Lessons Learned

As our adventure in SE Asia comes to a rather abrupt end, I look back to some of the planning I did for which I am very grateful.  I wanted to share some tips that paid big benefits for us.  Some related to the medical crisis we encountered, others are useful for any international travel.

Before Traveling

1.    A good travel agency is worth their weight in gold

I cannot say enough great things about Audley Travel.  They were there for us every step of the way.  They have a 24/7 Duty Officer always available and have worked to coordinate the necessary changes to our Itinerary. Their local partners in both Vietnam and Cambodia have been so supportive of us during very trying times.

2.  Buy travelers insurance

Nobody wants to think something bad will happen on their trip, but the reality is that for many, something will.  Be it a medical emergency, your luggage getting lost or stolen, a travel agency going bankrupt, political or weather events causing interruptions – there are many, many things that can go wrong.  A good Travelers Insurance Policy will cover you and reimburse for those types of issues and many more.

In our case, by contacting the emergency number on our policy, they were able to refer us to the best possible hospital in our area and then notified the hospital in advance of our arrival.  They paid our hospital bill in Seam Reap within two hours of a final total being invoiced.  They’ve contacted me daily to check in and see how things are going.

If need to cut our trip and head home, they will make all the arrangements. 

The cost of Travelers insurance depends on a variety of factors – your age, type of travel, countries visited, cost of your trip.  In our case, it was less than 10% of the trip cost.  That may sound like a lot, but I’m telling you it was a very good investment.

There are many Travel Insurance companies out there.  We have been very pleased with ours:  Travel Insured International.

Medical

Travel with documentation from your doctor

1.               If you have medical issues, get a letter from your doctor with a description of you medical history.

In addition to your list of prescriptions, if you have any on-going medical conditions, have your doctor write up a summary that you can hand to a physician if you need to overseas.  This will help them better understand your condition, ensure they don’t provide medications that may interact negatively with others you are taking or damage organs that may not be fully healthy.

Having a letter from your doctor listing all your medications and their purpose is also a good idea.  Please call them well enough in advance so that they have time to create this for you.

2.       Carry the original pill bottles

Even if your trip is only a week and you can put all your pills in a pill organizer, I strongly recommend bringing the actual prescription bottles.  I originally did this thinking it could possibility help in clearing customs.  When Shirley ended up in the hospital, it helped the medical staff decide what things they needed to supplement or replace.  Unlike US hospitals where they will dispense from their own pharmacy – and then charge you on a per pill basis – the hospital here used Shirley supplies except for incremental medications.

 Travel Logistics

1.  Print out a copy of your Travel insurance policy

Taking out a policy and having easy access to it are differing things.  I printed out the pages of our plan that summarized our benefits and listed their contact information.  This was very helpful the morning when Shirley was in need of immediate help.

2.  Have a good means of communicating while abroad

International roaming is costly.  And if you rely on your phone for other purposes (maps, reservations, Google searches) you will be eating up data at roaming rates.  You have a couple of options depending on the age of your phone:  for older phones, you can buy a local SIM card almost anywhere.  These are cheap (less than $10 typically) and will give you a data package on the local carrier network.  For newer phones, you can install eSIM cards.  These are country-specific data packages for a set number of gigabytes and days.  I used aloSIM for this and purchased my cards for each country before we left the US.  Once you reach a country, use the airport Wi-Fi to activate the eSIM.  aloSIM has great video tutorials on how to install and activate the SIMs. 

I should also mention that Wi-Fi is ubiquitous, so you can get by partially without a cellular data plan.  But, for example, if you request a Grab car and walk outside your hotel to meet them, as soon as you leave the hotel, you’ll no longer be able to see the driver approach on the app.  Spend a few bucks and keep the internet at your fingertips.

The other recommendation I would add is to use WhatsApp.  This platform allows you to text and call over the internet.  We found it the most convenient way to keep in touch with family, our tour guides and the insurance and travel agency as we were re-arranging our plans.

3.  Make sure to have an emergency credit card that can absorb big ticket expenses if needed.

Before leaving on my trip, I emptied my wallet of most of its contents.  I thought if it was lost or stolen, I’d rather not have to contact a half-dozen different companies to make a report.  I decided to take one additional card and keep it separate from my wallet – just in case the wallet was stolen.  When I faced two hospital bills:  a $7000 deposit for the one we were heading for; and a $6200 bill for the one we were leaving, I was grateful for the credit limit head room.  While I will be reimbursed these amounts by our insurance policy, I was able to expedite Shirley’s hospital transfer by covering these.

4.  Don’t bring more luggage than you can handle by yourself.

If your traveling companion is suddenly down for the count and you need to move, you need to be able to carry everything solo.  I’m fortunate enough to have guides and drivers to assist me, but not being reliant on a bell hop to get your luggage out of the room is important to me.  My solution is roller bags, latched together with luggage connector straps that convert my cases into a little train.  I can then pull up the handles and our backpacks slide over them.

My little train of suitcases