Preparation, Currency & Immunizations

Time is flying by at warp speed.  It is hard to believe that I depart for India on Friday!  Being the Type A person that I am, I have been trying to follow – sometimes successfully and other times unsuccessfully – my preparation list.  I would consider myself a fairly experienced traveler for both work & vacation, but travelling overseas requires more planning.  The key items on my planning list have included: my visa (completed in March), immunizations and exchanging for local currency (completed; see below for more details), getting a much-needed haircut (done with quite a bit cut off because of the hot weather), buying gifts for the team there (still to do), picking up snacks (mostly done) and packing (several items have been thrown haphazardly into the suitcase).  I prefer travelling “light” simply because I don’t like lugging a large suitcase around; but logistically I won’t be able to bring a small suitcase since most of it will be filled with snacks and supplies for work.

For my immunizations, I contacted the Travel Advisory Center at Kaiser about a month ago.  The Advice Nurse said that I needed Tetanus/Whooping Cough, Typhoid, Hepatitis A & B – all of which I have had except for Typhoid.   I finally went for my immunizations on Thursday, and the typhoid shot was quite sore afterwards.  I also got a prescription for Azithromycin ($10 for a 30 day supply).  The nurse said that Ciprofloxacin no longer works in India so that is why she gave me Azithromycin instead.  As the pharmacist was describing when to take the Immodium and Azithromycin, I was praying that I won’t have to use it, but it is comforting to know that I have it – just in case.

I've always found it helpful to have currency upon arriving in another country.  I went to Foreign Currency Express at the World Trade Center in Downtown LA.  I decided to give it a try since it had good reviews on yelp. (What did we do before yelp?)  The exchange rate is $1 USD to .0217 India rupees, so 100 rupees is $2.17.  Since I wanted some small bills for tips, I placed an order about a week prior.  I took public transportation since I don’t enjoy navigating the streets of Downtown LA and finding parking, but I was a little worried since I was carrying several hundred dollars worth of cash to exchange for me and my co-worker.  You sometimes hear of stories in the news of people getting robbed of a large amount of cash, and I always wonder, “Why was that person carrying so much cash with them?”  Now I know why.  Perhaps they were trying to exchange currency.