Sex on the Road

Susan Spano’s column on women’s special travel concerns (“Ready to Hit the Road? Remember to Bring Medications and Common Sense,” Her World, June 27) was excellent but for the advice that “bringing along condoms can be a good idea.”

I advise my travelers to avoid sexual contact by assuming that their putative partner is infected with HIV and Hepatitis B and C and then asking themselves if they would have sex with an infected person.

Sex during travel is usually associated with excess alcohol, jet lag, a romantic setting and occasionally recreational drugs that combine to impair judgment. Also, condoms purchased abroad may not meet standards of U.S. manufacturers and be porous to viruses.

I routinely advise against automobile travel at night, renting motor scooters, getting sunburned, diving into ponds, drinking until drunk and sex with strangers.

DR. VICTOR L. KOVNER

Studio City