Adventure Travel Planning: Stay Safe Wherever You Go

When I took off on my first trip around the world, I was a lot more carefree than I am now as an older (and hopefully wiser) traveler. I took more risks, winged it a lot more, and didn’t have much of a safety net in place when I look back now. I got my jabs to avoid nasty tropical diseases and paid attention to mosquito bite prevention, but that’s about it.

I no longer think I’m invincible or extra lucky. You’re not either, even if you’re in your 20s or 30s. I don’t think travel is inherently more dangerous than being home: the leading causes of death are car wrecks, heart disease, and cancer after all. The risks are more ambiguous and unknown, however, so every year travelers get hurt or even die from something they didn’t see coming.

Some of the mishaps could have easily been avoided, like posing for a selfie by a dangerous drop-off where it says, “Do not pass this point” on a sign. Other risks are not so obvious though, so here is an adventure travel planning checklist to consider before you take off on that epic multi-day hiking trip, biking trip, or safari.

Travel Insurance Plus a Way to Get Home

No matter where you’re going and what you’re doing, it’s smart to have travel insurance. Besides the peace of mind you get from the medical coverage, you also have built-in compensation for cancelled or delayed flights, lost luggage, and other problems that pop up. The current US administration is on the industry’s side, not yours the consumer’s, so it’s only going to get worse in the area of passenger rights. The airlines want to give you nothing when they cause a major disruption and you’re stuck, so you’d better have some other protection in your pocket.

I have an annual plan from Allianz that’s my “set it and forget it” option, something I renew each year and hope that I don’t have to use it. But you can buy plans for individual trips too, which you probably ought to do if you’re purchasing an expensive spot on an organized tour or a cruise. If something happens and you can’t go at the last minute, you want to have a way to get at least some of that money back.

This is just the “table stakes” purchase though. If you want to really be covered in the case of a medical emergency, you need a medical evacuation plan. The top choice for that is Medjet. They go way beyond simple travel insurance.

Some foreign hospitals are terrific, but others are a huge step down from what you’re probably used to. If you don’t want to get stuck in a foreign hospital, you need a program that offers air medical transport. Most travel insurance will just get you to the “nearest acceptable facility,” but that’s likely where you’ll be required to stay until treated to the “fullest extent possible.” A Medjet membership is what will get you moved to a hospital at home. Here’s their promise:

“As a Medjet Member, if you become hospitalized internationally or domestically – 150 miles or more from home – Medjet will arrange medical transportation to a home-country hospital of your choice for inpatient care. All you pay is your membership fee.” That fee can start as low as $99 and tops out at $425 for a full annual family plan covering trips up to 90 days.

They also offer memberships for expats who are abroad every day of the year, and memberships that add 24/7 security and crisis response benefits (if you’re headed someplace where you worry a bit more about your safety).

Check the rates here.  

Vaccinations and Disease Prevention

If you’re heading down to Patagonia like I will be soon or taking a polar cruise in the Arctic Circle, you don’t need to worry much about the jabs you need. Most of the medical issues that will really get you in trouble are in tropical zones and in some of those countries, you need a vaccine for Yellow Fever to even enter the country. In others you probably need to make sure your childhood vaccinations have been followed up with a booster and you might need another for cholera and hepatitis A or B. Until the CDC gets so gutted that they can’t afford to update their website anymore, you can find the international vaccine info you need here.

This is a key part of your adventure travel planning. Start well ahead on this because some shots require more than one injection. You can get some of them abroad for less money if insurance doesn’t cover it, like in Panama or Bangkok where they have great medical facilities too, but otherwise you may need to go to some kind of clinic geared to travelers in your home city.

Mosquitoes are a different story though, annoying at almost all latitudes in the summer. In some countries though, the bites can do more than itch: the mosquitoes are transporting some kind of disease like malaria.

There are vaccines against malaria but they’re geared more to children living in high-risk countries rather than travelers and they’re not fully effective. Plus you’ve got Dengue Fever and the Zika Virus out there as well, not to mention Lyme Disease from ticks, so the best strategy is to avoid getting bit in the first place. Carry repellent with a healthy amount of DEET and then add an extra layer of protection with Insect Shield clothing from Craghoppers. (See my review of Craghoppers clothing here.)

The Permethrin treatment lasts for 70 washings or so, which for most people is going to be the lifetime of the garment. You can go from head (treated sun hats) to toes (treated socks) with their items.

Be Aware of the Risks in Your Destination

Americans love to ask “But is it safe?” for every destination they’re heading to, no matter what the comparative stats say. Of course there is some kind of risk everywhere though, including your own home, so it’s good to know what’s going on where you’re headed. The warnings from your own government can seem alarmist and overblown because they’re geared to diplomatic corps personnel and err on the side of caution. They’re a start, but it’s better to find local news sources in English, balanced international news sources like the BBC or The Economist, and local Facebook groups for expats that live there.

The reason for this is to just make sure there’s nothing unusual happening that may add extra risks to your trip, like massive protests that have filled the streets with riot police or general strikes that have paralyzed the whole country’s transportation system. Gang violence usually doesn’t spill over to impact foreign travelers, but it’s good to be aware of where the trouble zones are so you can avoid them.

You need to dig deeper than just a quick five minutes of research will tell you, however. States or provinces within a country could be experiencing very different levels of trouble. Plus sometimes the homicide rate for a state has nothing to do with what’s happening in the particular city you’re visiting. Foreigners who live there are usually the best sources.

Packing for Safety and Backups

One of the advantages of going on an organized adventure tour with a reputable company is that they’ve got your back in multiple ways. They’ll have a guide trained in first aid and CPR, they speak the local language, and they know the lay of the land. They’ll also be packing medicines, bandages, and navigation tools. If there’s a medical emergency, they’ll know who to call.

If you’re on your own though, you’re on your own. So if you are going on a big backcountry hike for weeks or crossing a whole country on a bicycle, you might want to put as much time into picking out safety equipment as you do picking out which shirts to take along. For starters, you’ll need a basic first aid kit, a compass, power bank, a flashlight or headlamp, and water purifier. Maybe some super glue, duct tape, extra carabiners, Sugru, and twine as well. You can get a lot of the items you need packed into one kit, like this one:

I’ve written at length about travel banking backups, as in having at least two credit cards and two debit cards on you (or between two of you if you’re a couple). You should also carry some emergency cash in dollars and/or euros, as well as some in the local currency. In much of the developing world, you can’t assume you’ll be able to use a credit card or your phone to pay for emergency supplies or services, especially outside the big cities.

You also want to keep all your important documents on your phone and in the cloud so you can get to them even if you lose your phone. Passport, tickets, medical prescriptions, emergency contacts, etc. Use a password manager like LastPass or OnePassword so that you can save complicated passwords and mix them up instead of trying to remember them all, plus this way your partner can get to them with one master password if needed.

You can’t completely eliminate all risks when you travel, just as you can’t eliminate them when commuting to a job or going out for groceries. But if you know what all the potential risks are and have taken steps to prepare for them, you’ll be in much better shape than someone who is just blindly hoping for the best.

Article and original photos by Tim Leffel, plane/ambulance shot courtesy of Medjet `and product shot from SOL. This post contains affiliate links that may earn us a commission. (This is one way we can support the site and keep offering free information with no paywall.)