My children have attended a high school that is highly immersed in service work. So much so, that many of the kids will participate in a service trip in addition to their other local service projects. My daughter applied and was selected to serve in Nicaragua over summer break. They are helping build a home for a family there and also working within the school and community.
We couldn’t be more thrilled about this opportunity for her. However a few things changed from the period of time that she filled out the application and leaving. Before she applied, I don’t think I had ever heard of Zika Virus. But by mid January of this year, that was no longer the case. The trip moved forward as planned however our school took the CDC recommendations very seriously and we had a revised packing list from trips past to do everything to avoid Zika Virus. For example, due to the inability for our daughters to hang mosquito nets where they are staying, it was recommended they bring mosquito tents to place on top of their beds. Not the easiest thing to find, pack and travel with due to size, but it can be done!
I do feel good about the precautions we have taken to avoid Zika Virus through mosquito bites and I am glad they had the chance to travel to Nicaragua and become immersed in the 
community they are serving. If you have a teen looking to travel, perhaps some of the items will be useful for their trip in preparations for CDC recommendations concerning the Zika Virus. Or if you or your entire family will be traveling and needs to take precautions, I hope some of these ideas can help you!
The following list does include some affiliate links.
- Mosquito Net/Tents – As I mentioned, the facility was not able to hang mosquito nets so our girls all were asked to bring mosquito tents. We didn’t have a ton of information about bed size (is it a cot, or twin?) I found both the SansBug Free-Standing Pop Up Mosquito Tent and the Rothco Free Standing Mosquito Net/Tent. I actually liked the later one better, however my daughter liked the SansBug Tent. She is very tall and just felt it offered her more room. I was concerned it was too long and wide and would hang over the bed but it was way easier to put together, so we went with the SansBug Tent.
- Mosquito Canopy Net – As I mentioned, hanging a net over the bed was not an option, but before we knew this for certain I had found this net. This Emergency Zone Canopy Net is what we would have used if a hanging net would have worked.
- Personal Fan – As I read many of the mosquito tent reviews, several mentioned the need of a battery operated personal fan due to the climate and sleeping in a tent. We went with the O2Cool 5 inch personal fan. It runs on 2 D size batteries. You will need to pack a small screwdriver if you will need to replace the batteries.
- Mosquito Repellent – I had a hard time deciding on this one so I chose three: Repel Natural Eucalyptus Repellent, Sawyer Products Premium Insect Repellent with 20% Picaridin and Off! Deep Woods Dry Insect Repellent. We choose these based on their mentions on the Consumer Reports list.
- Treated Clothing – Since the CDC is recommending Long sleeve shirts and pants, our school was as well for the trip. I was able to find some clothes that were treated in mosquito repellent such as this ExOfficio BugsAway Hoodie. This is not the exact one we bought, but very similar. We also found these Sahara moisture wick away shirts from REI. After bringing them home, we treated them before the trip with Permethrin Spray to make them repel mosquitoes.
As for how did it all work? I feel I have done everything I can as a mom to prepare my daughter to prevent mosquito bites and avoid Zika Virus. I will have to let you know as she is all packed up and about 1/4 of the way through her adventure!
