Question…what is one of the worst parts of preparing to travel? My guess is that it is getting the vaccines necessary for long-term travel. In June, I wrote about the challenge of moving from dreaming to planning to doing and this week we took the first concrete steps toward our trip. I began my vaccinations. Six months ago when I visited my doctor she said to bring her a list of the countries that we plan to travel to and she would schedule the vaccines we would need. I had an appointment this week and took her my list of countries. It’s a long list since we plan to be gone for a year and the number of countries we will visit surprised her. I thought she would have to order the vaccines and I would come back another day for the shots. But no, she cheerfully announced that I would need to get three on that day. I was not psychologically prepared for shots that day but I got them anyway.

For as long as we will be gone I was surprised at how few vaccines we would actually need. We need:

• Hepatitis A (one shot)
• Hepatitis B (three shots to be taken six months apart)
• Vivotif for Typhoid (this is taken orally)
• Docycycline for Malaria (this is to be taken orally one week before entering a Malaria prone area and for three week after leaving)

Our doctor is investigating the need for vaccines against Meningitis and Yellow Fever. She will let me know when I go back for my second Hepatitis B shot.

Our doctor is investigating the need for vaccines against Meningitis and Yellow Fever. She will let me know when I go back for my second Hepatitis B shot.

This step of beginning our vaccinations is the first real action that moves us from dreaming and planning to actually doing. We can feel the excitement of our impending trip building through these actions!

This step of beginning our vaccinations is the first real action that moves us from dreaming and planning to actually doing. We can feel the excitement of our impending trip building through these actions!