There’s not much worse than being stuck on a plane with a raging headache, no painkillers in sight. Or having an 
upset stomach at 3am in a hotel room, the helpful meds far away in the lobby. Or, worst of all, being in a foreign country, feeling terrible, and not sure which local medication will help. For these exact reasons I keep a stash of meds in my purse at all times. My travel “first aid kit” isn’t fancy, but it has the necessities to keep me feeling great until I get home.
I’ve tried a few methods of organization: travel packets of pills, a pillbox, and small bottles that I refill from larger ones kept at home. They’re all valid, but I prefer traveling with small bottles. Note: I only recommend the pillbox route if you don’t travel internationally—otherwise keep everything in its original packaging.
I keep everything below in a Ziploc bag that lives in my travel purse:
- Ibuprofen
- Pepto-Bismol
- Zyrtec
- Tylenol-PM (for international trips)
- Tums
- Tissues
- Alcohol wipes
- Hand sanitizer
- Bandaids
Readers, what medicines do you keep with you on all trips?
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all of the above plus
cough drops
jet alert or vivarin
neosporin
Cold tablets – real ones with psuedoephedrine (nothing worse than getting a cold some place where cold tablets can’t be easily obtained)
Lavendar oil – cures all manner of ills, along with its friend creme intex no2 from Ella Bache. I find, if I have an itch or an infected wound, one or other of those will clear it right up.
Some form of sleeping tablet, for jet-lag.
Antibiotics in case of the dreaded UTI. Though I was given something almost as effective by a pharmacist in Paris over the counter when I was buying cranberry, but I can’t for the life of me remember why I didn’t have antibiotics on that trip!
Imodium (or Gastro-stop) has proved invaluable over the last few years. No-one wants to risk a plane flight with a dodgy bottom!
If I’m traveling to a major city, I have small pouch with 2 epipens, an inhaler, a blister pack of sudafed, alcohol wipes, and small 4 section pill box with a couple of each:
1. Ibuprofen
2. Imodium + Gas-Ex
3. Benadryl
4. Flexeril (prescription taped to bottom)
When I’m traveling internationally or to somewhere more remote, I bring a larger supply of all of the above, a tube of hydrocortisone, and a course of antibiotics.
Two pills I always carry (in my wallet):
Gravol – dual use as sleeping aid and anti-nausea
Furosemide – for the one flight in 50 that leaves my feet horrifically swollen. Starting carrying this after one too many nights spent lying on my back on hotel rooms floors with my legs up against the wall!
Oh, and I always carry a couple of those nifty blister-friendly bandaids.