Travel first aid kit

The list adapts to you

When you add it, the checklist asks a couple of questions and keeps only the items that fit your situation.

• Traveling with kids? NoYes

What's inside

1. Fever reducer and painkiller

   The basics you've already used at home. Hunting for a pharmacy at night in a foreign country is the worst-case scenario.

2. Stomach block: sorbent, rehydration salts, anti-diarrheal

   Food poisoning is travel problem number one. Rehydration salts matter most: dehydration is more dangerous than the bug itself.

3. Antihistamine

   New food, unfamiliar plants, insect bites — travel allergies arrive unannounced.

4. Antiseptic, plasters, bandage

   Plasters in several sizes plus blister ones — new shoes and long walks come bundled with vacations.

5. Motion sickness remedy

   Mountain switchbacks, ferries and tour buses test even iron stomachs.

6. Saline nasal spray

   Dry plane and AC air parches your sinuses — half of vacation colds start there.

7. Sore throat remedy

   Air conditioning plus ice cream plus talking in the wind — the classic resort combo.

8. Panthenol for burns

   Sunburns happen even with sunscreen. Spray beats cream — no touching the burned skin.

9. Repellent matched to your destination

   For the tropics, go high-DEET: mosquitoes there carry dengue and malaria, not just itches.

10. Regular meds in original packaging

    Pack a few days beyond the trip length. For prescription drugs, carry the prescription or a doctor's note — borders can ask.

11. Check the destination's banned medications

    The UAE, Japan and others ban familiar meds — from codeine painkillers to cold remedies. Check yours on the embassy site.

12. Spare glasses or lenses with solution

    A lost lens with no backup ruins the whole trip. Solution over 100 ml goes in checked luggage.

13. Thermometer

    Digital, not mercury. 'A hot forehead' isn't a diagnosis, and your insurer will want numbers.

14. Check expiry dates on the whole kit

    Kits get recycled from last year. Toss the expired stuff and restock before you fly.

15. Essentials go in your carry-on

    Checked bags get lost and delayed. Regular meds and a minimal kit must fly in the cabin with you.

16. Child-form fever reducer Yes

    The syrup or suppositories you've already used. Agree doses and kit contents with your pediatrician before the trip.

17. Cartoon plasters and spray antiseptic Yes

    Spray doesn't sting, so scraped knees stop being drama. A favorite-character plaster heals on its own.

18. Kids' motion sickness remedy Yes

    Strictly age-appropriate and pediatrician-approved. Kids get carsick more than adults — transfers and switchbacks will prove it.