With March Break just days away, a sun and sand vacation would be a nice break from winter, but you want to make sure your travels to paradise don’t turn into travel from hell.
“Most popular destinations are the sun destinations where it’s going to be nice sunny and warm...a lot is usually Cuba, Mexico and the Dominican Republic.”
But planning that perfect vacation could easily turn into a nightmare says Terri Beaudry of Ellison Travel.
Beaudry says over the past several years more people are planning vacations on their own without the proper knowledge of potential safety and health risks.
“For example the water, is it safe to drink or will they have bottled water supplied at the resort? How was their food washed? A lot of people think that, 'Oh I’m having a salad I’m fine,' but without the proper water they can get sick from there.”
If you’re going away to escape the snow and cold you don’t want to be spending that time away feeling unwell.
"My job is to educate the patient about the risk based on where they’re travelling," says pharmacist Adam Aasen, who adds that it’s important for anyone travelling to have a checklist when it comes to their health.
“To make sure that they have a current list of their medications to travel with, to make sure they have a sufficient medication supply to travel with and also advise them of things they can do, like over the counter medications, protective things like clothing and insect repellants, stuff to protect them based on where they may vacation.”
Aasen adds, depending on the travel location, preventive vaccines may also be recommended.
"I think it’s important to consider that based on where you’re travelling, since you are putting yourself at risk, and that’s why you should see your pharmacist and say, 'Hey I’m going to destination X maybe I should get the vaccines recommended by the Canadian government.'"
Because at the end of the day, a vacation should truly be a vacation, and not a trip to regret.
