It makes me shudder just writing this post. Vaccinations are one of the necessary evils of travelling. To begin with, I definitely intended not to get any of them and just hope for the best, but then a colleague told me that a friend of a friend tripped over while travelling and got Hepatitis. I can’t vouch for how true this story is, but it definitely scared me enough to book in my vaccinations, and you should too.

Vaccinations you (probably) got if you grew up in the UK:

If your parents, like mine, lost that document where they track all the vaccinations you have ever had, this is a pretty useful list of vaccinations you won’t need.

• Diphtheria
• Tetanus
• Whooping cough
• Polio
• Hib (Haemophilus influenza type b)
• Pneumococcal infection
• Rotavirus vaccine
• Meningitis
• Haemophilus influenza type b (Hib)
• Meningitis
• Measles, Mumps and rubella
• Diphtheria, Tetanus, Whooping cough and Polio
• Meningitis

The vaccinations really seem to depend on how far from civilisation you are when you’re travelling. For us in capital cities and weekend trips, getting a spot of rabies won’t be that troubling if we can get to a hospital really quickly. But if you are doing some travelling in parts less travelled you should get all of the recommended vaccinations.

For those of you who are as constantly broke as we are the following travel vaccinations are usually available free on the NHS:

• Diphtheria, polio and tetanus (combined booster)
• Typhoid
• Hepatitis A – including when combined with typhoid or hepatitis B
• Cholera

As ever, we are just two drunk girls, so call your GP surgery or visit the NHS website for more details here.