Needed in your first aid kit:
– some band aids
– pain killers
– tweezers (you may bring them anyway for plucking unruly eyebrows)
– hand sanitizer gel
– some DEET or other anti mosquito lotion if necessary. In Southeast Asia you can get great anti mosquito stuff that smells good too, it is called Soffell, in a white bottle with pink flowers and a pink cap.
– bring multi vitamins, just to keep your health up
For countries with dodgy hygiene standards:
– diarrhea tablets (oh yes, because however careful you are, you will encounter the traveler’s diarrhea at some point, trust us…)
– electrolytes like O.R.S. (Oral Re-hydration Sachets), the salt and sugar mix to put in water. This is also great for very hot weather where you sweat a lot.
Your usual meds
Don’t forget to bring other medication you use regularly like throat lozenges, anti-conception pills, vitamin tablets, allergy or other medication. When you bring any medication, make sure you have doctor’s information with it and save the brochure that comes with it.
Write down the Latin and English name of the active ingredients you definitely need. In case you need to get more, you can find it easier at a pharmacy in that country. When you know it is not possible to get your medication abroad, make sure you bring enough medication for your whole trip.
Why bring some first aid kit?
A lot of medication you can most likely buy wherever you go, but what if you get a headache on a Sunday morning in a place where all shops happen to be closed? Or when you get a splinter in the middle of a jungle (which is quite possible with all those trees around you)?
Sterile
There are sterile syringe kits too, for when you don’t feel secure enough that the country you go will have sterile equipment. Unfortunately there are places where ‘sterilizing equipment’ means ‘just a quick wash under the tap’.
Safety first
Oh yes, do it safe. You know what I mean. It is great to bring home souvenirs from your amazing trip, but bring something better than some nasty STI.
Water
Make sure you drink clean water. In some countries the water from the tap is excellent to drink (in the Alpine region in Europe for instance), but you may be better off with bottled water in other countries. In some countries we would even recommend brushing your teeth with bottled water, since the tap water is filled with bacteria and e.coli. Yuk! Also ice cubes are usually made from local tap water. Rather have your drink a little warmer than usual, than having bacterial ice cubes floating around in it. When it is really hot, it is healthier to drink room temperature drinks anyway, because then your warm body doesn’t get upset from the freezing cold.
Vaccinations
Check which vaccinations you need for the countries you’ll plan on visiting a few months before embarking on your trip. Make sure you check this well in advance. For some vaccinations you may need to do 3 shots within 6 weeks from one another. It may not be cheap, but it is much cheaper than being sick in a foreign hospital.
