Any World Travelers in the Forum???

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@bpsshogg Loved Cambodia, Angor Wat is legendary. I used too eat at the local food stalls, the lady used to get her son to drive me to my hostel on his bike because it was on a dark road. Great people, poor yet total class.
I loved Vietnam, was a big fan of all the different kinds of food you get on the street.
I'd love to see Cambodia one day, and Laos as well.
 
@glamghost Me too, I've backpacker twice and Thialand only twice too, so 4 times in all so far. Its like a home from home now.
 
Not a world traveler. But I do live in the border states and make a few trips down to Mexico a few times a year to pick up antibiotics and also get dental work done to save money. I have picked up a few other things for pain control and anxiety but had no issues being them back as it’s a personal amount and CBP has never had a issue.
 
I never traveled until I reached my 40s and we now do at least one international trip per year. It has really given me perspective and I've learned so much. People are kind and good people. I am entitled to live in the US and fortunate to not worry about safe drinking water, heating, and even ac.
 
Yes, I have travelled quite a lot and lived out in Asia for a number of years.
It's always my emergency last resort, I can use if things get really dire, just get on a plane to South east Asia.
Laos actually had the best quality benz I've ever had but I haven't been there for a long time and the place makes me uneasy
Thailand is more difficult and and expensive nowadays for benz, so I would probably just go to Cambodia where you can still go in almost any pharmacy and get what you need for pennies each.
You obviously can't bring too much back, but flights from Europe aren't really that expensive and the meds are so cheap if you bring enough back it can almost cover the cost of flights and you get a holiday.
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I have a few contacts out there too so can potentially pay a local to post some and also throw some in my suitcase too.
 
Why to go to other country to buy meds. You can buy them easily online, and also you have to be aware of the customs because every country has different laws and regulations.
 
20 years overseas across 5 continents here. Lucky enough to have a job that took me around the world to live in Asia, Middle East, and Africa.
For me, Thailand was always like a sweet shop of possibilities, as was India.
 
@Nostromo I just came to get us on the right thread before we got into trouble lol.

People can get annoyed when you post in the wrong threads although mostly its vendor threads, so the generic ones we do get a little leeway.

Forgot to mention I just recently got my new 'blue' passport here in the UK so I'm still working out where this one is going to take me.

The one thing that really annoyed me was the lack of stamps in Europe, although I did get a nice lad in Amsterdam to stamp it one of the times I was there.

Countries I wouldn't go again: Definitely Andorra, unless you like skiing which I don't then its pretty boring. Except that was nothing compared to the Journey, we travelled from Spain, France and then Andorra (by bus) omg I won't be doing that again. I would HAHO or HALO jump out of a plane happily but those sheer drops were definitely a hard no, 5he bus drivers must have some serious bottle to drive those roads. They do have excellent tax exemptions on goods so thats a plus and great food but otherwise its a no.

I would love to go to Morocco and Eastern Europe for a few football games as well as some other adventures. Indonesia is also good for football, sadly they recently had a tragedy. Same old story: misuse of tear gas for crowd control.

I spent the day researching football tragedies truly horrific and I avoided the very detailed versions. I dread to think what they showed.
 
@Nostromo I just came to get us on the right thread before we got into trouble lol.

People can get annoyed when you post in the wrong threads although mostly its vendor threads, so the generic ones we do get a little leeway.

Forgot to mention I just recently got my new 'blue' passport here in the UK so I'm still working out where this one is going to take me.

The one thing that really annoyed me was the lack of stamps in Europe, although I did get a nice lad in Amsterdam to stamp it one of the times I was there.

Countries I wouldn't go again: Definitely Andorra, unless you like skiing which I don't then its pretty boring. Except that was nothing compared to the Journey, we travelled from Spain, France and then Andorra (by bus) omg I won't be doing that again. I would HAHO or HALO jump out of a plane happily but those sheer drops were definitely a hard no, 5he bus drivers must have some serious bottle to drive those roads. They do have excellent tax exemptions on goods so thats a plus and great food but otherwise its a no.

I would love to go to Morocco and Eastern Europe for a few football games as well as some other adventures. Indonesia is also good for football, sadly they recently had a tragedy. Same old story: misuse of tear gas for crowd control.

I spent the day researching football tragedies truly horrific and I avoided the very detailed versions. I dread to think what they showed.
Thanks! Yes- it was spiralling out of context in reading thread!
I drove to Andorra actually, at night in winter and without snow tyres. Good fun! I can’t ski but the trip was fun.
If you want scary- I traveled on the roof of an Indian Apple truck From Kashmir to Delhi. Literally above the cab on the roof. Days of mountain passes and ridiculously bad roads. I was younger then, and too stoned to care. I was memorable and the kind of thing that travel is all about. Not the comfiest or safest but memorable.
I’d say the Kathmandu to Pokhara highway is one of the scariest roads I’ve travelled. Again overnight and again on the roof of a bus. Wild stuff.
 
@Nostromo Oddly I would feel safer on top the Apple truck, if you sense the truck going off at least you have time to jump off away from the drops. Although survival at those altitudes would/could be very dangerous without the right kit. Also depending on the time of year, but night? No, you need your head examined lol.

I imagine if you're familiar with the region then its not so bad, tuk-tuks in Thialand etc at night somehow never bothered me. Perhaps a false sense of security? Plus I've had medical care twice in Thialand and the healthcare was brilliant.

I remember I broke my wrist in Bangkok and the ambulance was so professional and better than the NHS imo. When we got to the hospital (a Methodist hospital) I needed an op so they could put pins in my wrist. I remember the surgeon coming and telling me a little boy had just come in and "would I mind?" if she treated him first.

I was just thinking, you're the doc so surely its your call on who gets treated first? Why are you asking and not just telling me how it helps your shift in that order etc, lol. I always have excellent health insurance so I imagine she was used to arrogant snobby travellers, perhaps? While I was at the hospital they served me French fries, for breakfast lol. So I wasn't really eating and upset at the accident and the issues on my trip.

She came one lunch time and took me to a 5* hotel restaurant across the road for lunch and we had a really fascinating conversation on our various health care systems.She explained the 3 tier system they had, so regardless how poor you were you could always afford to get treated. Quite impressive system. Regardless if you had a broken leg or a brain injury it cost the same, definitely doable with family and friends chipping in if necessary. Albiet quite cheap regardless. Around 500 or 1000 Bahts, I can't remember which but I'm swaying towards the 500 end?

The other was in another part of Bangkok and was like a 5* hotel, really long name starting with B, I'm not attempting to pronounce it let alone spell it. Executive business suites and numerous cafe/restraunts etc. Really impressive. Definitely always ensure you have good health insurance when travelling. Its the second thing I buy after my flight.

Seriously, go to u tube and research Asian hospitals, they will blow you away. Even better than the private ones in the UK imo (Private ones).
 
Thailand is more difficult and and expensive nowadays for benz, so I would probably just go to Cambodia where you can still go in almost any pharmacy and get what you need for pennies each.
Don't forget in Thialand if a pub/club gets raided they drug test you and if you show positive, its classed as possession, not that it stopped me as I was prescribed them in the UK at the time so I figured my GP would just confirm it for me. Unsure about Laos laws, I didn't check. Dubai was a definite no-go zone without a geniune prescription. Even OTC in UK are illegal in Duboi, like 500 Paracetamol with 8mg of Codiene etc.
Caveat Emptor.
 
Yep. Aware of Dubai. Lived there for 2 years. I did get prescribed codeine once though.
The hospital in Bangkok is Bunrungrad. Been there many times for this and that.
Luckily I had Uk government cover in all my postings due to work so only used the best hospitals in the country. As you can imagine, a local hospital in Mozambique is worse than no hospital at all. Saudi hospitals are very good, except…for a women’s health check up, a woman has to keep her abaya on and remain fully covered. For things like breast examinations for lumps this ain’t great.
I also broke my wrist. I jumped out of a hotel window in northern Brazil, (long story) and didn’t land well. This was way before my overseas work, so it was local hospital or nothing. I strapped it up myself and avoided the hospital completely!
 
@Nostromo I would like to hear that long story one day lol. I imagine working in Dubai you didn't get slaughtered with the huge taxes? I remember getting off the plane, still in the airport and 'when in Rome..Go Irish lol' So I ended up paying £12 equivalent for the tiniest glass of house wine on the planet in an Irish pub. Fortunately there was a British football/Rugby team who had tax exemptions, so they became my best friends that day for a few hours lol.
 
@Nostromo I don't think it was the hospital you mentioned, thats really easy to pronounce, I'm wondering if it was BNH but I can't find the full name to clarify.

I had a letter from my UK GP so it was purely just to pick up a monthly prescription once they (I imagine) clarified it was geniune, which was frustrating while backpacking. Although I went with a full prescription so that bought me some leeway, since I hit the hospital first.

My back is impossible in the winter so the weather really helped. Good Times nonetheless.

Where would you recommend for S America? I have a prescription they can clarify so thats not a huge issue, but unsure where/what route to take (6 months).

I considered getting married in Mexico but found you need to provide blood tests beforehand, it just felt too clinical for a wedding so I switched to the Carribean then a few weeks in the US honeymooning.
 
@bpsshogg Loved Cambodia, Angor Wat is legendary. I used too eat at the local food stalls, the lady used to get her son to drive me to my hostel on his bike because it was on a dark road. Great people, poor yet total class.
I loved Vietnam, was a big fan of all the different kinds of food you get on the street.
I'd love to see Cambodia one day, and Laos as well.
Did you see all the Americanisms in Vietnam? You can't go wrong in SE Asia but Laos is probably one place you want to get pre trip treatments for.
 
@Nostromo I don't think it was the hospital you mentioned, thats really easy to pronounce, I'm wondering if it was BNH but I can't find the full name to clarify.

I had a letter from my UK GP so it was purely just to pick up a monthly prescription once they (I imagine) clarified it was geniune, which was frustrating while backpacking. Although I went with a full prescription so that bought me some leeway, since I hit the hospital first.

My back is impossible in the winter so the weather really helped. Good Times nonetheless.

Where would you recommend for S America? I have a prescription they can clarify so thats not a huge issue, but unsure where/what route to take (6 months).

I considered getting married in Mexico but found you need to provide blood tests beforehand, it just felt too clinical for a wedding so I switched to the Carribean then a few weeks in the US honeymooning.
I lived in Brazil for a few years and absolutely loved it. I worked my way down the Atlantic coast selling jewellery on the beaches with an Argentinian I met there. Again, long pre my serious working days for the UK gov. Hippy life style and a great way to spend a few years. There aren’t really many places left that I want to visit. All in all I’ve spent over quarter of a century overseas in magical places. I am very lucky.
Brazil is absolutely huge, but 6 months would work. I also visited Paraguay but should have stayed in Brazil. Paraguay was a scary place then.
I’d like to see Venezuela but avoid Caracas.
main thing is, don’t spread yourself too thin. I’d intended Ecuador and Colombia within the two years but Brazil alone was plenty.
 
@Nostromo Thank you, I'm aware how huge Brazil is and the recent festival/floods etc.

I suppose I wrote it off due to the size, I had a Brazilian friend (Employee) in the UK, she offered for me to meet her in February for the festival when she returned and I unfortunately passed up on the offer with work being far too busy, the US becoming a home from home during that period also. That was decades ago so I know even knowing no-one how to acclimatise to the backpackers life in countries. I like that suggestion now you have recommended it.

I know (Knew) Brazilians in the UK and the clubs they frequent so I can get more advice there too.

Thank you,

C x
 
I do not think it is worth, your purpose of travelling is being compromised.
I'm unsure who you are responding to but assuming Mexico. I dont find it much different that being in the UK and going to Amsterdam. My ex was a huge weed connaisseur so we went for long weekends. I don't like weed personally but I still loved Amsterdam. Even going with female friends too and having a blast.

I remember being in Asia (Thialand) for the FMP, going straight to a festival in Amsterdam before going home (those weren't the most flattering pics ;(. I suppose if your sole purpose is meds then it does seem a waste, but spending a day/2 most sorting that, then you still have 12 days (or even 5) to enjoy the tourist areas?

Did you know the first and most popular cafe was a former police station? Now they have numerous branches all over the city.Useless fun trivia ;)

I personally wouldn't go to a country solely to buy meds, I agree that's a wasted opportunity in my opinion.
 
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