If you lead an active lifestyle, eventually you’re going to suffer an injury. Your odds of injury may actually increase when you travel.

“But I’m a careful person,” you say.

I’m a careful person too, but it seems I’ve been struck by every freak injury and ailment this side of Swine Flu and Nintendo Thumb. Quite often, these things happen to me when I am traveling or somehow removed from my native environment.

In 1992, while teaching English in the Czech Republic I contracted chicken pox from one of my young students. Chicken Pox is common enough in American schools, but somehow I managed to grow up without ever experiencing it. It’s worse when you get it as an adult, even worse when you are quarantined for weeks in a Slovak hospital before the days of Internet and Skype.

I’ve also had my share of freak injuries. My knees are about as stable as wet noodles, and they tend to collapse at inopportune moments. I’ve torn cartilage and dislocated one patella. (Ever seen a dislocated kneecap? It’s not a pretty sight.)

While shooting video in the Republic of Moldova I managed to sprain my ankle. I shall never forget the bone chilling sound of my fancy Sony HD camera going “SMACK!” on the sidewalk. To its credit, the camera still works, but the LCD screen is a constant shade of fuzzy green.

My theory is that travel heightens the risk of illness and injury. Sorry folks, it’s true. When we travel, we are out of our natural element. We are exposed to all sorts of different bugs and microbial life. (At least half of our RV storage compartments are dedicated to Purell.) We are also — by definition — visiting unfamiliar environments where accidents are more prone to happen.

The solution? As the saying goes, “be careful.” Pack a decent first aid kit. And please, buy health insurance before moving on to whatever other consumer item catches your fancy.

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