It has begun. The race towards safty when traveling in foreign countries. I will not enter into the debate of vaccinating kids, but when traveling in jungles in third world countries, (or close enough any way) I find safety in being somewhat imune to local diseases. So today we spent the afternoon with the doctor at “Reiseklinikken” in Oslo. To our knowledge this is the number one place to go for preparation for a trip, or for getting put back together after one. We are lucky enough that we are lifetime covered on Hepatitis A and B since we have taken these before. Which is good, since it usually transfers by blood or sweat, and some martial arts training do tend to bruise or otherwise include bodily fluids. 🙂

Anyhow; we got three shots each today, and as the picture shows getting coverage against Typhoid, Rabies and Japanese encephalitis (a kind of Dengue fever). We are scheduled to go back twice to “top of” a couple of these during the next four weeks.

We also got some nice info and links from the good doctor.

http://www.fitfortravel.nhs.uk/destinations.aspx – This site (I linked directly to that page) includes a listing of all countries. On each lands page you will find information and a map with their Malaria exposure. Nice to know when planning to travel. It’s recommended to read up on Malaria and how to avoid it!

http://www.janechiodini.co.uk/ is another site we got recommended, but have still to read up on. We are told that this lady gives excellent advices regarding travel, diseases and tips.

Finally we talked about DEET. The component that gives the effect in mosquito repellents. Maximum effect allowed in Norway is 20 %, but the Americans have other regulations. Good thing I’m soon of for a trip to the States.

Be safe.

For practicing yoga in Bali, we have been advised to stay in or near Ubud. There are several operators of yoga studios there, and we are looking into them to see where to spend our time. Being one place for a month is nice, as you get to know the local scene in a more intimate way. Still, living in a hotel is not preferable so we are looking to rent a house in Ubud. We have come across several sites on the net that seems decent, and gets good rating. Like www.airbnb.com and Tripadvisor.  But are there any other sites we should know about? Do you have any tips in that regard, please let us know in the comments below.

Another thing that is tricky is deciding how far from Ubud center we are gonna stay. Are we to stay close, as in walking distance from the yoga place we choose? Or should we get out in the “wilderness” and go for waking in the rice fields, with sounds of birds and local chicken, in stead of smelling exhausts and hearing honking of car horns? As for now, we are playing with the idea of getting a little distance from Ubud, and rent at scooter og motorcycle there. I guess the traffic there (as I can remember it from 2010) is OK, and not as chaotic as it was in Kuta area.

This is just some of the thing we are talking about these days. Buying the ticket, as we posted last, really made it all so real. Suddenly there is a need for “stepping up the game”, and to get things done. So not to stay in July with to many tasks at hand before take off. I guess we will still have enough stress the last few weeks before departure. So I guess there will be several more post in the near future. Where I will evaluate local storage units in the Oslo area, selling of some of the electronics from the house that do not get better in storage, wardrobe walk through to get rid of stuff that should not take up place in the first place, and never should be stored away. And we will also put the house up for rent. Which I guess will be big thing in itself.

To next time. Be safe, be good and be true!

/A