LINDA Kwee thought she knew what to expect from her two-week Europe trip recently.
Although the 66-year-old retiree had slightly elevated uric acid levels, the condition had never caused her much trouble at home.
She was also a frequent gym goer and had even travelled extensively in China two years earlier, where days of walking around tourist attractions passed without incident.
So when she set off on her Europe holiday, she only packed her prediabetes medication, her supplements, and some pain suppressants.
But then her gout flared up midway through the trip.
“The pain was so bad that we had to cut short many of our plans because I couldn’t walk properly,” she recalls.
When the pain suppressants she had packed ran out, she assumed she could simply buy more at a pharmacy, but reality soon set in.
“I tried to get painkillers for my legs, but none of the pharmacies there could sell it to me because it is not an over-the-counter medication in Europe,” she says.
In the end, she had to settle for a generic painkiller from the pharmacies.
Like Kwee, many travellers only discover the importance of preparing for health issues after something goes wrong overseas.
For sales advisor C. Ariyan, 38, the wake-up call came in the form of a bout of diarrhoea during one of his annual overseas holidays.
“I didn’t get myself treated. I just controlled my diet, stayed hydrated and waited for it to pass,” he says.
Before that experience, Ariyan admits he rarely gave much thought to preparing for his health before travelling.
He had never sought medical advice before a trip and only expected to get vaccinated if it was a requirement for entry into the country he was visiting.
Likewise, he usually skips travel insurance when travelling to nearby countries, only purchasing it for long-haul or company trips where it is mandatory.
“I haven’t given that much consideration,” he says.
Now that he’s a father, however, he says his perspective has changed.
“If it happens again, I definitely would get myself treated,” he says, adding that his biggest concern while travelling is not being able to access medical care or facing unexpectedly high medical bills overseas.
He also says he would consider visiting a travel health clinic before future trips if one were available to advise him on destination-specific health risks and recommended vaccinations.
But not every traveller waits until something goes wrong to think about their health.
E-commerce executive Choo I-May, 34, elected to receive an influenza vaccination before both of her recent trips to China, even though it was not required for entry.
Instead, she made the decision after hearing reports of influenza outbreaks in the country, including news of a Chinese actress who died after contracting the flu and later developing pneumonia.
“It was self-suggested,” she says.
For communications executive Adam Ho, meanwhile, one painful lesson fundamentally changed the way he approaches travel.
During a trip to Lesotho, the 34-year-old developed severe stomach pain after indulging in four servings at a hotel buffet and sampling food from a roadside stall.
Although he had purchased travel insurance, his packed itinerary left him with little opportunity to seek medical treatment.
“I had travel insurance at that time, but the schedule was too busy for me to see a doctor, so I just weathered through the stomach ache and tried to find every toilet I could.”
The ordeal eventually forced him to abandon plans to visit several national parks.
“It affected my travel plans because I couldn’t go to the other national parks there due to the stomach aches,” he recalls.
The experience has not stopped Ho from enjoying hotel breakfast buffets, but he now does so with a little more restraint.
“Yes, I can go crazy at the breakfast buffet, but no more than two servings,” he says.
For Evie Gomez, 35, vaccination was not optional when she travelled to Nairobi, Kenya, for work in 2019.
“I had to get a yellow fever vaccine when I went to Nairobi for work because it was required,” she says, adding that it was the only specific health requirement she had to fulfil before the trip.
Gomez, who worked for an international non-profit at the time, recalls that a hepatitis vaccination was also recommended, although it was not mandatory.
Outside of such requirements, however, she admits her travel health preparations are relatively minimal.
She usually carries only paracetamol and naproxen, a medication she takes for migraines, and generally does not purchase travel insurance when paying for a trip herself because she wants to save money.
“It’s a bad habit, though,” she admits, adding that she does purchase insurance when she travels for work.
Meanwhile, Mohd Kamarul Azrai Ainuddin, 42, has so far managed to avoid falling ill during his travels – something he is keen to maintain.
“I make sure I don’t get sick while travelling. It’s such a waste of time otherwise,” he says.
While he does not impose many restrictions on what he eats apart from ensuring the food is halal, Kamarul says he is more or less cautious depending on his destination.
During a trip to India in 2018, for example, he says he avoided street food and chose to eat at established chain restaurants instead.
Unlike some travellers, Kamarul also does not pack any medication for his trips, as he is concerned that carrying pills may lead to questions from immigration authorities.
Instead, he prefers to purchase medication from local pharmacies if the need arises.
However, one precaution he never skips is travel insurance.
“I always take travel insurance, but I’ve never gotten sick while travelling,” he says.
