Children make great travelers. They are inquisitive, fun and, when motivated, adaptable and inexhaustible. Time spent overseas, whether a week in Paris or a year in a developing country, helps enrich their education, builds self-confidence, promotes family cohesiveness, and creates memories for tomorrow.
But before you go, consider these issues:
1.Examine your motives.
Occasionally parents have perceptions of travel and overseas living that are impulsive and poorly thought out, thinking that a change of venue will solve personal problems. In fact, travel may do the opposite, removing families from the stabilizing influences in their lives, and exposing them to changes and stresses that they are specifically unable to cope with.
2. Look at your plans through the eyes of your child and ask yourself:
“Am I unreasonably risking my child’s health and welfare to further my career, practice my religious or political convictions, fulfill my sense of adventure, or show my child off to his/her grandparents? Is he/she just another backpack?”
3. Be aware that overseas travel/living requires flexibility and improvisation.
Overseas trips are best avoided by families who are finicky, preferring to adhere to strict schedules, for example. Items taken for granted at home – medications, for example – may not be available, have unfamiliar names, or contain different ingredients. Reading labels carefully, and checking expiration dates, often in a foreign language, is part of the excitement – or the hassle – of being overseas. How parents view such chores is an important indication of their adaptability.
4. Read books, browse the Internet, and speak to parents who have “been there and done that.”
The more you know about the culture and everyday problems associated with your destination, the more likely you will make correct decisions. Ideally, for long stays, one parent should have already spent some time there. Books on this topic are available or check “family living overseas” on the Internet.
5. Choose appropriate destinations.
Plenty of overseas destinations, even remote and exotic ones, are extremely rewarding, with benefits greatly outweighing potential problems. (Living at home is not risk-free, either). Adjusting to a culture that interests you is generally simpler than adjusting to one with which you have basic political or religious differences. Will you be uncomfortable in a totalitarian country, even when living there presents no threat to you? Will extreme poverty make you and your children uncomfortable?
6. Familiarize yourself with the health care available.
What will you do if your children become ill? Read travel health guides. Many advertise on the web. Do not rely on information obtained from the government of the country you will visit; such information may be inaccurate or dated. Note that the caliber of health care within developing countries may vary. Standards in the capital are often better than in outlying areas. And while the capital may be close in miles, it may be distant in time due to problems with transportation, communication, and weather. Malaria may exist in rural areas, requiring taking medication.
7. Carry a phrase book.
For visits to non-English speaking countries, get a small translation dictionary or phrase book that includes a section on medical terms and common medications.
Sophisticated electronic “talking” translators are now available.
8. Take out travelers’ assistance insurance.
Check if your present health and accident insurance policy will reimburse you for expenses incurred overseas. But even if they do, it will be months later, after you submit the bills. You are responsible for costs when they occur. Good medical care can be as expensive abroad as it is in this country.
Travelers’ assistance insurance companies maintain worldwide, 24-hour telephone “hotlines” with staff that can direct you to competent, English-speaking physicians and hospitals. The company pays the medical costs. If medically necessary, the company arranges and pays for evacuation to a larger medical center, even back home in critical cases. Read policies. Disputes arise because the company, not you, decides when evacuation is necessary and to where. Such insurance is available from all major credit card companies. Call the customer service number on your card.
9. Consult experts in travel medicine before you go.
There are three main reasons to consult experts: trips that require immunizations or specific medications; having an illness that can be adversely affected by travel; and coming home with an illness that may be travel-related. Names of experts can be obtained from the Centers for Disease Control and the International Society of Travel Medicine. Many experts have handouts specific for areas to be visited.
10. Anticipate your medical and health care needs.
Be ready and able to handle health issues yourself. Overseas, buy medications only when necessary. In developing countries, labels can be confusing, dosages may be different, and some medications are counterfeited or out-of-date. Doses for children based on weight further complicate the issue – make sure you know your child’s weight in kilograms. See TenTips “medical kit.” Often potent medications and injections are given for relatively minor conditions; injections are virtually never necessary for outpatient treatment. If possible, when treatments seem at odds with what you are accustomed to, ask personnel to speak to your doctors back home. For prolonged stays overseas, know when booster doses are indicated.
