A wisely prepared travel med kit can rescue you from crisis situations and help your vacation run smoothly.
You are at the perfect destination in the perfect company, you’re in a great mood and even the weather conditions are in your favour. You’re excitedly thinking about all the locations you wish to visit the following day…and then you suddenly get ill and all your plans fall through. Journeys are soon past anyway, so don’t let a sudden bout of illness catch you unprepared and deprive you of several days of your holiday. A small travel med kit can prove to be salvation in such situations and help you make the best out of your trip.
The most common illness that hits tourists is travellers’ diarrhoea, which affects almost half of travellers to developing countries – the riskiest regions are Latin America and the northern part of South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia (particularly India). This illness is caused by bacterias, viruses or parasites present in food or drinks, so it is wise to take all possible precautions and consume only food and drink of trusted origin – experts say that it is best to stick to food that is freshly prepared, well cooked and served piping hot. Travellers’ diarrhoea is a mild illness that passess by itself, but it can be a nuisance that can rob you of several precious days of your journey. Thus it is also good to have some diarrhoea meds on your person, e.g. Pepto-Bismol, to speed up your recovery.
Another unwelcome, but frequent holiday ˝guest˝ is motion sickness, thus don’t forget to pack a medication such as Dramamine, especially if you are prone to feeling nauseous, so that certain parts of your trip do not become unpleasant memories. Motion sickness meds can also help you fall asleep in the noisy and uncomfortable environment of an airplane and help you overcome jet lag, or you can also take drugs of your own choice for this purpose. To alleviate a fever or free yourself of a pounding headache, don’t forget to also add analgesics and antipyretics to your travel med kit, while it is also good to take anti flu and cold medications. A small first aid kit is also indispensible as are, when travelling to warmer regions, insect repellents and insect bite remedies.
If you have to take prescription meds with you, be very cautious as different countries have different regulations about what is legal, and what is not. Many countries in Southeast Asia and in the Middle East are renowned for the strictness of their drug and medication laws – thus if you are planning a holiday in, for example, Dubia, make sure to enquire in advance whether and under what conditions you can take your meds with you. Codeine, an analgesic that is available over the counter in many countries is illegal in the United Arab Emirates, and there were cases where foreigners were arrested for its possession or having traces of it in their organism – thus check whether it is an ingredient of any of your meds.
Japan does not allow the import of certain prescription meds even if you present the prescription, and if you’re planning to stay for a longer period of time be aware that, if you have to carry more than one month’s supply of prescription meds into the country, you have to obtain a certificate known as ˝Yakkan Shoumei˝ in advance. In any case, it is good to research the regulations of the country you are travelling to in advance, and to take your meds in their original bottles with the name of the medication and the doctor that prescribed it written on it clearly. Also, do not forget to take an extra supply, and in the case you still manage to run out of them also keep in mind the generic names of your drugs, as brand names may vary from country to country.
Silvia Vidović
