We Got Stuck – Six Times!

Traveling around the world and visiting 38 countries requires much more preparation than we have ever dealt with on previous trips. Not just the obvious one, like what to pack for 180 days when we’ll be encountering all four seasons. No, this time we must deal with visas and vaccinations. Today, we mostly checked vaccinations off our to-do list.

I had read the advice from previous world cruisers and reviewed the options for obtaining the appropriate recommendations and vaccinations based on the ports that we will visit. In the end, I convinced Tim that we should drive to Denver to the UCHealth Infectious Disease/Travel Clinic, partly because our medical records are with UCHealth, and our visit would be covered by insurance. This International Travelers clinic specializes in travel and tropical medicine, expedition, and altitude medicine, or TEAM, and is an official yellow fever vaccination center. I particularly liked the idea of an in-person appointment, as opposed to an online one.

Tim and I arrived at the UCHealth Anschutz Medical Campus, and it was a zoo. The place was packed. We were soon called for our appointment and met our nurse practitioner, who was so patient and thorough in reviewing where we would be sailing. She printed out a 112-page Travax Traveler Report that included everything we might ever want to know about health concerns. An additional set of maps showed where infectious diseases are present. Wow! That’s a lot of information.

Preparing Our Recommendations for Vaccinations and Prophylactics

We also talked a lot about malaria prevention and the three medications available. We decided to go with Malarone, which we will take 24-48 hours prior to the arrival in areas where we will be at risk. We also received prescriptions for Imodium and Azithromycin for traveler’s diarrhea. 

We spent a lot of time discussing the vaccines that we might want to consider, their side effects, and the possible risks for each of us. We knew that two countries require a yellow fever vaccine, so that was a no-brainer, despite the risks. Some of the others were optional, but we decided to err on the side of caution.

Thus, Tim and I both decided to get the following vaccines: typhoid, Japanese encephalitis, meningococcal, hepatitis A, and a polio booster. Yes, we each received six shots, three in each arm. That was a first! We will also get Tdap and hepatitis B vaccines from our primary care doctors, as well as a COVID-19 vaccine and flu shot, in the Fall. Getting all these vaccines may be overkill, but what’s one more stick!

I Don't Think the Shots Bothered Me as Much as They Did Tim

Our appointment lasted well over one hour, and we had to hang around for another 20 minutes, just to make sure we had no reaction to the yellow fever vaccine. Luckily, we had none.

We left with our World Health Organization (WHO) cards that document the vaccines we received. One more item to check off our list!

WHO Cards