Travelling is one of life’s pleasures, and many of us plan to spend our golden years: post-retirement, but before age wreaks too much havoc on our bodies – exploring those parts of the world that we’ve always wanted to experience. But time can be unkind and often ailments and illnesses start making their mark sooner than expected, requiring us to start taking regular medication, being a bit more mindful of our diet and exercise, and occasionally even reliant on the use of medical oxygen to enjoy a good quality of life. 

But this doesn’t have to mean that your plans to travel have to be shelved. With some simple planning, traveling you’re your meds and having a wonderful time is perfectly possible. Here’s a practical guide to managing your health when you travel covering everything from how to pack medication for a trip, as well as carrying and storing it all, wherever you decide to go.

Talk To Your Doctor Before You Go

Your doctor should be one of your first priorities once you decide to head off and explore the world. Ask for a check-up so you are reassured that you are fit to travel – and also so you can prove this fact to any transport operators, border officials or anyone else who might otherwise be concerned about your traveling with your medical condition. 

Carrying a written summary of your medical history – a medication travel checklist, if you like – as well as a list of your medications and the relevant doses that you require. Ensure that the latter details both brand names and generic equivalents, as some brand names might not be available in your destination country. Be sure to ask your doctor about how to adjust your dosage as you travel, especially if you will be crossing time zones as well as checking that your dosage or oxygen flow will be right for your destination country – sometime different altitudes and climates will see you need more or less of your usual doses. Finally, ensure you have a valid prescription with you as many pharmacies in other countries will not be able to dispense medications without it.

Pack Smart: What to Bring (And How to Carry It)

When it comes to medications that you take everyday to prevent worsening symptoms, it pays to be super practical and anticipate delays and losses. Bear the following in mind:

  • Use a weekly pill organiser, if that will help you stay on track while in unfamiliar surroundings, but make sure you hang onto the packs and bottles the tablets and pills came in with their original packaging and printed labels from the pharmacy – this will help you get your vital meds through customs without raising anyone’s suspicions.
  • Bring more than you need for the time you will be away. Accidents can happen and pills and tablets can be dropped or accidentally broken, plus traveling is sometimes fraught with delays and diversions as well as other unexpected changes to your plans. It is much better to bring a few days’ worth of meds that you don’t need than the alternative, in which you run out and either feel terribly ill or rush about trying to source replacements, possibly for a large sum of your hard-earned holiday cash.
  • When packing your medications ready to travel, especially on a plane, make sure you put your medication into your carry-on luggage, and not in your checked suitcases.
  • Once again, make sure your need for the medication is documented with that letter or certificate from your doctor, a copy of your prescription – up-to-date, and a soft-sided cooler bag if your medication needs to be kept cool and dark. If you are not sure, your doctor can advise you on how to pack medicine for a trip.

When traveling with medication, always aim for practical, accessible and legally compliant to ensure trouble-free voyaging.

Know the Rules at Your Destination

Depending on where you are traveling to, you may need to fill out extra paperwork and apply for permits and so on. This is especially the case if you are carrying painkillers, sedatives, amphetamines and other restricted or regulated substances – and bear in mind that just because a medication is legal and prescribed in your home country, this may not be the case in other countries so managing your medication while abroad can be trickier than anticipated if you don’t do some careful research before you go.

You can do this research online, to start with, but it is also worth checking out embassy advice and the destination country’s official health website to see if they have specific information available that can help you navigate the world of bureaucracy. As a rule, in Europe, Schengen countries will readily accept correctly documented prescriptions from other countries, but each country may have slightly different laws, so it is best to check your specific destination rather than assume. Also, remember to check if your medication requires an import licence to be taken to your destination country. If it does, you will have to organise this some time before you travel, so do check it out in good time before committing to flights or cruises.

Managing Your Medication Schedule Abroad

It is often quite easy to remember to take your medicine on time when you are at home – being in a routine in familiar surroundings. But when you are abroad, traveling constantly or with a packed itinerary, it can be difficult to stay on top of it all. Use travel apps or even the alarm clock feature on your phone. You can set timers by the time of day – say, six o’clock in the evening every day – or by hours – for example, every 12 hours, so that you can ensure that you take your tablets or use your oxygen, etc, on a preset pattern. It is best to discuss your plans with your medical health team – they will advise you on how best to tailor or adapt your routine to keep yourself in good shape while you are exploring new cultures and trying delicious new cuisines. If you are going to have to change the timings of your meds, your doctor can guide you through how to do this safely and incrementally.

Of course, while you are abroad, make sure you look after your health by staying hydrated, getting enough sleep and eating regular nourishing meals.

Storing Medication Safely While Traveling

Most medications are sensitive to heat and light, and should therefore be kept cool and dark. Some even needs to be refrigerated – insulin, for example – which adds a small logistical wrinkle to the prospect of traveling with medication! However, again, there are options: cooler boxes (cooler bags are just as good and have the advantage of being collapsible when not in use) while you’re in transit, mini-fridges when you’re in hotel accommodation, and regular fridges if there is one available at your destination. Avoid allowing your medications to be stored in hot warehouses or overly cold cargo holds as this can cause them to lose their efficacy – this is just another reason to keep your meds in your carry-on luggage!

Planning for Emergencies

On almost every occasion there is scope for error, and things can and do go wrong from time to time. There is nothing to be done to prevent this – by their very nature, emergencies are unpredictable! – but you can be proactive and have a backup plan ready, just in case you need it. Have your medical team’s emergency contact details in more than one place: jotted in a paper notebook, saved on your phone, and perhaps elsewhere too. Make sure you have your doctor’s contacts, but also those of your local pharmacy, family members who you might need to contact in a hurry, and other suppliers and support services that you might have contracted to help keep you in top condition for your visit.

If you’re going somewhere that doesn’t speak your home language, make a point of learning a smattering of the local tongue – ‘I need a doctor,’ ‘I take this medication daily,’ and ‘I have lost my medicine’ for example – as well as phrases like, ‘Good morning,’ ‘Have a good day,’ and ‘Thank you’! If languages aren’t your forte, you can transcribe some sentences phonetically, so you can say them with reasonable confidence of being understood.

A medic-alert bracelet is an excellent idea as it is a fairly global concept, and will be recognised by medical professionals as something to be mindful of.

Sometimes, despite your best intentions, something goes wrong, leaving you without your medications. As soon as you are sure that they have definitely gone astray, you should contact your doctor, your insurer (and you absolutely should take out a travel policy to cover and repatriate you should something go more than usually wrong) and a public hospital or medical centre. Your EHIC/ GHIC should cover any costs associated with this, if you are in Europe, so once again, be sure to get your GHIC as soon as you know you’ll be traveling.

If one of your needs is medical oxygen, sign up with a company like OxygenWorldwide to ensure that your supply line remains cohesive while you travel. OxygenWorldwide can coordinate oxygen delivery to your hotel room as and when you need it. They can also help you with some of the paperwork and documentation mentioned above, and can even see your oxygen supplied safely and reliably to you as you travel from country to country. OxygenWorldwide can provide you with a support team for both medications and oxygen, so you enjoy great peace of mind as you travel.

To conclude, you can see that while travel is certainly slightly complicated by chronic or long-term illnesses, but it does not have to fall away altogether. With the right planning, printing off checklists to take with you and refer to often, judiciously signing up with companies to help you manage your meds while traveling – some will even help you learn how to pack medicine for a trip so it survives in great condition – and a fair amount of forward planning, you can enjoy a safe and stress free holiday, even with medical conditions.