Girl Travels World

Like clockwork, seven days after arriving in a new country, I get sick. Too much drinking, too little sleep, foreign food and overwhelming excitement all combine into a killer cold/flu. In order to combat the misery of being sick in a foreign country, I always make sure to do the following:

Avoid booze: Nothing tears down your immune system like alcohol. A few drinks are fine, but anything that’s enough to give you a hangover is too much.

Drink lots of water: It’s easy to get dehydrated, especially when you’re flying, changing climate zones, or avoiding liquids so you don’t have to practice your hovering skills on the train bathroom. However, flushing your system is important, especially when you’re just starting out.

Load up on vitamin C: Orange juice, pills or chewable tablets all work to help boost your immune system. Give your system a kick.

Up the echenatia: Doctors haven’t proven any correlation between health and echenatia, but lots of traditional medicinalists have. Besides, any immune system-booster can’t hurt.

Regulate your sleep: The sooner you can get over your jet lag, the better. Disruptions in your sleeping schedule can cause wear-and-tear on your body. Try not to schedule any extensive activities upon arrival so you can sleep when your body demands it.

Women who are worried about travelling in East Africa shouldn’t worry – the worst thing that has happened to me so far was a body search by an overzealous inspection agent in Amsterdam airport. Still, there are certain tips I would pass along to make your trip more enjoyable.

Bring lots of skirts: Although pants are acceptable, especially on a muzungu (white person), you’ll feel a lot more comfortable in a skirt. 90% of women wear them, and they’re all knee length or below. Leave the super short mini-skirts for partying at the bottom of your pack.

Cover those sexy knees: If you want to attract some attention, wear shorts around town. Like American frat boys on cleavage, male eyes in Africa will be on your knees. Occasionally you’ll see kids with shorts, but it’s pretty rare. I felt comfortable wearing shorts at tourist places and my tourist hotels.

Keep the rack in the closet: Cleavage in a definite no-no. This means nothing low-cut, see through or ‘push up’ in nature.

Skip spaghetti straps: Exposed shoulders are ok in most of the cities and areas I traveled to, however, most tank tops with thin straps tend to show cleavage. If you have a high tank top with spaghetti straps, it’s probably ok, but know that no African woman would be seen wearing it.

Males = Less Hassle (well, at least on the streets): Like most places, if you make a male friend at your hotel or hostel and wander around town with him, you’ll get less grief that if you’re walking alone. Also, I noticed salesmen and touts that did decide to make our acquaintance approached the men first and were usually summarily dismissed without trying their luck on me.

I pulled this from my BootsnAll profile, sorry for the third person...and massive pic. I can't get it to resize.... Courtney Ries is the youngest brat of the ... [Continue reading this entry]