4 Things Travelers Can Use Vodka For (Other Than Getting Drunk)
September 1, 2009 by Anil P.
Filed under Food, Health and Fitness
This post is written as part of Lifecruiser and Travel Experta’s drinks around the world series. You can see my first post earlier this summer on How to Drink Raki Like a Turk.
Vodka is a versatile drink that has several good uses for travelers aside from getting you tipsy. Vodka is one of the most widely consumed alcohols in the world and you’re likely to find it many places you travel. It’s probably best to use the cheap stuff for freshening up your stinky feet or as bug repellent and save the good stuff for drinking.
Keep Your Travel Gear Smelling Fresh
While it doesn’t really clean your clothes, filling up a spray bottle with vodka and spritzing the shirt or pants you wore on a long day of sightseeing will eliminate odor. Vodka kills all sorts of bacteria that enjoy warm and moist places to grow (like sweaty socks) and give off stinky gases. The odor of the vodka itself disappears once dry.
Bug Repellent
Vodka can be used one of two ways to get rid of bugs – by squirting it directly on them or by spraying your now not-so-stinky clothes to use as a repellent. You can also try spraying your bed sheets in case you’re in a hotel on the bed bug list.
Reduce Your Toothache
Truthfully if you drink enough vodka you’ll cure most aches but if you just want your tooth to stop hurting gargle some vodka with warm water to relieve the pain. This trick will also work for sore or scratchy throats.
Wash Stinky Feet
Cleaning your feet with vodka can get rid of even the most stubborn odors thanks to vodka’s bacteria killing alcohol. Vodka can also help speed your recovery from blisters by destroying bacteria that prolongs the healing process.
Some Other Uses Vodka Can Have For Travelers
- Relieve poison ivy irritation, pain, and itching. Pour some over the rash and vodka will wash away the offending oils giving you temporary relief.
- Reduce a fever by rubbing a little on your chest while lying down.
There are a number of creative uses for vodka, like cleaning out your ears, you can find with some Google hacking. Travel often enough and you’ll find multiple uses for many things like hand sanitizer to stop bug bites from itching or using peanut butter to make your meals last on the road.
Finally if you’re planning on traveling to a predominantly Muslim country over the next 3 weeks you might not be able to find vodka easily. Here’s what to expect if you’re traveling during Ramadan.
[photos by: Saquan Stimpson/monstershaq200 0, sveeta, P Hansen, assbach, Jeezny]
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My name is Anil, a traveler and travel enthusiast. I created foXnoMad to connect with other travelers, discover their world, and share what I’ve learned about mine.
what a waste of vodka but good title made me read it
Now you’ve got some more good uses for vodka. I suppose you could mix any of them with actually drinking the stuff too
Vodka is so useful! Knowing it can do all that doesn’t really make me want to drink it.
It’s almost a shame to drink it!
Oh my god, I’m about to run out and buy some and I don’t like to drink it at all. it’s like the all purpose liquid!!!
we have soooooooooooooooo many f***ing mosquitos in my house, that they are literally eating me a live, now I can zap the f**ckers!
funny, i read a while a go that Madonna soaks her concert clothes in Vodka. Now it makes sense!!!
what a great post!
If there’s one creature on this planet that I can’t it’s mosquitoes. They are terribly annoying but I don’t like to use bug sprays because I’m not sure they’re all that good for you either. (Makes vodka a nice alternative
Never knew that about Madonna but that’s pretty practical for the material girl!
I would add that a bottle of Vodka is mandatory if you want to experience the Trans-Siberian railway. And with so many hours to spend on the train, you can find 100+ ways to use it. Just get some good stuff, stay away from the cheap (and scary) bottles you find on the platforms.
It’s got to be part of the experience. Strangely drinking vodka in Siberia is one of my travel goals.
Excellent! Now I know what to do with those darn socks!!!! *giggles*
….and as a true Swede, I’ve of course be using Absolut Vodka from Sweden
I would expect no less from a Swede!
Guess it’s better than vinegar because you can really drink it.
That’s true and the smell doesn’t last. Although in recent weeks I’ve discovered you can work miracles with baking soda and vinegar.
Ooo – what a fun post…and sadly I am now pondering hunting some down for the stinky-feet-syndrome – not very lady-like but inescapable sometimes
This may very well make me smell like a lady again, lol!
It’s all part of traveling! The feet do so much work but don’t get much credit
I think I’ll wash my socks with soap powder and drink the vodka. I’ve bought along Singapore’s famous Sling despite its sickly sweet taste at http://www.travel-wonders.com/2009/08/drinks-around-world-singapore-sling.html
A bit expensive but I’d get one just for the great name.
Noooo… This post is breaking my heart! Think of all the Martinis you could make. I think I need to write a post called Ode to my Vodka!
Now that I got that out of my chest… it was a fun read. Excuse me while I get the image of smelly feet out of my head by drinking a Vodka lime and soda. Cheers!
haha, I’ll add memory suppressant to the list
An Ode to Vodka post would be great. If you’re considering doing it time it for Oct.1, next round of the drinks around the world series.
Vodka needs a new slogan, “The feet cleaning, tooth helping, bug killing, drunken fresh-maker.” Eh, it needs some work.
It’ll freshen up clothes that smell like cigarettes and vomit as well.
Not a bad start to a new slogan. Funny how vodka can both cause yet remove vomit stains.
What a great post!
You can also put some in a small jar, and use a piece of cloth for a wick, for use as a candle or to heat up a can of spaghettios. But that’s only in a pinch.
Thanks Kim, I hadn’t heard that one before – good for emergencies.
I agree, what a waste of vodka! Using vodka for stinky feet is just a little too far and that is where I draw the line. Well if you have Ukraine vodka it is cheap enough to take a bath, so drink up.
I guess it all depends on how stinky your feet get.
I love this! It makes me want to stock up on vodka just so I can show off its many uses.
You gotta take a picture of the faces around you when you start washing your feet in vodka
Here’s a funny story about my friend’s host mother’s use of vodka while we were serving as Peace Corps volunteers in Uzbekistan: http://bit.ly/druI9P
Absolutely fascinating…there’s another use!
Wow – talk about crazy facts I didn’t know!!!
My grandmother used to give us a little shot of whiskey if we were sick…maybe she knew what she was doing!
My kind of cough syrup!