Our friends from around the world tell us (politely) that Americans are seen as comically concerned about our health. They think it’s funny that we take vitamins, though over the years more Europeans have begun do this. They laugh at our obsession with tooth hygiene, and our habit of schlepping health paraphernalia with us. And our difficulties in creating a universal health care system are internationally noted. We’ll admit it: we used to think that travel was dangerous to our health. And we travelled with a full pharmacy, including sometimes even needles. Luckily, we’ve pared down to the basics, and our minimalist first aid kit weighs less than two pounds and fits anywhere.
Experience has made us more relaxed. We’ve learned that most places in the world have everything we need, readily available. In fact, you can get lots of things from a pharmacist over the counter that would require a visit to a doctor in the US. Even in places you might not expect great medical care. So we now have a streamlined ‘city’ minimalist first aid kit, which is mainly to save us the trouble of going out to get stuff. Given the ease of replenishing, we restock every six months or so, rather than obsessively. The first list is what we take everywhere just in case we end up in the middle of nowhere. The second list is things that aren’t necessary, but make life a little bit easier.
Our First Aid Kit Must-Haves
- Tummy-related: 1) loperamide or another anti-diarrheal; 2) rehydration salts, ideally in powder form
- Travel-related: motion sickness pills
- Allergy-related: antihistamines
- Very-bad-things-related: 1) codeine or other pain medication; 2) thermometer
- Boo-boo related: 1) small package of bandaids; 2) antibiotic ointment; 3) antiseptic swabs (e.g. hydrogen peroxide, iodine, or alcohol pads); 4) burn cream
Other Things We Usually Take
- anti-itching gel (insect bites: not dangerous, but really annoying)
- Tiger balm or other topical pain reliever
- eye drops for dry places
- throat lozenges for dry places
- antacids for piggy eating
- cushioned pads/molefoam for blisters
- tweezers
- sharp scissors
Other
Obviously, you will carry any ongoing prescription medicines, in their original bottles and accompanied by a copy of the prescription itself. Take extra and keep them separately because sometimes bad things happen to good people. Occasionally someone at an immigration desk is interested in rummaging through our pills, and this usually satisfies them. We’re both blind as bats, so we each carry our eye prescriptions and a spare of glasses. Medical records we have online and can get at from our phones, including blood types and immunizations. We used to carry antibiotics, but our doctor friends discourage us from doing so. They are easy enough to get (unless you’ll be in the wilderness), and increased resistance can make them dangerous to bring to some parts of the world. Oh – and we do have vitamins, for now. But we might not work that hard to replenish them when they run out…
Are there medicines or other gear you always keep in your minimalist first aid kit? Let us know what we’ve missed and we’ll add it!
How do you refill your prescriptions while traveling? I take a LOT of absolutely necessary prescription medicines, and have never found any practical way to refill them overseas. This has limited my out-of-country stays to 90 days maximum.
I’ve had this problem, too, and have only found two ways around it, neither very good: 1) obtain a larger supply to take with you by asking your MD[s] to write a letter to your insurance comany to authorize the larger (180-, 270-, or 360- day) supply, for medicines that won’t expire before then; and 2) have your MD[s] contact local specialists they may know in the place ahead of time and arrange in advance to go “private pay” and buy medicines there without insurance. Sometimes “travel medicine” clinics can help; even though they are really only set up for pre-travel vaccinations, they are often an information-resource site for informing your physician about places/people/rules/pharmacies overseas.
But it’s never easy and has always required much advance planning. I take quite a few necessary medicines too, and I’d be glad to learn of other ways.
The one nice thing is that the special bag full of RXs doesn’t count against luggage or carry-on allowance in most of the world, and in Europe and Canada gets separate, rapid screening. I mark mine with a large red cross and “RX” on both sides to facilitate that.
Thanks Anne – great suggestions!
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, my insurance company won’t authorize anything more than 90 days, no exceptions. Oh well.
I’ve never quite dared to trust that I’ll be able to get exactly the same medications (some of mine are pretty new and very pricy) in other countries, so I haven’t tried the local specialist/private pay option. And one of mine is injectable and has to be kept refrigerated or used within a month, which adds cold packs to the mix . . .
So it sounds like your best bet is to settle somewhere nice (southern Spain?) and meander from there in short bursts… http://www.expatforum has a couple of threads on medical care for pre-existing issues. And if you know where you’re intending to move, you might even be able to talk to a doctor/pharmacist where you’d want to live.
Unfortunately, to get legal residency in Spain you have to have international health insurance for the first year (after that, you can buy into Spain’s national system). And the research I’ve done indicates that I’m not insurable by private companies, at least not at a rate I could ever afford. Plus my husband is 75, at which point most companies won’t write new policies. I think we’re doomed to stay based in the US and do as many 2-month-or-so trips as we can manage.
Thanks Elizabeth – we don’t take a lot of prescription meds, so haven’t faced this – but Anne’s response is along the lines we’d suggest. (Also thanks to Anne for that detailed reply!).
For longer stays, we’ve also found local doctors, some of them really good, with perfect English.
All of that said, we’re due to get a prescription filled soon, so will report back about how that goes with our new non-U.S. health insurance…
We bring melatonin in case we have sleep issues/jet lag
Good call! We took this regularly for a while, so are off it to try to build up our natural supplies – but it’s excellent if you need a good night’s sleep once in a while.