Category: TRAVEL

There is nothing like the thrill of exploring and discovering other peoples and cultures as we travel the world. However, there is a serious side to travel. Visiting a foreign country also means that we are exposed to bacterias and viruses that we may otherwise not come into contact with in our own country. This is why travel inoculation is so important. In many cases, it can save our lives.

The subject of travel inoculation causes great amounts of confusion and anxiety in many travelers. The type of travel inoculation required will greatly depend on the time of the year that you will be traveling and the geography of the destination that you will be traveling to (e.g. rural, urban or forested areas). Nevertheless, it’s extremely important to be aware of what can be contracted in different parts of the world.

Cholera can be caught from contaminated food, particularly shellfish and water. Symptoms include severe diahrrea and vomiting. Cholera immunisation is no longer necessary for international travelers. However immunisation against Cholera for aid workers staying for long periods in known high risk areas, or those who have an underlying gastro-intestinal condition, is highly recommended. Countries: African, Indian, Far East, Central and South American subcontinents, and parts of Eastern Europe

Hepatitis A can be contracted through contaminated food, water and personal contact. It is associated with poor hygiene and sanitation. Symptoms include severe vomiting and diarrhea. Travel inoculation of combined Hepatitis A and B, or Hepatitis A and Typhoid, should be given 2 weeks prior to departure. Countries: African, Indian, Far East, Central and South American subcontinents, and parts of Eastern Europe

Hepatitis B is a viral infection of the liver which can be fatal. This disease can be contracted through contact with infected blood (e.g. in drug transfusion), bodily fluids (e.g. in sexual intercourse), blood-to-blood contact (e.g. sharing of contaminated needles), or by a human bite from an infected person. Hepatitis B is easier to catch than HIV as it is more concentrated in the infected person’s bloodstream and can exist on surfaces outside the body. Travel inoculation is administered in 3 doses, the second dose administered one month after the first, and the third dose administered five months later. Once a blood test proves your immunity, you will be protected for life. A combined Hepatitis A and B inoculation is available. Countries: Sub-Saharan Africa, most of Asia and the Pacific Islands, the Amazon:

Japanese Encephalitis is a disease that is passed on to humans through bites from infected mosquitos normally in tropical surroundings. The symptoms are mild, although in severe cases, the disease can cause brain inflammation. Travel inoculation should be administered one month prior to travel in 3 doses. Countries: Far East, South-East Asia, tropical North-East Australia

Malaria is a tropical disease that is passed on to humans by mosquitos carrying this virus. Symptoms appear 10 days to 4 weeks after infection and include fever, chills, flu-like symptoms of muscular aches and headaches, diarrhea and nausea. A course of anti-malarial tablets must be started up to 3 weeks prior to departure, should continue to be taken abroad, and taken for a further 4 weeks after return. Extra precautions such as mosquito nets and insect repellants must be used as the tablets are not 100% effective. Countries: Africa, South and Central America, Asia and Middle East

Typhoid fever is the result of a bacteria contracted from contaminated food, water and person to person contact in areas where hygiene is poor. Causing fever, diarrhoea, and serious illness, Typhoid can be fatal. The inoculation should be administered one month prior to departure. However, care should still be taken with food (e.g. do not eat fruit unless you have pealed it yourself), water(e.g. drinking only bottled water with seal intact) and personal hygiene as the travel inoculation is not 100% effective. A combined Typhoid and Hepatitis A vaccine is available. Countries: Africa, South and Central America, Asia and Middle East

Yellow fever is a serious viral disease that is found only in tropical South America and sub-Saharan Africa and is also spread by mosquito bites. Symptoms include headache, vomiting, jaundice and bleeding. This disease can be fatal, and some countries, particularly East Africa, require a certificate of vaccination prior to entry. The travel inoculation should be administered 10 days prior to departure date and lasts for 10 years. Countries: Africa, South and Central America, Asia and Middle East

Meningococcal Meningitis is a bacterial form of meningitis that affects the brain membrane. This infection can be spread by direct close contact with nose and throat discharge (e.g. through sneezing) of an infected person. Symptoms include high fevers, severe headaches, discomfort when looking at bright lights, purple bruising, vomiting and sometimes chills or fever. There are 3 strains of the disease that are not covered in the common preventative immunisations commonly vaccinated for in the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand. These uncommon strains, A, W, and Y, can be found in Sub-Saharan Africa, Northern India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia requires vaccination of pilgrims to Mecca during the Hajj. Travel Inoculation should be administered 3 weeks prior to trip. Countries: Sub-Saharan Africa, Northern India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Saudi Arabia

Poliomyelitis (Polio) is caused by a virus that can be contracted from contaminated food and water and person to person contact. Particularly common in Indian subcontinents and sub-Saharan Africa, those infected are often unaware of that they have the disease. In severe cases, it can cause paralysis and difficulty in breathing. Polio is immunised against in countries like the UK, USA, Australia and New Zealand. However, as a preventative measure, check with your doctor prior to your trip for a booster dose. Countries: Indian subcontinents and sub-Saharan Africa

Tick-borne encephalitis is a disease that is passed on to humans from bites of infected ticks (e.g. while hiking or camping in Spring or Summer). This disease causes brain inflammation, and can at times even be contracted through unpasteurised milk. The symptoms are flu-like. Short term travel incoculation against this disease is available from your doctor. Countries: Heavily forested areas of Western and Eastern Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, parts of China

Rabies is a virus that is spread by the bite of an infected animal, most commonly a dog, and it commonly fatal. A dog with rabies can be recognised by foaming or drooling from the mouth and highly aggressive behaviour. Symptoms include extreme thirst, spasms, fear of water and paralysis. Doctors recommend preventative travel inoculation against this disease when traveling to areas where medical attention may not be readily available. Countries: All regions of the world where medical attention not available.

All travelers should assess their own risk by considering the nature of their travel, and while travel inoculations work, travelers must never assume that they are 100% effective all the time. That is why every health and hygiene precaution must still be taken in preventing the illness. A successful trip depends equally on the preparation we make ahead of the trip and the precautions that we take while we are on our journey.

Traveling with the family is one of the most keenly anticipated events for anyone who wants to get a much-needed break. The same event may turn out to be a taxing experience if family members are not insured sufficiently. This is where the travel insurance comes into the picture. Travel insurance is extremely important for those going on a travel, particularly those going on a long distance air or ship travel. Travel insurance provides a number of features, which covers the traveling family from unforeseen happenings during the trip. Travel insurance will ensure that the family gets to enjoy their trip whole heartedly without worrying about the various minor external factors.

Your insurance covers the traveler from various unforeseen events such as trip cancellation due to various unforeseen events including ill health, weather conditions and airline strikes. In the case of accidental death of the traveler, the family will be compensated with the insured amount. There are occasions when the traveling family has to but accommodation, food and clothing due to flight delays. In such instances, the insured person will be able to get the amount reimbursed. Travel insurance also compensates the traveler for any damages done to their personal baggage and also if the baggage gets lost. Medical insurance protects the travelers from expenses incurred on treatments received for any ailment during the vacation stay in a foreign land. These are some of the unexpected events that can be managed by taking travel insurance.

Before starting the trip, one might question the need for any insurance, as all the events are unforeseen, which may occur or may not occur. But since the family is traveling to a foreign land, chances of unforeseen events are relatively high. To cover against the negative effects of these events, one needs to be sufficiently covered. There are many public and private insurance companies, which provide travel insurance protection packages for the traveling public. There are online informational web sites, which can be used to compare the insurance premium that one needs to pay for getting coverage. These web sites compare the premiums charged by various companies and provide it to the user, after the user provides the necessary information such as the period of travel and number of members traveling.

The article below will talk about how to become a home based travel agent and 3 perks that come along with being this type of business owner. The internet changed many things, but one of the biggest things was how people book their travel. Many don’t use travel agents anymore, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still make money in the travel industry.

1. Travel Discounts: When you become a travel agent you gain many perks including discounts on your travel. If you choose to get certified you will receive discounts on hotels, cruises, air travel and more. It isn’t the main reason to become one, but it is nice to get these discounts and the amount of money you save adds up to a great deal over time.

2. Your Own Schedule: Unlike working for a brick and mortar agency, which is also not as necessary in today’s internet world, you can set your own schedule when you work from home. You can decide what kind of agent you want to be, what kind of places you want to research and book, and whether or not you even want to plan trips for people. It is completely up to you how you want to run your travel business.

3. Many Ways to Make Money:It used to be that in order to make a commission as a travel agent you had to make a sale; but the internet has changed all that and now there are many ways to make money as a home based travel agent. You don’t even have to sell any travel in order to make money in the travel industry, you can do so by simply creating a website and talking about travel if you wish. But if you love to plan trips and that is something you want to do, then there are still many ways you can make money doing that too. You can make money through Google AdSense, as an affiliate for travel companies, you can even become a condo broker, the opportunities are endless and are definitely not restricted to just scheduling and selling a vacation.

Above we talked about how to become a home based travel agent and just a few of the perks that come along with being one. Not only do you get travel discounts, get to make your own schedule, but there are so many different ways to make money as an agent these days working from home you no longer have to slave away in the hopes for a small commission. In fact, it is possible to make money with a travel website without ever booking a vacation, you can pick and choose how you want to earn a living as a home based travel agent.

So, you have always wanted to be your own boss and do your own thing, but you never had the experience, the skill or the courage to open your own business? Well, a travel – franchisee could be what you are looking for. Here are just some reasons on why owning a travel franchisee is a good bet for wannabe entrepreneurs:

The travel industry is booming

According to the recent report of World Travel and Tourism Council, the travel industry provided jobs to more than 235 people in the year 2009 and to more than 350 million people in 2010. That just goes to show the growth of the industry and the immense potential that the industry has. Even while the other industries were reeling under economic recession, jobs in the travel industry were aplenty. And if there are that many jobs, there has got to be good business. A reason for a travel -franchisees to be a very profitable option indeed.

Dynamism

If you are the sorts who easily gets bored of routine and constantly wants change, travel industry is the place to you. Travel industry is one of the most competitive industries around and owning a travel franchise would give you a chance to be a part of that competitive environment and meet a new challenge every day. Of course, having a travel franchise has the added benefit of getting the best deals for exotic destinations, fantastic properties and so on.

The travel industry drives growth globally

Perplexed? You shouldn’t be. It’s a fact. When Malaysia builds the tallest tower in the world, it becomes a sightseeing attraction for the rest of the world. And with it the demand in the travel industry for that particular country increases, which in turn pushes growth in that destination. So you see, owning a travel -franchise means to be a part of an ever-growing industry that all pushes growth globally.

Training

Now, after reading all that, you would wonder- why have a travel – franchise? Why not open a new travel house altogether? Well, for those of you who don’t have experience doing business, travel – franchise is the best bet, since, even if you don’t have knowledge, you are guided by experts in the field who tell you what to and what not to do in order to succeed. Thus, by having a travel – franchise, there is a minimal risk of your failure and the maximum for your success.

If you think annual travel insurance is a waste of money, think again. Nowadays, most of the people in the UK have been travelling for a lot of times, inside and outside of Europe. Yet, despite this kind of frequency in travelling, some people still have to bother about searching for the cheapest travel coverage that they could get each and every time that they are looking forward to a new trip. The aim of looking around and comparing prices of travel insurance in order to find the cheapest one seems pretty obvious – to save money. This kind of move is the most convenient one to take but only to certain types of travelers and not to every kind of traveler. Getting one travel insurance for one trip would work best only for those who travel for about once a year, in which those travel were already planned in detail ahead of time. However, for those who have a lot of travelling to do which could also be spontaneous for most of time, doing such isn’t good for them; they should afford to get an annual travel insurance. The frequency of your travels is the first thing that you have to consider before you arrange for a travel insurance policy.

Annual travel insurance can also be referred to as annual travel cover, yearly holiday insurance, annual trip insurance, and annual multi-trip. This kind of policy is very well suited for individuals, couples, and families, who do a lot of travelling throughout the year. By getting this kind of insurance, one can be assured that he can travel in and out of Europe for the next 12 months without bothering about getting a new insurance policy each time he travels. Usually, insurance policies of this kind have travel coverage of even up to 120 days. The next thing to consider is the age. People of age 66 to 70 have a maximum of 60 days, and those with age 71 to 74 (the maximum age that can be covered) has coverage of about 31 days at most. In this kind of insurance policy, you can choose a variety of items which can be covered by your insurance. These could include a cover for any hazardous activities, cover for baggage and other personal belongings, cover for your golfing activities, excess waivers, and even an unexpected cancellation of events that you were supposed to attend. When it comes to duration, there is also an even wider policy than that of annual travel insurance: comprehensive travel insurance. If you happen to be continuously travelling outside the UK for up to 15 months at a time, then this type of travel insurance is best for you. You could even extend this policy for even up to 18 months when you subject it to no claims on medical problems. This could also have the same options as that of an annual trip insurance policy.