For someone who has travelled extensively, I’ve never quite got packing lightly down pat. I always pack too many clothes and some may say too many medicines and toiletries, however in regards to the latter I would rather be too organised, than not enough! After ten years of travelling, I’ve put together a list of my essential medicines and toiletries that we travel with. I personally would rather have everything I could possibly need and not have to spend hours walking around trying to find a pharmacy whilst I feel terrible.
Here is our ultimate packing list of the medicines and toiletries that we travel with.
Preventatives
I always travel with hand sanitiser in my bag, a roll of toilet paper or pack of tissues (just in case) and a pack of antiseptic wipes.
Coming from Australia we know the importance of being sun safe and avoiding those pesky mosquitoes. We travel with SPF 50+ Sunscreen and Bushman’s DEET Insect Repellant.
In trying to stay healthy on the road, we take a daily multivitamin as well as vitamin C tablets.
Travelan tablets
Prevention is always better than a cure, and that is why we love Travelan so much. Travelan works to prevent traveller’s diarrhoea and any of it’s associated holiday ruining symptoms. Travellers’s diarrhoea has to be the number one way to put a massive dampener on your holiday and to be able to protect yourself against it with Travelan is so important, both for your health and your holiday!
Travelan is scientifically formulated and clinically proven to reduce the risk of Travellers’ Diarrhoea. Travelan confers up to 90% protection against Travellers’ Diarrhoea with solid scientific research findings behind Travelan, including testing done by the US Department of Defence showing that Travelan is cross reactive to strains of bacteria including Enterotoxigenic E.coli, Campylobacter and Shigella, all of which are common causes of Travellers’ Diarrhoea.
It honestly could not be easier as you do not require a prescription and it can be purchased over the counter in all major Australian pharmacies, online and is available on Amazon for people over in the US and Canada! You just take one tablet before every meal with bottled water and voila, you’ll be protected!
Medicines
Having suffered from motion sickness a number of times in my travels, I always travel with a prescription of Stemetil for nausea and motion sickness.
Antihistamines in the event of allergies or congestion caused by visiting dry, dusty countries!
Panadol and nurofen for pain relief if required.
Imodium in the event of an upset stomach. We take Travelan to avoid and prevent travellers diarrhoea associated with bacteria infected food and water, however we still always carry a pack of imodium in the event we do fall ill.
Ondansetron prescription wafers, again only as a back up in the event we get really ill and have vomiting and/or nausea.
We also get a prescription antibiotic from our doctor, despite hardly ever having to use them. We’ve only had to take antibiotics twice in our travels for a parasite in Peru and Giardia in Turkey. Since then, we always take an antibiotic, just in case.
Antiseptic cream in case of any cuts or injuries.
Hydralyte tablets incase we fall ill or are dehydrated from the heat. These are the best things to quickly replace electrolytes in the body which is perfect after a day hiking!
Toiletries
Basic make up including eye liner, concealer, lip gloss, mascara. I don’t wear a great deal of make up at home, and so only take the bare essentials when travelling.
Nail polish and nail polish remover wipes. These wipes are an amazing invention, especially after I had a whole bottle of nail polish spill through my backpack in South America which definitely wasn’t ideal!
GHD hair straightener, hair bands and a hair brush. The straightener is one luxury item that I always travel with.
Small sized conditioner, shampoo, body wash, moisturiser, toothpaste and toothbrush. I only pack small sized items of these toiletries as they are quite heavy and we usually stay in fairly nice hotels which have lovely brands of shampoo, conditioner and body wash etc. I also pack roll-on deodorant so that I can also take it in my carry on bag.
A supply of tampons, pads, condoms or birth control pills.
A supply of sheet face masks, which I like to use on long haul flights to avoid my skin drying out.
I also travel with a razor, nail clippers, earbuds and plenty of band-aids!
Extras
I always travel with an eye mask which I use on the plane and if a room that we are staying in isn’t perfectly dark, as well as ear plugs for obvious reasons.
A tube of paw paw ointment is also never far from my carry on luggage or handbag. This magical little tube is perfect for blisters, dry lips/skin, sore spots and well pretty much everything!
Travel Insurance & Final thoughts
Travel insurance is SO important and honestly if you have enough money to travel, then you have enough money for travel insurance. In 99.9% of cases, most holidays go smoothly, however as I learned in Thailand a few years ago when I broke my ankle, sometimes things do go wrong. My insurance for six weeks in South East Asia cost me $180 AUD, which is a bargain considering my medical bills were in excess of $20,000! Fingers crossed, everything goes well on holidays but it is always worth getting travel insurance.
We also ensure that we keep all medications and tablets in their original packets and boxes which are clearly labelled, including prescription medication. I also always carry it in our hand luggage and check online beforehand that there are no issues with those medications as some countries do not allow you to bring in certain medications.
This sounds like A LOT of medications and toiletries but I prefer to be organised and whilst we don’t end up using a lot of the medications on my list, at some time in my travels – we have needed every single one of these items. Hopefully our packing list of the medicines and toiletries will help you when packing for your adventures.
Are there any other essentials you travel with?
This post was written in collaboration with Travelan.
All opinions, as always, are our own.
