One of the last things that anybody wants to think about when planning a vacation is making sure you are prepared for illness or injury while you are traveling. This is especially true of older travelers. Families with children are more apt to remember to include items such as car sickness medications, Band-Aids and over the counter medications for coughs and colds.
The last thing you want to have happen while you are on vacation is to wake up in your hotel room with a fever or deal with a sprained ankle from walking on a rocky beach. And while most of us always remember to pack enough of our prescription medication, OTC pain relief and Band-Aids, it’s the simplest things that we might forget and will end up needing when there is no store around. Some of the things you might want to consider adding to your packing list include:
- An ace bandage – they take up very little room in your suitcase, no more than a pair of socks
- Chap Stick/Lip balm – they’re not just for winter anymore. And if you are planning a trip to the beach, a lip balm with sunscreen can prevent your lips getting sunburned or wind burned
- Indigestion/diarrhea medication – Face it, somewhere along the line everybody’s ended up with an upset stomach while on vacation. Nothing can ruin a day faster.
- OTC Allergy Medication – Pollen and allergens differ from location to location
- OTC Eye Drops – Hotel heat and AC tends to dry out everything, including your eyes. So can the chlorine in the pool and the salt in the ocean.
- OTC Toothache Relief – Just as sure as you sit down to dinner on your cruise, you could bite into something the wrong way and end up with a toothache. Carrying one of the OTC toothache remedies in your bag takes up no space at all and can make a world of difference.
So once you’ve updated your packing list, give Ingenious Travel a call and let us book you on a fabulous vacation today!
What was something you packed in your “just in case” bag that saved your vacation?
Image source: Flickr.com Mary Margret
Never anything medical I am chuffed to say! My only absolute essential is something to read. The most useful equipment is quite possibly an emergency sewing repair kit, or else my Blackberry travel charger!
I have so many friends who have gotten ill while traveling. What an awesome post! I will share your wisdom on Twitter 🙂
I want to reject being prepared for things like this because in the movies people are never prepared like this but my lips get dry more than i’d like to admit so you might be on to something here…lol Great post.
I always pack the safety kit because you just never know when on the road, my kids do all kinds of things to the lip balm so thanks for reminding me to pack extra : )
I always carry a printout from my pharmacy of my prescribed meds, which includes their contact number for verifications, in case I should lose my meds or unexpectedly run out. The practice has saved my bacon, in foreign countries, twice.
I always pack a first aid kit (a light one, for immediate emergency) and I keep informed about emergency services in my destinations (as well as have local emergency numbers on my phone). Finally, like Thea said keep my iPhone charger with me, always.
I still remember the time I went on vacation and ended up feverish at the hotel. Never again!
I just returned from a road trip to New Mexico with a bunch of high schoolers from our church. We were very careful to pack first aid kits and supplied packing lists that included reminders to bring chap stick, sun block, aspirin/Tylenol and the usual toiletries. In the past we have had some incidents with kids getting bitten by dogs, which often roam around freely, so we including warnings about not getting too friendly with them and also made sure that everyone had a current tetanous shot.
What a great post! I am such a first aid kit kind of person, and I have a first aid kit in my car, but I am not always good about keeping its contents up to date. I dragged out my first aid kit and discovered some of the items expired several years ago.
This has great advice – especially for those of us who need to give extra thought to travelling safely with kids. Thanks for the post!