And Never, EVER Walk Away from Your Drink!

And Leave It Unguarded!

The Perils of Pauline!

Pauline was always a damsel in distress. She was infamous for getting herself into all sorts of trouble. But its not only Pauline; its many travelers equally as well.

Who among us has not witnessed a girl (or woman) getting up from her table or barstool to go to the restroom, glibly abandoning her drink to anyone and everyone to be potentially tempted to do the dastardly deed as slipping her a‚ mickey (dropping something untoward in her drink), i.e., something as evil as like a date rape drug or God only knows what other incapacitating substance!

Has it ever really happened? You betcha! Such goings on have often been reported to have happened to travelers to Mexico, for instance. And it’s certainly not limited to there; it happens at home; it happens everywhere.

Rule #1 (Is strictly common sense): Never, ever, EVER‚ leave a drink unguarded even for a moment!

Pschitt Definitely Happens!

Remember when (some of us)‚ would drink the official American drink, namely, Coca Cola, to cure an upset stomach in India or Morocco, or wherever? Seems to have worked. But, let’s face it, you never know what youre gonna get when you take a drink.

Geez, you can’t just drink any ole Pschitt wherever you go and be oblivious to the possible consequences. They say, “You are what you drink, (and you are what you eat), and there’s an awful lot of truth to that!

Rule #2: For Gods sake, KNOW‚ what you are drinking!

Bottled Water

A corollary to this is that you get what you drink! Just never simply take a chance and drink that bottled water‚ UNTIL YOU CHECK THAT THE CAP IS SEALED!

Bottled water is touted as the be all, end all for drinking water overseas.

They say that bottled water is as pure as a newborn baby. Maybe so. But they also say, “Hey, that’s nothing more than tap water! Can you be sure you can trust third-world bottled water? Hell, you never know if it is just tap water, but the chances are these days that you can pretty much count on it being purified, with this one caveat, however.

All too often people simply will drink the bottled water without first checking that the bottle is‚ COMPLETELY SEALED!

Rule #3:‚ Make‚ absolutely certain that the cap is firmly‚ SEALED‚ to begin with!

Shower Water

And, finally, here’s another thought about drinking the water. Well, I dont suppose you think of shower water as something that you strictly drink,‚ do you? But here’s something I’ll bet very few people really think very much about.

When you take a shower, water enters you just about everywhere/EVERY orifice: your eyes, your nose, your ears, your mouth, your skin . . . It can be tantamount to taking a drink. And, let’s face it: it maybe only takes but ONE bacterium‚ to give you “Delhi belly, doesnt it?

I interviewed one traveler who told me that she took a shower in India, accidentally swallowed some water, and then got horribly sick shortly thereafter, presumably as a result. Blame it on the water? Who knew?

Rule #4:‚ Be aware that shower water in third-world countries‚ CAN‚ do you in!