Writing this post has brought back some horrific memories I’ve worked hard to suppress way into my subconscious. I can share plenty a time when I’ve eaten food overseas and gotten sick with food poisoning (or better known as traveler’s diarrhea).

One that still haunts me to this day is the time when I was visiting Laos. The night before we’ll call it “the incident,” my girlfriend and I hit up some night market food down the street. We ended up eating food at a buffet-style booth (our first mistake) and loaded up on fried noodles, meats such as pork and poultry, and steamed vegetables. We feasted on what at the time looked like delicious and adventurous food.

My friend and I had no idea how long that food had been sitting out. You couldn’t even pause to count the number of flies swarming around the food stall. But being naive and “carefree” travelers, we ate there anyway. We completely cleared our plates and went back for seconds.

The morning of “the incident,” I woke up to not feeling quite right. I rolled over to see if my friend was awake yet. Her bed was empty. I slowly sat up. Almost instantly, it hit me like a ton of bricks: I DON’T FEEL GOOD AT ALL. I rushed over to the bathroom, but the door was locked. My friend didn’t sound like she was doing too hot, either. Next, I did what any logical person would do and rushed out to our hotel balcony and hurled all my guts out over the side railing. Good morning Laos.

For the rest of the week, we were in Laos; I felt miserable. Luckily the vomiting only lasted for two days. However, the constant uneasy feeling in my stomach and (excuse the vulgar) explosive diarrhea never completely subsided until after I had already returned home. Lesson learned.

“The incident” brings me to my guide for how to eat food overseas and NOT get food poisoning while traveling. Eating or drinking the wrong thing, even if it was just a one-time occurrence, can leave you feeling miserable and trapped in your hotel room for the remainder of your trip.

First, don’t be afraid of it.

I know my story is enough for anyone not to want to touch street food with even a ten-foot pole, but there were several things I did wrong to cause myself to get sick. When taking the right precautions, street food can be rather safe and enjoyable.

Go where the locals eat.

If you go where all the locals eat, chances are they know the difference between good and bad food. Locals will lead you in the right direction of safe, delicious, and properly sanitized and prepared food.

UNLESS it’s cooked right in front of you, stay away from meat.

When ordering street food, make sure the meat is cooked right in front of you. You have no idea how long that food has been sitting out collecting bacteria; you don’t want to risk it!

Always check to make sure your meat is thoroughly cooked.

Sometimes even watching your food in front of you isn’t enough, you’ve got to make sure it’s fully cooked too! One example I have is when Dustin and I went to the Philippines. He ordered a chicken salad from our hotel restaurant. Being super hungry, he started chowing down as soon as the chicken salad as soon as it showed up in front of him. After several bites, I took one look at it and said, “babe, your chicken is still pink.” And sure enough, the chicken was not cooked thoroughly with the inside still being completely raw.

Scan the “cleanliness” of the place.

Generally speaking, you can determine the purity of the food by the cleanliness of the tools they use to prepare it. If you notice dirty cooking utensils or dirty food-preparation surfaces, you can almost guarantee that the food won’t be clean either.

Be mindful of “freshly prepared” drinks and sauces with tap water.

In most places, tap water is not safe to consume. With that, be mindful of drinks with ice or sauces prepared with tap water as they can be contaminated too.

If you buy fresh fruit or vegetables, wash them.

Also, it’s best to stick with ones that have peels. That way, you can peel off the skin that may be harboring bacteria, fertilizing chemicals, and dirt and get to the clean, untainted fruit.

Stay away from the buffet-style food stalls.

Buffet-style food was the ultimate mistake leading to the incident in Laos. To avoid food poisoning while traveling, don’t do what my friend and I did. Stick to foods freshly prepared.

Always wash your hands.

Before consuming any food, be sure to wash your hands with soap and warm water thoroughly. You don’t want anything on your hands touching what you’re putting in your mouth.

Be cautious when consuming dairy.

Dairy has a very high risk of being contaminated with harmful bacteria, as most of it is cultured with live organisms. It’s best to avoid dairy if possible.

Always carry healthy travel snacks with you!

When all else fails, and you can’t find a single place to eat that isn’t questionable, make sure to have at least a couple of travel snacks on you!

Disinfect your drinking water.

There are several methods to doing this, including LifeStraw and water purifying tablets. Although not particularly suitable for the environment, bottled water is a healthy alternative if you don’t have any way of cleansing the tap water.

Avoid anything raw.

Anything like runny eggs, raw oysters, sushi, and ceviche can be a significant source of foodborne illness.

Here is my list of ways to avoid getting food poisoning while traveling. If you take all these precautions, and still manage to get sick, take a look at my Must Have Medications While Traveling post!

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The Messy Bun Traveler is a travel lifestyle health & wellness blog that provides great advice for staying healthy on the go. If you’d like to receive exclusive info as well as weekly post updates, be sure to subscribe to my newsletter!