First Aid Travel Kit

I always travel light but I don’t compromise on a well-stocked first aid kit! Aside from the convenience of having the right meds anytime anywhere, I don’t wanna risk wasting precious vacation time going to a drugstore, asking about the medicines they have and then worrying if the medicine they’re giving me will have a negative reaction on my body or not.

Since I just reorganized our kit, let me share with you how I assembled ours and some tips you can use in case you wanna assemble your own!

CONTENTS:

I’m sure our first aid travel kit will look slightly different from yours because aside from the usual (medicines for headache, diarrhea, etc.) you have to bring medicines for whatever preexisting conditions you have.

But to give you an idea, here’s a general list of what I included in ours:

• Medicines

  • Diarrhea: include oral rehydration salts
  • Fever/Headache: Paracetamol
  • Cough
  • Colds
  • Allergies
  • Reflux
  • Indigestion
  • Motion sickness: chewables in case no access to water
  • Joint pain: in case of accidents
  • Vitamins

• Ointments & Creams

  • Wounds: include Povidone-Iodine solution (a.k.a. Betadine)
  • Bruises
  • Body aches

• Tools

  • Band-aids: different sizes
  • Thermometer
  • Gauze tape
  • Rubber gloves (multi-purpose; as hot/cold compress bags)

ORGANIZATION:

Mor and I used to just dump all the medicine on a clear plastic pouch BUT I got so annoyed whenever I had to look for something that I decided to redo everything! Proper organization is very important: it saves time and lessens stress!

Here are tips based on how I made ours:

Sort by category

• I arranged ours by illness. No need to dig through the whole kit! Just grab the bag you need

Separate in clear, resealable, plastic bags

• You HAVE to separate especially the creams to avoid contamination in case they leak or spill! Clear bags help so that you can see the contents immediately.

Label clearly: use a bold, easy to read font

• Illness / category
• Names of the medicines inside
• Dosage of each medicine
• Other important info: Such as if you can’t take the meds on an empty stomach, or if you can’t take it for more than a certain number of days, etc.

I designed my own labels, printed it on board paper and stuck clear tape across them to make them waterproof. Another option is using a sticker label maker (but I wanted to put the little graphics, which is I why I made my own, hehe!)

Assembling a first aid travel kit and putting them all together in one handy pouch is a good idea. You can store it in your cabinet so that it’s ready anytime. You can just throw it in your luggage whenever you’re packing and you don’t have to think about what to pack each time.

Other tips:

• Don’t overpack: Bring just enough to last you a day or two until you find a convenient time to buy more at a drugstore (if needed). And don’t pack for everyone on your trip; just pack for one.

• Check expiry: very important! You don’t wanna bring expired meds you can’t use on your trip!

• Use a clear pouch so that you can easily see the contents. Make sure your pouch is also waterproof / plastic just in case some of your meds spill or leak, at least it won’t ruin your other things.

My kit is far from perfect and I’m always open to suggestions and ideas! Am I missing anything? Share with me your own tips and ideas by leaving a comment below!