This is a Berlitz pocket guide packed full of useful information. Whether you want to keep warm in a cold climate or cold in a warm one; whether you want to prevent diarrhoea or relieve constipation; whether you want to avoid a mosquito bite or treat a snake bite - this book covers it all. Travel Health pocket guide is written by Dr. Ted Lankester, the Director of Health Care at Interhealth, a registered medical charity that looks after individuals and members of over 300 organisations.
Travel Health pocket guide may be packed with information but it is surprisingly easy to find your way around: headings are clear; blocks of colour signpost the different sections; boxes containing useful tips are scattered throughout; and there are plenty of pictures to enjoy. The guide is clearly divided into three main areas: 'Before you travel'; 'Survival when away'; and a smaller section entitled 'Back Home'. There is also a section entitled 'Special Advice' which covers, amongst other things, how to entertain bored children on long flights and how to keep well when pregnant.
Travel Health pocket guide is full of useful advice: know your blood group; use snow goggles above the snowline; apply Vaseline to suffocate the larva of the Tumba fly; decide to abstain from casual sexual encounters; take condoms with you; take Iodine tablets to debug unclean water; book a seat in the middle of the plane to reduce travel sickness. The list is almost endless! Frustratingly, the sensible advice to 'divide any supplies you have between 'hand and hold'' is probably no longer possible with the increasingly stringent security measures at British airports!
This guide is useful for all travellers: the city-breaker and outback-explorer. It is particularly helpful if your travels are taking you farther a field: the advice on antimalarials is detailed and covers dosage, effectiveness and side effects; there are maps detailing the high risk areas for diseases such as Malaria and Bilharzia as well as sections dealing with culture shock and reverse culture shock.
And yes, it fits snugly into the back pocket of my 'boyfriend fit' jeans!
Reviewed by Grace Robinson
