#Dukoral Contest: Take the Quiz and Win!

Traveling with Ish has its pros and its cons.

Pros: You will meet everyone. The man has yet to meet a stranger he won’t transform into a friend.

Cons: He’s a public health officer by profession and public health never takes a holiday.

Public Health on Holiday. Ish peering into yet another pot as we travel.

Public Health on Holiday: Ish peering into yet another pot as we travel.

That often means that where I see “curious local choices” and “adventurous opportunities,” he sees meat hanging without proper refrigeration and milk that we can’t be sure was pasteurized.

It also means that I’m more familiar with terms like ” enterotoxignenic Escherichia coli”  (“e.coli” to the rest of the world)  than I’d like to be.

Luckily, we both take healthy travel seriously.

Ahead of our year around the world trip we visited with a travel health professional to decide which vaccines we needed.

It wasn’t always easy deciding which vaccinations to take and which to skip but there were some that were no-brainers.  Dukoral was an easy choice.

We are eaters, my family and I. We knew that gambling on the fact that we simply wouldn’t eat anything that could make us sick was silly. And so ahead of the trip we opted to take it.

And unlike that evil yellow fever shot (that thing burns, people!), Dukoral is a drink. Ish and I gulped it down and the  kids took it like champs.

And guess what?

We stayed healthy. We were careful for sure (no shady vendor food) but we even went to Delhi and never got the “belly” if you know what I mean.

Dukoral| Tips for safe travel eating

Avoiding traveler’s diarrhea  isn’t only about taking your medicine. Traveling while hungry – as we do – requires using some common sense and resisting some impulse actions too.  A few things to remember:

1. Just because the locals are doing it doesn’t mean you can too

I’ve watched many travellers succumb to painful nights after deciding that they could dine like the locals. There will be times when you’ll be perfectly fine, but it’s not an area of my travel where I like to roll my dice. I work mainly off recommendations. I like to think that the place I’m staying has a vested interest in keeping me off the pot, so they’re likely to steer me clear of easy mistakes. I always ask for spots where I can dine local but minimize the risk of getting sick later.

There are places we ate and places we chose not to.

There are places we ate and places we chose not to.

2. The time to consider what you might need  in terms of medical prep for your trip is not after you’ve finished your tap water on ice.

If you’re going to Florida you might take your chances and throw caution to the wind, but if you’re heading off on an international trip where you’re likely to be eating things you aren’t used to or can’t pronounce? Consider seeing a travel health professional well before you go. It takes time for medications to be ordered and they don’t often have long shelf lives. Dukoral can be ordered without a prescription at your pharmacy as well, but seeing a medical professional allowed us to round out that decision with other vaccination choices we hadn’t considered.

3. Better to be embarrassed than incapacitated

I hate bothering people or seeming too “touristy.” But you know what I hate worse? Clutching my stomach in the fetal position of a hotel room while the exciting stuff I came to see happens outside without me. So to avoid that, I’ll force myself (or Ish) to ask whether the jug of water is filtered, skip the ice if I’m unsure and stick with fully cooked things in certain situations. It won’t score me adventure points but if it allows us to stay healthy and actually enjoy the trip it’s worth it in my books.

Dukoral| Contest

Now, Dukoral is offering up something more.

Visit their Facebook page and find out what kind of traveler you are with their simple quiz and you can enter to win a $1000 Air Canada voucher or GoPro camera!

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I took the quiz and was pronounced an “Adventure Addict.” According to the site this meant that “You are not afraid! Your status updates inspired Grandma to put jalapenos in her cucumber sandwiches and try online dating.”

Ok, so not entirely accurate, but fun all the same.  Now it’s your turn: Head over, take the test and enter to win.

Then pop back over here and share your travel type in the comments. I’m curious to see what you find out.

To learn more about Dukoral and how to protect yourself while traveling visit dukoralcanada.com

DUKORAL® is intended to help prevent travellers’ diarrhea caused by enterotoxigenic E. coli in adults and children 2 years of age and older. It does not treat travellers’ diarrhea once it develops, and it must be taken no later than 2 weeks before travel. Not everyone who gets vaccinated will be fully protected; therefore, precautions to avoid contaminated food or water should be taken. DUKORAL® is not recommended during pregnancy. Allergic reactions and side effects such as abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, nausea and vomiting may occur. For complete product information visit dukoralcanada.com.

This post was part of a sponsored campaign by Dukoral Canada. As always, all opinions and stories are my own. :)