11 Tips for Safe Eating When Traveling
1. Avoid fast food chain restaurants unless totally desperate for a “taste” of home cooking.
2. Try to find restaurants that are busy with locals. The locals will know which restaurant is good and which is bad. Follow them like sheep to a fine, clean meal.
3. Do not be afraid to ask locals where to eat/sleep/visit. Often, they will recommend that quaint, hole in the wall, joint that will be ever so memorable. Or they will recommend a tourist site that is not in the guidebook.
4. Tip well, especially in poor countries. And especially if you plan to return to the same restaurant at a later date. They will remember you and the service will even be better the second time around.
5. Do not drink from plastic water bottles that have the seal cracked. The water is most likely tap water.
6. Bring snacks. Crackers, cheese, chocolate…whatever your fancy. Save money and eat on the go.
7. Salads that have been washed in local water may not be as clean as you think. Bacteria from water can get on the salad.
8. Avoid ice cubes. Same reason as above.
9. Street food, while possibly tempting, can cause intestinal problems.
10. Eat a meal that is well known in the region. Camel tastes great. Sheep brain is an acquired taste.
11. Do not drink shower water. See #7.
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