featuring lamb, in addition to the regular beef & chicken. Each person had his own little pot, so you don’t have to worry if your dining companions are under the weather.
Roast Duck Carved Table Side at Dadong
An interesting aspect of this trip was a visit to Tiananmen Square in Beijing at the beginning of our journey, contrasting with a visit to Red Square in Moscow at the end. Tiananmen houses the final resting place of Mao Tse Tung and has such an important history in our lifetime. Red Square houses the final resting place of Vladimir Lenin and also has an incredible history. Tiananmen itself is really not much, other than a huge open paved area surrounded by streets and buildings. It is the knowledge of the importance of this square to China and its recent history that makes it so moving to be there. Aside from the Great Wall, this was my favorite thing to see in Beijing.
We celebrated Sara’s birthday in Beijing by having Peking Duck at one of the most famous restaurants specializing in this delicacy. Certainly not the oldest of its kind, Dadong Roast Duck Restaurant prepares a more modern style of Peking Duck which is less greasy than the traditional style found in most restaurants. Sara claims it as her favorite meal of the whole trip and we wholeheartedly recommend it. It is even not too bad on the tightwad scale. All six of us were able to eat for US$120 (no alcohol included in this figure and, yes, $20 per person is not cheap, but the meal was pretty unforgettable).
The highlight of Beijing, to me, was the Great Wall (to be continued…).
海碗居(牡丹园店)
海淀区花园路2号(牡丹园翠微大厦北侧)
Tel: 010-82070488
宏源涮肉城(日坛路店)
朝阳区日坛东路9号(近使馆区)
Tel: 010-85628899
大董烤鸭店(东四十条店)
东城区东四十条甲22号南新仓商务大厦1-2楼
(东四十条桥西南)
Tel: 010-51690329 51690328
The Cheapest Way to Buy Trans-Siberian Train Tickets in China
Walked to the back of the train for this picture
Shortly after our Egypt trip, Flip and I made a decision to go on our dream trip – the Trans-Siberian railroad. The timing was perfect. My brother-in-law, Daniel was finishing up his two-year assignment in China. That meant we would still have a place to stay in Shanghai, and Sophia and her family would be able to join us in Beijing for a few days. Now the decision was made, I went on to do research. It surprised me how little information there was on how to buy the Trans-Siberian train tickets for independent travelers. There were plenty of agencies and sites selling tickets at a premium. But to get the absolutely cheapest price was not an easy task. The best resource I found was The Man in Seat Sixty-One. The site has a lot of information. I do recommend travelers read through the section on the Trans-Siberian. However, there was no information on how to buy international train tickets in China. You can’t just walk up to a train station and buy the tickets at the counter. All the information I found seemed to tell me that the only way was to use a travel agency.
I don't remember what was so funny, I just remember laughing hysterically...
Obviously, I was not going to take that for an answer. So I went on to search the answer on Chinese sites. And it really didn’t take me long to find the Chinese Tourism Board’s Official Agency site, CITS. From there I quickly found my answer. We had to go into one of their offices in person, bring our passports, show our Russian visas, then we could purchase the international train tickets. If you can read Chinese, here is the link to the Price Page. On the site, there is a page showing all of the CITS offices, but I am not sure if every office listed is able to sell international train tickets.
Flip in the fancy two-berth cabin and our Chinese instant noodles
On the morning of September 4, 2011, we arrived in Beijing by train from Xian. Soph had arranged a driver for the day, since we had a total of 7 people in our group, including my little nephew, who was two years old. The driver took us to the Beijing International Hotel. The CITS head office is located in the hotel’s West Lobby. Once we were there, it was straight forward and easy to buy the tickets. The staff spoke English and were super nice. You can buy tickets for trains K3, K19, K23 & K27 here. All other international trains are Russian or Mongolian. You will have to buy tickets either through an agency or from the train station in the respective country.
If you can’t speak Chinese at all, here is the address of Beijing International Hotel. Print it out and hand it to the taxi driver. When you walk in the lobby, go towards the left, there is a corridor there. And you will see the CITS office. Before you leave, use the restroom. They were very nice!
北京国际饭店一层西大厅 北京建国门内大街9号
Tel: 010-65120507
Mon-Fri: 9:00 – 12:00, 13:30 – 17:00 Sat, Sun & Holidays: 9:00 – 12:00
7 Essential OTC Medications to Carry When Traveling
I am a big fan of natural medicine and have more than once found that a natural form of medicine has healed me permanently where the traditional Western doctors could only dull my pain. That being said, everything has its place and when you are traveling, you want to get out and see things, not stay stuck in a hotel room or hostel, miserable. In these situations, an over-the-counter (OTC) pill might just be the answer to giving you enough relief to get out there and take that picture of you holding the Eiffel Tower between your thumb and forefinger.
I do not have a strong stomach and Sara is allergic to everything, so, over time, we have developed our little kit of OTC medication that we do not leave home without on long trips overseas. Please keep in mind that we are not doctors, so please consult your own physician before embarking on your dream trip.
We usually like to bring along our own meds because finding its comparable version in a foreign language, or explaining your symptoms to a pharmacist who does not speak your language is sometimes challenging.
Below is a list of the best OTC medications that we take with us without fail. Obviously, if you have a specific medical condition or problem, you should take any normal medication with you that you might otherwise need at home, such as allergy or asthma drugs.
1. Ibuprofen. Otherwise known as Advil or Motrin. This is my number one go to medication for any kind of pain. When I was in the Navy, this was what they gave for everything under the sun, from toothache to herpes (just kidding about that last one, no, Mom, I don’t have herpes). The reason that I choose ibuprofen over acetaminophen is that you can actually poison yourself very easily by taking too much acetaminophen. It is a common pain reliever in hospitals, and if you have already loaded up on it, have to go to the hospital, and then cannot speak the language, you might get more, which could kill you. This is possible with any medication including ibuprofen, but it is actually more likely with acetaminophen.
2. Phillips Milk of Magnesia (in tablet form). As I mentioned before, I tend to have a weak stomach, and one of my problems when traveling is to become stopped up. My first visit to a hospital overseas (Taiwan) involved this problem. To head off this situation in subsequent trips, I have tried many types of laxatives over the years and have found Phillips Milk of Magnesia to be the most mild and highly recommend it.
3. Imodium. The other end of the spectrum and a problem I am also very familiar with, although I do not want to go into these multiple events at all (Egypt, Bali, Huangshan, etc.), involves not being stopped up enough. Hands down, Imodium is the best choice for this and I absolutely do not travel without it.
4. Benadryl. Even if you do not have any known allergies, I would recommend bringing along a few tablets or capsules of Benadryl. A few years ago, Sara was having lunch at a local sushi restaurant and suddenly developed a splitting headache. She was able to drive herself home, but determined that she was having an allergic reaction to something. She took some Benadryl and was eventually ok, but after some extensive testing, the doctor found she was allergic to tuna. She had eaten tuna hundreds of times before. He also said that if she had not taken the Benadryl, she might have died. She now carries an Epipen with her everywhere, but the Benadryl is what made the initial difference.
5. Sudafed (single-action pseudoephedrine). This can be a lifesaver for the sinus headache. However, it can also be useful if you are going to be flying or SCUBA diving and your nasal passages are stopped up. The pressure changes associated with both flying and diving can play havoc with your sinuses and Sudafed usually can bring fairly quick relief. This can be the difference between actually diving and sitting on the boat helping people on and off with their gear.
6. Pepcid AC. Another one for the weak stomach. Although, I personally rarely use this, Sara swears by it as she gets extremely painful gastritus from time to time. This will bring relief within 10 or 15 minutes and can prevent a trip to the hospital. With all of the exotic foods out there that your body is not used to, it is better to be safe than sorry.
7. A general daytime and nighttime multi-symptom cold medicine (combo pack). Although it is rarely good to take too much medicine, or medicine for symptoms that you might not have, it is difficult to pack for every instance. In this case, I like to carry along medicine that is designed to help with virtually anything. I would try to steer clear of anything with acetaminophen in it for reasons listed earlier, but something is often better than nothing. For this, go with something you have tried before and has worked for you. The best product I have found is a version of Robitussin from Taiwan, and we try to stock up whenever we visit.
As I said before, I really do try to not use medicine if I can avoid it. However, when traveling, I really do not want to be knocked out by a simple head or stomach ache and I don’t always trust the ability to find the correct medicine when I cannot read the packaging. If you are ok with taking OTC medicine for your aches and pains, these are the ones that we recommend. We would love it if you would share your personal recommendations/experiences in the comments.
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