planning

I’ve learned a number of interesting things along the way that thought I’d share in case you ever need to know:

• You can die from the Yellow Fever vaccine. The vaccine is a live virus & you should absolutely get it if you absolutely need it, but you should absolutely not get it if you don’t absolutely need it. (I got it.)
  
  
• You shouldn’t get pregnant in any malaria-infested areas.
  
  
• The typhoid vaccine is available in pill-form. Who knew you could get vaccines as pills?
  
  
• University Human Resources can get you a “vacation override” for prescriptions if you need more than 90 days. The UHR healthcare ombudspeople are GREAT. Something you very well might need to know some day.
  
  
• The UVA Travel Clinic folks are also great. UVA has a travel clinic that can answer all your burning questions & give you all your vaccines. Make your appointment well in advance. They are only open Tuesday afternoons.
  
  
• We have some very helpful people at UVA.
  
  
• Safaris are very expensive and very hard to choose among.
  
  
• Melarone (for malaria) is very expensive. But it doesn’t make you delirious or give you nightmares or cause yeast infections, like other options. I’m willing to pay.
  
  
• Visas are very expensive.
  
  
• Getting many prescriptions for more than 90-days all at one time is very expensive.
  
  
• The UVA travel clinic is very expensive.
  
  
• Just when you decide to take advantage of a wonderful, fabulous opportunity, cool things happen at work while you are away: Google-planning, faceted-browsing research, Deanna Marcum & Lorcan Dempsey both get scheduled to come to UVA. Oh well. Not that I’m complaining. I guess there has to be a downside.
  
  
• Blogging is very fun. And deciding on templates & colors & layouts is absurdly addictive. Especially when you are moderately obsessive-compulsive about such things to begin with.
  
  
• It’s not easy to improve the Internet access on the ship. It’s not just about throwing more money at the problem (although money certainly would help some). Different satellites are different. Cruise ships can take advantage of an individual satellite’s technology because they are going round & round in a single area of the world, often interacting with only a single satellite. But, our ship is going round the whole world, so it’s basically lowest common denominator amongst all the technology. (Z39.50, anyone? … libraries know all about lowest common denominator …)
  
  
• The University offers employees (for free) Medex Plus, “a comprehensive program providing you with 24/7 emergency medical assistance -- including emergency evacuation and repatriation -- and other travel assistance services when you are 100 or more miles away from home.” Medex -- in case you need to know -- does not cover expenses arising from: “mountaineering or rock climbing necessitating the use of guides or ropes, spelunking, skydiving, parachuting, ballooning, hang gliding, deep sea diving utilizing hard helmet with air hose attachment, racing of any kind other than on foot, bungee jumping, operating a vehicle when not properly licensed, or participating in professional sports unless otherwise agreed to in writing.” Good thing I read the fine print.
  
  
• If you spill a full glass of water on your laptop, it’s not a lost cause. Take out the battery and the hard drive and turn it upside down to let the water drain out. I am proof. I am typing …