Do any of you travel to poor countries?

[mooki]

The reason I found out the word emetophobia exists and thus found this forum is because I was googling some travel info about avoiding getting sick while abroad in poor countries. Somebody was going to India and heard all the stories about people stomach problems and he was terrified and say he has emetophobia.

I've been to some poor countries in S. America and SE Asia. I have always been extremely paranoid about food and really didn't get to immerse myself in the cuisine out of fear. It's too bad because so much of the experience of travel is the different foods you try. But I just imagine anything that doesn't come from a restaurant with Western standards of hygiene is going to have me erupting from both ends. I know many people that swear that eating street food is no more dangerous than eating at a restaurant. And then I met a guy in Brazil who said he had nothing but rice and beans and he was down for a couple days with dehydration from vomiting so much.

[Ana Bellini]

I live in a poor country

I garantee you, there's much more norovirus in the US than in Brazil. Most of people have never heard of it here, and not because they are stupid, but because we just don't have it here. The heat makes it much more difficult to catch, and restaurants are super clean here. Food poisoning isn't a word you hear everyday. Rice and beans is the most popular food here, and he might not even have caught it from it.

PS: Brazil isn't a poor country, but it has poor people. There's a difference.

[turbokinetic]

....I just imagine anything that doesn't come from a restaurant with Western standards of hygiene is going to have me erupting from both ends. I know many people that swear that eating street food is no more dangerous than eating at a restaurant. And then I met a guy in Brazil who said he had nothing but rice and beans and he was down for a couple days with dehydration from vomiting so much.

I don't think any particular type food is worse than others. The street food is usually cooked right there and you see the boiling hot pot of oil it was cooked in. No way for it to be bad!

I was just in Brazil a week ago. It's not a poor country; but the area where I was is a "developing" area and not a tourist area. It is south of Rio by about 2 hours driving, Angra Dos Reis.

The food there is very mild, and they do indeed eat lots of rice and black beans.

In all my travels, I have to make myself use my logical mind. I stay with the food that 'most people' eat every day. I eat whatever the local guys eat. This is smart for several reasons. They know what's good. Also, the more popular dishes are fresher because it gets used and replenished faster. Finally, the local chefs know how to cook this properly and it's not something they 'hardly ever make.'

It has served me well. Never got sick traveling. And I'm not the most careful otherwise.

I have been lucky a time or two, though. A colleague on the same job last week got something, but it could have been anything, virus etc. and not for sure food-related.

I love traveling and seeing new places! It's a wonderful way to keep things in perspective. The only problem I have now, is not enough time to sight-see. Work has been too busy. I'm in Australia this week, but have only 1 or 2 days to sight see. The rest of the time will be offshore.

Sincerely,
David


The road from Rio to Angra Dos Reis was lined with all sorts of purple flowering trees!


What a beautiful backdrop for the shipyard!