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Travel tips

Yesterday it was quite a long day: we went to UZ Gent, to get some vaccines to go abroad.
Instead of the planned 'hour', we ended up there for 3...
Apparently some parts of our hospitals look like going back in time for quite a while...

Dr Joski is the funniest doctor I have ever been to.
And each time I am amazed how he manages to give you a vaccination without hurting at all (in fact, I never even felt the needle entering my skin...)

Why am I saying this? Because I am convinced people sometimes leave without necessary medicines.
And without a lot of other stuff.

Therefore some good advise:

-check the travel advise on the country you are about to visit.
(can be checked here for Belgians), check also the CIA-files, which contain a lot of useful background info.
-Be sure you have a travel insurance.
(Normally your social insurance will cover most trips for basic things like repatriation and some stuff (make sure you take that little card along). For a travel annulment insurance, your travel agent can inform you. But be sure to see if you are not covered in another way. People who have MasterCard Gold or Visa Gold, and pay their trip with the card get a lot of these advantages included. Worth checking at your bank!)
-Check if you need a vaccination, and do this about 6 weeks before take off.
-Do you have a valid passport (most passport need to valid for atleast another year after arrival in the country of destination. So be sure it is still valid long enough)
-Do you need a visa? If so, get it asap because these procedures might take up some time ( I remember getting mine for Israel and we had to go 2 times...)
-Make sure you have copies of documents. Make 2 copies of each: one copy you carry around in your luggage apart from your original documents, and another copy you leave at family or friends, so they can help you out...
-If you go into a dangerous area, be sure to have someone updated on your whereabouts. Inform the local embassy or consulate of your country.
-Make sure you have money or a creditcard.
-Be sure to take enough Dr Janssen stuff (such as Immodium Instant and Motilium) and some aids preventives (hey, you never know, traveling is fun!)

-When in the country: make sure you pack your luggage yourself.
I might sound like an Israeli guard now, but heck, the last thing you want to happen is that security finds weird stuff in your luggage...

Most of this advise can be found here.

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