Image - HeatherW on Flickr.

New and different experiences

Living in a regional or a rural area is great and it's also great to get the opportunity to travel for work - whether it be Sydney, another regional centre, interstate or overseas.

Part of the fun of travelling is having new and different experiences. Travelling may be a time when you live on the edge a bit. It's often an opportunity to abandon the rules, routines and restrictions of our everyday lives. Sometimes you may do things you wouldn’t do back home. This sense of adventure also means being less careful about what you do when you’re away from home, and this makes you more likely to take increased risks.

The sense of freedom you have, the anonymity, as well as the increased sexual opportunities can play a role. Your usual decision-making processes may also be influenced by the use of alcohol and recreational drugs, the location you’re in and the people with you. The freedom of travel, however, doesn’t mean freedom from consequences. HIV transmission can occur anywhere. Many HIV positive people in Australia believe that they acquired their infection when they were away from home, in a city like Sydney another Australian state or outside the country.

Different places you visit may have different sexual cultures and different ways of working out safe sex decisions. Whether you are HIV positive or HIV negative you can’t automatically know the HIV status of the new person you are having sex with.

Remembering to take condoms with you is an important factor in having protected sex with casual partners while you are away from home. Being determined to only have protected sex also helps in maintaining condom use while travelling.

More info

Contact: ACON Port Maquarie or ACON Coffs Harbour

Tel: (02) 6584 0943 or (02) 6651 6017

Email: mnc@acon.org.au or coffsharbour@acon.org.au