Safe sex while travelling?

[tea]

So I was recently overseas for a few weeks and it got me thinking about accessing sexual health care when travelling. How do you have safe sex while travelling?

If I have unprotected sex in NSW, I know I can easily go out to get the morning-after pill or go to a sexual health clinic like family planning for any information. But what if something like that happens overseas? What happens then?

Has anyone had any experience with accessing sexual health care overseas? How would I get something like the morning-after pill? How could you get past the anxiety and added stress of a potential language barrier when accessing these services? Are you able to carry these items on you from Australia when travelling for emergencies?

[EarthMama]

@tea this is such an interesting question and I have nothing to offer but solidarity for the concern. When I had PV sex for the first time I was in the US and they have their condoms in the supermarket under LOCK AND KEY!! Treating sexual health care like a contraband product was very disturbing and I could not understand the thinking behind it. I was so terrified to ask that my friend had to approach a sales assistant for me and ask for the cabinet to be unlocked. I hate to say that if I was alone, I may have been too afraid to even ask and may have left empty-handed.
We are so used to the accessibility or lack of in our own countries!

[curiousss]

Such a good question! I lived and travelled Europe for a year and came across some interesting differences about accessing safer sex.

– Some places in Europe had condom machines on the street which I thought was very cool and practical.

– A lot of the time you can buy condoms from hostels and even some hotel receptions.

– In some places you have to ask for condoms from the sales person (I found this embarrassing).

– I was in one small town for a few nights and noticed I couldn’t find any tampons stocked in the local store!!!! That really shocked me. I wonder if they sold condoms or had the morning after pill!?

– I had an incident where the condom came off and I needed to get the morning after pill but it was a Sunday and in the small town I was in everything was closed! (this was the UK) I ended up having to go to the emergency room and ask for the morning after pill there. Good news was it was free bad news was I had to wait a very long time for a nurse to see me.

My recommendation after this whole experience. Stock up on condoms before you leave and have a bunch (big bunch) on you. You can also bulk buy your contraception pill and take that with you when you travel!

[GoldenRose]

I agree with @curiousss! Always be try and be as prepared as you can. Also it’s probably a good idea to do a bit of research on the type of sexual care access each country and town/city you are visiting has so you know what to do and where to go to for things such as condoms and the morning after pill.

[tea]

@earthmama LOCK AND KEY?? That’s so bizarre! And also, so embarrassing for people who are too afraid to ask! I’m glad your friend was with you at the time. I think I’d be the same if I was alone tbh!

@curiousss Thank you so much for the advice!!! Seems like you had such a wide range of experiences with access to contraceptive items! Stocking up and researching, as @goldenrose said, is a good idea too. Tbh I would never think to research into something like that before travelling anywhere! This is probably really important if you’re travelling within Australia to remote communities too since services can be limited in certain areas.

Stocking up definitely sounds like the safest thing to do, but sometimes that isn’t enough and it’s a shame it can be so difficult to access services to get what you need, depending on where you are. I wonder what you would do if you need an STI test while travelling?

[nasty67]

I always prefer safe sex while traveling. Next month I am going to Mexico to spend my holidays. I hope I’ll find a good sex partner there. But I don’t know anything about Mexican Culture. No idea how I’ll find a girl for a date and safe sex. I am searching the internet about Mexican dating sites. I found an online4.love/mexican-dating-sites/ article that is specifically written about dating in Mexico. what you think the information in this article is based on facts? Is there anyone who has experience dating there? or know about the most popular dating website in Mexico? Do Mexican girls like safe sex? And can I take some pills and some packets of condoms with me?

[Author]

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