What to do if you get sick while abroad

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When we prepare for a trip overseas, we are usually excited about a lot of little things, like where we will go to eat, the new places we will see and the different culture we’ll get to immerse ourselves in. Because we think about a holiday as a positive thing, and even business trips or a hiatus abroad have an exciting newness about them, we don’t think much about what will happen if we fall ill.

There’s no doubt about it, it can happen - in fact, it’s probably more likely you’ll fall ill in another country than at home, purely because you’re less likely to have built up a tolerance to specific germs and pathogens you might come into contact with. So it is essential to prepare for any health emergency, or even a health mishap, that you might encounter when you travel.



Read up about the specific provisions in the place you’re visiting

We can lay down a whole list of things you can do and people you can contact when you’re in another country, but there are close to two hundred “other countries” you could be going to, and each has its own healthcare systems, as well as dos and don’ts that you should be ready for. So the first key point is to know what those are. Your first response to feeling feverish in Bangkok may be different to what you do when you’re in Prague, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution anyone can give you.



Get travel-specific health insurance

Among every rough guide to world travel, and all the information on being a digital nomad you might read, the importance of being as insured as you can be is paramount. Whether that may be travel insurance with a health component, or an addition to your existing basic health insurance, it’s important. You may be going somewhere that has universal healthcare that covers tourists - great, but you might not be near a hospital that’s covered by that when you have a health issue (and you may not be covered by law in that country). It’s better to have health insurance and not need it, than need it and not have it.



Know what medication you can bring into the country - and how to get more

It’s generally considered advisable to have a first-aid kit in your car when you’re going somewhere a few hundred miles from your home, so it’s definitely a good idea to be at least as prepared when you’re further away. Countries do have restrictions on what can be brought in, though, so find out what these are. Ideally you’ll have some over-the-counter pain medication, cold and flu treatments and some dressings as a minimum, while anti-diarrheal capsules and antihistamines are also a good idea.

You should also ensure that you are able to bring any prescription medication that you are on, along with a doctor’s note to confirm it’s for your use. To ensure you’re as covered as you can be, it’s also worth finding out how you would get hold of replacement medication in your destination country should that be necessary.

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