Our travel medical kit

One of the biggest fears people have about traveling with kids is about them getting sick. Of course, this is a big concern for all of us, but let’s be realistic. Most of the time, they get minor problems due to developing their immune system and they recover faster than we do. There are kids, doctors and pharmacies everywhere we are going. We should not let our worries stop us from enjoying our time together.

Of course we need to be prepared for such unpleasant events! During our travels we carried a small emergency kit with us, just with the main items needed. We usually count on the fact that we can buy from a pharmacy anything we might need. But there were several situations when we stayed in remote places where the nearest pharmacy was quite far away.

To be clear from the start, I’m not using any medicines by my own judgement, neither for me, nor for Eric. I’m lucky to have a few doctors in the family, including my husband, who is a dentist. Plus that Eric’s doctor gives wonderful advice on what I should trust doing myself and when to reach out for external medical advice.

Based on various recommendation received, this is what we had in our medical kit while traveling the world:

• Disinfectant/Alcohol wipes
• Band aid, gauze & bandage
• Natural anti-inflammatory gel
• Paracetamol & Ibuprofen for kids and adults
• Thermometer (non-contact version)
• Anti-diarrhea medicines for kids & adults
• Oral rehydration solution for kids
• Probiotics (at first, Eric took probiotics as a prevention method, 2-3 days prior to reaching a less trustful location in terms of hygiene)
• Antiemetic medicines for kids and adults
• Saline nasal spray, for colds and stuffed nose
• Natural patches agains insects
• Mosquito repellent (to be used in extreme cases only)
• Natural gel for itches
• Sunscreen SPF 50+ (for the sake of luggage space, I also used the kids version)
• Hand sanitiser & wipes (always in our hand luggage)

In addition, we also had a few essential oils. I know this is a very sensitive subject, which raises lots of controversy. I chose the middle way here, by trying several blends, as advised by my friend who is an expert here, but without excluding the traditional remedies. In our travel bag we always had Lavander, for its calming proprieties and for the incredible capacity in healing damaged skin, Balsam Fir, for cough and congested nose and Citronella, to fight agains mosquitos without using too many chemicals.

As we were traveling to remote and unknown locations, we also had some antibiotics available in our bag. But I would only use them if really needed and I wouldn’t use antibiotics for Eric without seeking professional advice first.

Since Andrei is a doctor, his idea was to carry a significantly larger emergency bag (including suture thread, adrenaline and so on). In the end he realised there’s no need for that, nor space in our backpack. If the above list is not enough, it means we need to see a paediatrician or at least to discuss with a doctor; which means there was no need to carry more stuff. We actually got to the emergency room in Can Tho in Vietnam, and it was much better than we would have expected!

Depending on your/your kid’s medical condition, you might need to add other items, as advised by your doctor. For example, you may need something for allergies. Since neither of us ever had any problems, we are not carrying antihistamine medication, as it is no something to use without a doctor’s advice.

We always hope not to use the medical kit during our holidays, but still, it is a must have in our luggage. Luckily, most of our medical set expired by the time we got home. Fingers crossed you’ll never need it neither!