"Really, don't Drink the Water"
 

...by Perry Garfinkel appears in today's NY Times (http://travel2.nytimes.com/2005/07/2...ss/26sick.html).

After my own disastrous Italy incident back in the day, like Peter Greenberg of "Today," I, too, pride myself on doing the right thing: I only drink bottled water. I'm happy to report I haven't had another incident abroad since I adopted this rule.

A smart traveler remains a healthy traveler and healthy travel equals happy travel. Safe travels everyone!

Interesting, but this article seems a 'little' out of date to me. Certianly when I first ventured 'abroad' in the 70s as a child, we were always advised to avoiud the water (this was in Spain, Greece and Italy), but the 70s was a long time ago. I've happily drank the water throughout Europe for years.

Some people clearly have more sensitive stomachs than others, but I don't take any more precautions in mainland Europe than I do at home.

Now, Tunisia, Cuba, Russia and a few other places I could mention are another story altogether...

What a strange article - apart from the headline it doesn't mention not drinking water, just *food* poisoning, with the initial anecdote being about shellfish poisoning. Plus it has the warning "it can strike anywhere, not just in developing countries, but also in Europe or your own backyard."

So not actually about not drinking the water abroad, at all.

The only time I've been *really* ill with food poisoning was here in Scotland (oysters).

That's a really bad title for an article that's about food-borne illnesses, and hardly mentions water.

Still, it conjured up some horrific memories of that conch salad I ate from the buffet of a hotel on Djerba that left me sitting on the porcelain staring at dung beetles for the better part of two days.

Immune systems vary from individual to individual and sometimes it's difficult to tell when yours might be compromised. For many, the stress of getting to a destination might just be enough compromise to trigger a reaction.

I'm not a big fan of gambling with health, especially while traveling. Dealing with bacterial intrusion near home is one thing, dealing with it abroad is another.

There will always be the chest-beaters who proudly proclaim, "I drank the tap and nothing happened!" Lucky for them. But why encourage newbies to take such risk? The bacteria in your back yard, which your system is used to, is not necessarily the same bacteria on the other side of the world. I believe erring on the side of caution is the most prudent choice.

The point isn't how disjointed the article is because, frankly, can anyone really identify the source of their bacteria? Once your sick, it's too late and hardly matters. The point is prevention and making informed choices.

<i>&quot;apart from the headline it doesn't mention not drinking water&quot;</i>

It helps if you read the entire article.

NYCTravelSnob,

I agree...Readin is Fundamental (RIF). Maybe some peope didn't go to page 2.

I should practice what I preach!
Reading, not readin. Oh, well, we are all human.

This is a European board, and the water incidents mentioned in the article occurred in S-E Asia. But common sense needs to be applied. I have no qualms about drinking tap water in Western Europe--but then I do not buy bottled water when in my house in rural France--but in Romania, tap water was simply not served in any restaurant.

european water systems are on the whole more sophisticated than those in US - according to a talk i had with our local water plant supervisor - who had just overseen the installation of a European-style water system using ozone or some stuff process that was better than what most in US have - common in Europe - do as you would do in US as regards bottle water - or do as Europeans did for years - drink wine for their liquid as wine was safer than the water - even though wine is eventually turned back into water by the body.

I'm not encouraging anyone to drink tap water there, but I haven't had any stomach problems when I drink the tap water in France. I think it depends on the country. For example, in Mexico and Asia I would never drink the tap water.