BootsnAll Travel Community

Hey all

I am travelling to Thailand, Oz, NZ, Fiji, US and Canada at the end of August this year. The thing is, I'm very fair...and I mean VERY fair. So basically I'll have to be very careful in the sun. I was wondering if any of you that have travelled to the parts Im going could tell mw if it is hard to get a sun block or factor 60 or 60+????

Also I will need to wear long sleeved linen or light tee's etc so is it easy or difficult to get these kind of clothes??

My parents think i'm mad going with such a pale complection but why should I let that stop me from seeing the great world...


Thanks a mil!
Jo

Hey Jo,
Get a decent thing of sunscreen before you leave town. You can also always order online from wherever you are and have it shipped general delivery if necessary. get a hat with a brim that goes all the way around--here in nyc i know it must be the fashion b/c when i went to the dept store they had a ton (i don't mean the straw hat kind--like the soft kind). wear light tees instead of tank tops. be diligent abt sunblock. also, a moisturizer with sunblock would be good too.
GO! you'll be fine!
(also, if you get burned easily, a small thing of aloe vera gel (or moisturizer if you don't have any) is vital to help soothe and repair the skin.)

I have given up on vanity.

For me, it was a choice between looking good or melanoma. So I look goofy; I am used to that.

I use a Seattle Sombrero (sadly, this style is no longer available) from Outdoor Research.

If you're very fair, a moisturizer + sunblock won't help you. Aim for minimum SPF 30 - if you break out easily, get one with an oil free formula.

Also? Reapply. I reapply every two hours in the sun, and if I go into the water I reapply the second I get out.

I have insanely fair skin (interesting because I'm slightly less than 1/4 native), so I'm always really really careful about sun exposure. I usually get made fun of for it, but I'd rather be a pale ghost than a tanned melanoma case waiting to happen.

I'm very pale, about as pale as you can be without being a redhead. My skin looks like a roadmap (since you can see all the veins).

Ok, I guess you get my drift.

I brought several small bottles of SPF 45 sunscreen and scattered them around...one in my backpack, one in the daypack, one in this pocket, one in that pocket.... so there was always some handy. I applied it ALL the time. You'll get used to the sweaty/sunblocky/DEET-y/slightly grimy backpacker feeling.

I always wore a big hat and often used those big pieces of fabric they sold in Thailand (why can't I remember what they are called!!) to cover my body in all sorts of ways.
Pictoral Evidence: I don't know if you can tell, but I have a big piece of fabric over my head and shoulders.


I call this picture of me on Manly Beach, "SPF Fleece."

I often looked like a total idiot, but at least I didn't get burned. I remember telling a shopkeeper in Rarotonga I'd been traveling for 4 months and she said, "But you are so pale." I guess that means I did a good job with the sunblock?

It didn't help that my [peruvian] boyfriend just soaked up the sun and got nice and dark. (I swear I'm not jealous)

P.S. I wouldn't normally post pictures of myself because it seems kinda conceited, but I look like a fool in them, so it's ok. Right?

Tickles, I love your pic!

Sunscreen..is awesome. I'm dark skinned, get tanned easily (don't be jealous, now), but still swear by sunscreen. I normally use SPF 45.

You can get pretty high SPF's in the states. I'm not quite sure how high, tho. I think I saw a bottle of SPF 60 last time I looked but I shied away from it because I like to use the non-greasy stuff, which comes at 45 at the highest.

In Oz, the sun is pretty strong because of the lack of ozone layer out there.

Cherie said my thoughts exactly. Get some good sunscreen before you leave (like a favorite home brand or something) and aloe vera. You should be able to pick up sunscreen on the road as well.

In the states, Oz, and NZ, you can find those types of clothes easily. My suggestion, if you don't want to spend a lot of money, go to a thrift store and shop around.

I was out biking in the desert all day yesterday and am very sunburned today. All of the mexican people at work were laughing at me because they had never seen such a pale white person get so sunburned.

Luckily I live in the sonoran desert and all of the healing agents are on hand in nature, so when I got home today I went into my yard and cut off an aloe vera branch and am now in the healing process. I usually get one really bad sunburn every summer and then learn my lesson for a year or so.

The moral of the story being lots of sunblock and lots of aloe vera if it is available. Having pants and shirts that easily roll up or down for the ocassion are also a very good idea.
And of course hats, hats, hats

Thanks a million you guys, I REALLY appreciate it. Looks like I'll be buying a supply before I leave Eire to scatter all around my body & backpack.

Tickles, I love the picture and I totally feel your pain. My boyf also browns just looking at it on TV. All I can say is that we'll like like a right pair when we're away... But hey, I like being different...

I remember when I was in Spain and Portugal on Hols and people would ask "Where did you get your tan??...the Antartica??"

Anyway, porcilan is a good look so I don't mind having to take care of my skin

Thanks again for all your advice

Jo

Hey there fellow pele brancos

Thought I would pass on my main skin savers.

Before leaving N. America, I bought a year's supply of Neutrogena Healthy Defense daily moisterizer-- SPF 30.
It's the highest SPF face stuff that isn't the consistency of butter, and you can slather it on a few times a day without feeling like you've been working the fry baskets at mickey d's all day. Breakouts in the tropics suck.

I also swear by Vichy Capital Soleil spf 60 For Kids, for the rest of me. It, DOES have the thick gooey thing going for it, but its pretty darn sweat and water resistent. Spendy though.

I think Coppertone makes a "extreme sports" spray-on sunscreen that claims to be sweat proof, but I looked everywhere for it last February in Florida with no luck before heading back south.
Anyone discover the ultimate screen yet?

pale face trace

I'm very very pale. I just bought the Neutrogena sunscreen yesterday, for my face. I lived and worked in the Utah desert in the summer several years ago, and at least for me, the Neutrogena stuff was quite sufficient for my face.

Arms aren't usually a problem for me, but legs are a big problem. I'm so pale that I actually start getting the sun rash (very itchy) and even little blisters; this happened on the top of my hands last year in Spain, and I always get the sun rash on my calves/ankles now, sometimes even if I am coated in sunscreen, if I'm out in the sun too long -- so I'll definitely be dousing my legs w/ 45, and probably draping a sarong across my legs if I'm out for awhile.

Lynn

Just adding on to first mate's suggestions...

I love Nutrogena's Ultra Sheer SPF 45 for my face. It's a bit expensive, but well worth it! No greasy feeling.

Check out tilley hats... Best hat I've seen!

Floats, fairly wide brim, has a great way to keep it on in the wind. I've gone sailing with mine!

Plus if you ever wear it out... send a story of how it happened and they'll send you a new one!

Edit: Forgot to add the link... http://www.tilley.com/

thanks everyone...all of the above is a great help and I plan on looking into quite a few.

Thanks
Jo

I tan ok but not trying to court melanoma and wrinkles. Since I live in Hawaii and surf, I take sun protection pretty seriously too.

You may want to consider a surf jersey with SPF REI offers one as will most any surf store worth their salt (buy in OZ?) -- not only do they protect you from the sun, but they'll keep you warm in and out of the water (while you're wet).

A dermatologist recommended to me PreSun ultra sunscreen for sensitive skin. The gel is kind of sticky, but works well, I use that on my body (plus the jersey) and Hawaiian Tropic Baby Faces (yea its for kids) on my face

My daily wear sunscreen is an Oil of Olay moisturizer with SPF 15, which I wear on my face, neck, arms and hands. But I work indoors so for serious time in the city sun where I'm expecting to sweat, maybe I'd use the Baby Faces.

I might try that Neutrogena tho... that's one of my favorite brands for skin stuff... thanks for the recommendations~

I am not super-fair, but I do burn before I tan, and boy, I hate burning. So when I can find them,I look a little goofy with a long sleeve shirt, preferably with holes in it long light cotton airy pants of a very light fabric, and a big rimmed hat. The one time I didn't use sunblock when recommended, I paid with a lobster burn on my knees and upper thighs. Yes, I COULD have worn long pants, and next time I'm on a boat in Venezuela, I will wear them, hot or no.

Yes, you must keep the sun off your body one way or another, or your vanity will be destroyed by a lobster burn, and your sleep seriously disturbed in the least.

Many women in India and other places use umbrellas, like the old times. Get yourself a lacy white non-rain umbrella and you can walk with pride!!!

Does anyone have a solution to sun rashes? It sucks; it's gotten worse as I get older. Last year was the first year I got the rash/little blisters on the tops of my hands, and it's totally flaring up right now. Sunscreen does absolutely nothing as far as preventing the rash/blisters/swelling (whatever it is), other than prevent an actual burn.

I suppose I'm supposed to wear gloves in the dead of summer??? I just fear that if this sort of thing gets worse as I get older, at some point I'll never be able to have any skin in the sun!

try slathering down at night with vitamin e... pop open the little gel cap. Works on other blisters/cuts... might help with the sun based ones.

I'm forgetting exactly what causes the sun rash, used to know.

Go to a dermatologist..seriously. I neglected the sun rashes and literally suffered for years as it developed into something more...it took years for my skin to get back to normal. But now I still get the sun rash and have prescriptions which help me. Its some kind of cartizone cream.They come in different strengths and there is one for face (mild) and then for body. Can't remember the name.

Lynn send me a PM and I will send you the name.

joeyjojo,
being of the gaelic variety myself - i use two different types of sunblock. for super sensitive areas (around my eyes and on any moles/scars) I use the RoC Bebe Soleil - there ain't nothin getting through that. Its available in chemists - Unicare pharmacies and the like. I reckon its about €15 for a tube. Its thick and you put it on half hour before going out. I found it great though - and its def available in Ireland.
Also found Parasol 20+ fantastic - it goes on like an oil but when it dries, leaves no sticky or filmy layer on your skin. Its waterproof and only requires re-app when you rub your skin-like you dry yourself on a towel. I think its made by some irish crowd as well - my dermatologist recommended it...so it must be good.
remember to cover in full factor any scars/birthmarks or moles.....
hope it helps! enjoy yourself