Travel Tip # 15:

Don’t Have Food Allergies.

But if this isn’t possible at least take appropriate precautions.

In North America great care and attention is put into ensuring there is no cross-contamination of food stuffs... separate chopping boards are used for meats, fish, vegetables, peanuts, etc., MSG is rarely used and plastic gloves are worn more frequently then latex. Hell – there’s “peanut warnings” on packages of peanuts.

But in lots of other countries throughout the world, um, well, not so much…

The same knife that diced your mushrooms will also be used to dice meat, shellfish, citrus fruits, peanuts and to open up that crate of MSG which was just delivered.

Separate cutting boards? Not likely.

And as for food warnings, chances are the closest thing you’ll get to a warning is “be careful – very hot”.

So, if you have food allergies take extra care…

Learn how to say “allergy”, “sickness” or “death” in whatever language you can.

Stock up on anti-histamines and EpiPens.

I’m not trying to scare you away from seeing the world. But the safety bubble we live in back home doesn’t apply for a lot of other places, so be prepared.

You don’t want to go on a trip and then die, do you?

Because this can seriously ruin your vacation.