Danger Zone Ahead ~ Germs!

When we talk about traveling, the norm is to focus on the stress, OCD, & anxiety trials of the journey along with all the valuable discussions that encourage some creative and well-worn supports worked around each issue. But let’s take the discussion a bit further, into the grimy and often stealthy world of germs! Whether you are traveling to family, friends, or a hotel, germs exist and thrive quietly waiting for you to touch the light switch, use the remote control, or walk on the floor. Yup, no matter how clean a family or place may be, some germs will be waiting to take their own trip, on your clothes and your body. For most people, this is more a gross nuisance, than a big worry, but because people with ASD tend to have weak immune systems, even the most mundane germ - one a different family or person may easily live with and be immune to - can wreck havoc in the bloodstream. Think cat allergies. Some folks can have a house full of felines; some can’t be around a person who has been around a person who fed a kitty a treat. Follow the metaphor and imagine checking into a hotel where herds of wild tigers named MRSA and E-Coli sit ready to pounce and devour the weak immune system. 


Disgusting.

Is there a need to go into full germ-be-gone assault mode when visiting Grandma’s for tea, or using a public restroom? Probably not. Common sense cleanliness like hand washing and using paper towels to touch switches and other vulnerable places should suffice. But when a trip takes you to a place cleaned by strangers or folks you think might not be up to the task of above average cleaning, take some sensible precautions. 

This blog by Huffington Post’s Smartertraveler offers some simple tips you can easily follow for your safety and peace of mind. Bottom line~ don’t be afraid of germs. You’re bigger and smarter than all of them and so is your disinfectant. :-)