a quick mention about taking care of them so they last longer. Im the guy who still rides on my 1991 or 92 shimano spds--it is really simple, all I do is regularly when I see that dirt, mud, whatever is starting to buildup on the spring/whatsits mechanism that is open to view, I simply take a rag and my fingers and clean off the stuff. Sometimes I use the rag with a pokey thing (screwdriver, whatever) to get into nooks and crannies and wipe stuff out.
Once in a little while I put a little drop of my chain oil on the pivot points of the mechanisms, but really, its that simple.

I have friends who have the same pedals and never do this, and their pedals have deep encrusted gunk all inside, and will take more time to clean and gunk+dirt = wear, so its like cleaning up your kitchen dishes, do it more often, its faster and easier than letting it go a long time.

bottom line, take a min once in a while dpending on your riding conditions and just use a rag, thats all I do and Im sure it goes a long way to keeping them in good working order for longer--I bring this up especially from your concerns of travelling in other countries, and therefore avoiding and reducing equipment failures--keep your bikes drivetrain and working bits in good shape and you reduce risk of stuff and it all lasts longer and works better.