Our vacations are not really vacations.  Our vacation schedule is usually hectic.  We fill up our days with activities as much as possible.  Why?  The main reason we go on vacation is not really to relax, but to explore what the place has to offer.  There are many times we get back to our hotel physically exhausted, but mentally energized.

If you are the same type of traveler, you would know that there’s a longer to-do list before leaving to ensure a healthy and enjoyable vacation.  Here are a few of the things I do or I think I should do before I travel:

• Check the CDC website for vaccination requirements and recommendations, health news and outbreaks in the destination.
• Bring a med kit.
• Bring sanitizing/cleansing items (i.e. hand sanitizer, moist towelettes, portable water filters)
• Get in shape if planning to do a physically demanding activity.
• Bring nourishment and bottled water that will last until you can get more.  I get hungry and thirsty too often.

Click here for an article by Gretchen Kelly at Travel Channel for more things to do for a healthy travel.

We need to always be prepared when we go to places, exotic or not.  I always carry a med kit with me when I travel.  I use one of the pouches that I get for free when I buy cosmetics, then I fill it with meds that I might need for my vacation.  I always try to put my med kit in my carry-on luggage if possible just in case my checked baggage/s get lost or delayed.

Here’s a checklist I got from an article by Hannah Wallace at the Endless Vacation magazine July/August 2007 edition:

• Sunscreen
• Blister supplies (bandages or Band-aids in different sizes, moleskin, antibiotic cream)
• Hydrocortisone cream – one thing I couldn’t live without when traveling
• Insect repellent – another thing I couldn’t live without when traveling.  The bugs either love me or hate me so much.
• Decongestant
• Pepto-Bismol
• Motion sickness med – I haven’t had motion sickness for a long time now so I don’t usually take some with me, but it is probably a good idea to take some next time.
• Pain reliever – I always carry both ibuprofen and acetaminophen
• One dose of antibiotics – this I’ve never done
• Prescription med

Read on…

Unfortunately, the internet is teeming with adult content.  And no matter how we try to shelter the children from such obscenity, there are still so many ways that allow the children to access them.  But I believe each little step, no matter how little they are, do make a difference.

Leigh tagged me and now I’m tagging you.  As a blogger, with your blog as your outlet to reach out to many, take this opportunity to contribute to a good cause and post this message on your blog:

For those who think their sites are not frequented by marketers of adult content, you might want to rethink that.  You’ll notice that more than half of the spam emails you receive are from these marketers.  As your blog gets popular, you receive spam comments from them as well.  They’re everywhere looking to promote their business.  How do you think they got to be a multi-billion dollar industry?

There are a lot of things to watch out for online, from hackers to spam to unregulated information.  Adults themselves exert extra caution when reading info and clicking on links online.  But what about children?  Children are more prone to the dangers of the world wide web.  More and more children go online at a very young age.  And at the same time, more and more dangerous information are accessible online.  Parents now implement different ways of shielding their children from these dangers including limiting web access and internet monitoring.  Times have changed.  Parenting is more difficult than ever.  Honestly, I have no plans of becoming parent.  Do you?