With my departure date (June 8th) coming fast, I have started getting nervous about getting things in order. I have a two page list of things to do before I leave, but one thing I need to schedule is a vaccination appointment. Many of you may know that I’ve traveled extensively before phase 1 of my around-the-world trip. In 2001 I spent three weeks in Peru hiking to Inca Trail, exploring Lake Titticaca, flying over the Nazca Lines and rummaging through the Amazon Rainforest. As you can imagine, I needed a lot of vaccinations for the trip, including the rare Yellow Fever vaccination.

Because I got the major shots taken care of back then I usually don’t need much more than a prescription for anti-malarials and a few courses of Cipro. However, the Typhoid vaccine is only good for two years and I’m past due for what will be my third round of Typhoid vaccinations. Internists don’t carry the vaccinations commonly needed for travel, so I go to a special travel vaccination clinic appropriately named “Germbusters.” I chose Germbusters over the hospital’s clinic only partly because it reminds me of the Ghostbusters franchise. More important than the name is the price–which is the cheapest around.

Before I left for Phase 1 I went in for a consultation in which a nurse sits down with you and a packet of information generated about the countries you’re traveling to. In my case, the stack was about two inches high and the nurse needed a lot of time to figure out just what malaria was resistant to what drugs in each country. Because I was consuled in 2004 on all of the places I will be going (aside from Central Asia) I don’t feel another consultation is necessary. All I want is my Typhoid shot! Germbusters told me that I still need to come in for the hour consultation ($35) to be told what I already know from my previous visit. They get their information from the same source as I do–The CDC.

Being the comparison shopper that I am I called around and discovered that not only will no one give me the Typhoid shot without a consultation, but most other centers charge $10-20 more for the same vaccination. Now I have to swallow my pride, pay the extra consultation fee, the injection fee and the vaccination fee and stop my complaining. Time is running out.

In preperation for my trip I am overhauling this entire web site. Because I am in the middle of switching servers and publishing platforms (from Movable Type to WordPress) there will be a little downtime on the site. More than anything it may look a little strange as I work on getting the new files working correctly. I usually check Windows platform and Internet Explorer absolutely last, as I design on a Mac using Safari and Firfox browsers. So any fixes to IE will be last to come. Generally speaking, if you are an Internet Explorer user I suggest switching to Firefox, a free browser with much better security and far fewer flaws than IE. You can download Firefox here.

Please be patient–I think the new site design and content will be better than ever!