What to do if you get hurt or sick on a vacation overseas 

What to do if you get hurt or sick on a vacation overseas 

We hope it never happens to you getting sick or hurt can happen to anyone. Accidents are never planned. When you are back in your home country you generally know what to do when something bad happens. When you are traveling in a foreign land, all the rules are different. Normally, where you would just run to the pharmacy and get some cold medicine, suddenly you do not know where to go or what brand to buy. So here are a few things that we hope you can remember and might help you in the future. 

Travel insurance 

One of the first things you should get even if you don’t think you need it is travel insurance. It is not very expensive and people tend to skip over it. You can buy something simple, probably even from the airlines, and a little is better than nothing. We use World Nomads travel insurance, as it is very complete and not very expensive. You can book a month to travel and be covered for almost anything. It will pay for hospitalization, emergency care, and even put you on a plane back home. Travel insurance should never be skipped. Check with your insurance company as well as they might have a rider specifically for travel that they can have added to your policy.

First aid kit 

We don’t suggest that you take a full-fledged first aid kit with you, but we do suggest you bring the basics for General sicknesses. Bring a small bottle of aspirin, flu medicine, motion sickness pills, and feels for an upset stomach. This will not take much room, but you will find it’s a godsend if you need to use it rather than try and find a place to buy it from. You know what works for you. Adding a few Band-Aids and a few other little bits of first aid can’t hurt. Anything larger you should be going to a doctor anyway.

Documentation 

Make sure you carry what medical records you might need on you. The name of your doctor back home, as well as a few emergency contacts and their numbers. If you have any allergies please add that to the sheet. Heaven forbids you are unconscious but if you are, you want them to know as much as possible. It is also a good idea to keep a copy of your insurance card and your ID in the same place. If you are traveling with a group, such as with your children, then you need to make sure you do it for them as well. 

Local pharmacies and Clinics 

If you do get hurt, local pharmacies can often point you to a doctor or a local Clinic. This is generally just a stop on the way to a hospital. We Trust bigger hospital is more than we trust the smaller clinics. This is not to say that the smaller clinics cannot deal with problems, of course, they can, but this is more a personal preference as we know the larger hospitals will probably have the better doctors. 

The embassy 

Most people forget that the embassy is there to represent you. Very often they are happy to try and help take care of things for you. Make phone calls and make arrangements to contact your family. They can also tell you of the local hospitals and various other things. They will not be paying any of your bills but they will be happy to help you. 

Keep a level head 

If you are injured or one of your party is injured, remain calm. Getting hysterical does not help within the United States, and adding a different culture and language barriers, it might make it hard to treat you. So remain come or you will make the problem worse. If you are unable to remain calm, we suggest calling the embassy. 

Getting sick or hurt in a foreign country on vacation is no fun. But if accidents do happen, remain calm and deal with it one problem at a time. We cannot suggest highly enough that you need to have travel insurance. Without it, the local hospital might still be very inexpensive, but you might also have a surprise if you can’t afford it. In some places of the world, they will not treat you without money up front. So a little bit of preparation will go a long way. We wish you the best and stay safe on your journey.

9 simple ways to help get rid of acne 

9 simple ways to help get rid of acne 

Whether we are young or old, acne can be the bane of our existence. It’s one of those things you have to suffer through sometimes. There are many things you can do to make your skin and acne much better though. Everybody reacts a little bit differently to everything, so you might have to do a little bit of experimentation to find what works the best for you. 

Dermatologist 

Obviously, first and foremost, is seeing a dermatologist. If your acne is bad, then this is your best move. If you don’t think your acne is bad enough to see a dermatologist? Then feel free to continue on down with the list. Dermatologist have years of experience dealing with difficult skin however. They can prescribe medicines that can clear up the most horrific acne within a few months. So our advice is see a dermatologist if you can afford it. 

Be gentle 

Be gentle to your skin. Acne is not an excuse to scrub your skin down a layer. In fact if you scrub your skin too much it will make your acne much much worse. You should always be gentle with your skin. 

Cleanse with oil 

Although it may seem counterproductive, you can cleanse your skin with oil. Various different oils react differently. Coconut oil is a good one to start with and test out. If it seems to make your acne worse you can try other oils such as castor oil, olive oil, jojoba oil, and many others. Cleansing your face with oil instead of soap is gentler to your skin. 

Don’t pick 

Yes we know you have heard that a million times before and it’s almost impossible not to do. But what you have to realize is that when you pick pimples you are spreading bacteria around your face to create more acne. So don’t pick. 

Ice 

Ice can be a temporary remedy for red and inflamed pimples. It can bring the swelling down and help clean out the excess oil and bacteria from the gland. You can also make your skin feel better. 

Steam 

Steam can be great for the skin. It can help open the pores by making your face sweat. It will help move the bacteria and oils off your skin. You can do this as simply as pouring boiling water into a bowl and letting the steam coat your face. Remember though be gentle to your skin. 

Sleep on a towel 

Another good method for keeping control of acne is to sleep with a new towel on your pillow every night. Remember that acne is also caused by the bacteria on your face. So that bacteria can cover your pillow and move it to other places around your face. Get a handful of new towels, and put a new one on your pillow every night. Do not sleep on it two days in a row. You will be quite surprised at the difference that this makes. 

Avoid the sun 

When you have an acne outbreak, it is important to avoid the sun. You should wear a good sunscreen if you have to go out. Ultraviolet rays can cause scarring with your acne, by creating pigmentation spots. So it is best to just to avoid the sun.

 

Probiotics 

It is becoming more and more common to find out that your gut bacteria has effects throughout the rest of your body. Acne is no different. Take some good, active, probiotics and you might find the outbreaks to be less severe. There have been a lot of scientific findings on this gut/health relationship lately, and it doesn’t hurt to try. 

Acne can be brutal. It can damage our self-esteem and damage our social life. The scarring on the skin can last for years, and the scarring emotionally can last even longer. You will find that your mood and your confidence soars when you have no acne and no outbreaks. The outbreaks that you cannot avoid, you just have to accept and make the best of. If you follow our list and take care of your skin you will find that things will get better. We wish you all the best.

5 great tips to keep your closet under control 

5 great tips to keep your closet under control 

One of the most common places in your house or apartment that tends to run into chaos is your closet. Your closet becomes a black hole. You just keep washing things and putting them in there. Half the time you probably don’t even know everything you have in there. Well it’s time to take it back under control. Here are a few helpful hints to get you started. It will make your life a lot smoother if you get organized. 

Inventory 

Yes, you take an inventory of your closet. You need to know what you wear, what you don’t wear, what you will never wear again. In this you must be brutal. If you have a friend that you value their sense of style, bring them along for emotional support. Man or woman, whoever who you are, you are going to have some emotional trauma throwing away clothing. You need to make four piles. Clothing that you actually wear (as in you have worn in the last few months), is the first file. The second pile is clothing that you have not worn in well over a year and will probably never ever wear again. The third pile is seasonal clothing, and special occasion clothing. The fourth pile is clothing you love but you never wear, as well as the clothes that don’t fit anymore. Once you have these piles it will help decide on what to put in the closet and what not to. Don’t forget to inventory your shoes and accessories as well.

Donate 

I know it’s difficult, but that pile of clothing that you haven’t worn in over a year, and probably never will, needs to be donated. Get it out of your face and out of your house. If you find yourself saying the words “but I might wear it” trust us, you know you won’t, so donate it. This is also where your friend comes in handy for emotional support. Try and justify to your friend why you should keep things, and they will blow through most of your excuses. Unless you’re better than the rest of us, plan on donating over 50% of your closet. That’s the goal, as insane as it sounds. 

Put it somewhere else 

The seasonal clothing and the clothing you wish to keep but you aren’t going to be wearing anytime soon, can be boxed up and put in storage. You can also hang formal suits and dresses and put them in another closet or a garment bag and hang somewhere else, such as the garage if need be. Get it out of your closet, it is just getting in the way. When the season comes back you can rotate these items back into your closet. If you gain 20 pounds you can put your fat clothes back in your closet too, but until then box them up and store them. This will in essence thin down your closet tremendously and allow you easier access to see what you have. 

Group things 

Keep things grouped together. Shirts to go with shirts, slacks go with slacks, sweaters go with sweaters. This will make it easier again to see what you have and choose what you’re going to wear. Nothing will be hidden. 

Lions and tigers and shelves oh my!

There are many good closet organization systems, ranging from very cheap to blood draining from your face expensive. You do not need to spend a lot of money to be organized, but it is a good idea to go with a closet organization system. Very often they are modular, and you can customize them for your needs. The idea is to have a place for everything and keep everything in its place. You may moan and groan from the effort to do it, but after you do it you will be so pleased. Every day you go to your closet to get clothing to dress, you will feel a little bit of happiness and pride, and it will make your whole day that much better. 

Taking control of your closet, in a way, is like taking control of your life. We all want our lives to be more organized and easier to deal with, but you have to start somewhere. Organizing your desk, your car, the trunk of your car, the garage, all of these things are things we want to do at some point. An easy one to start with, but which has the most impact on your daily life, is your closet. Get to it.