Voyagner

I have to say I’m pretty lax when it comes to health on the road. Street food? No problem. Near rare meat? Ok. Tap water? As long as it’s not brown. Anti-Malarials? You mean DEET?

I don’t like getting around with even a daypack if I can avoid it, which means I have nowhere to keep a first aid kit. If my kit is going to be sitting in my backpack back at the guesthouse there is no point keeping anything for trauma type injuries, I’m not going back to my accommodation to get my first aid kit if I or someone else is injured that bad, I’m going straight to hospital or the nearest clinic.

This means my first aid kit isn’t really a first aid kit at all, it is more of a medical aid kit that takes care of the things I expect to encounter, not the unexpected things. That is fairly easy to cover, I can usually expect to suffer from hangover and a bout of travelers diarrhea on any given trip.

General Pain: Your standard Panadol, Tylenol, Advil, etc whatever your local flavor is.

Diarrhea: Medication generally comes in two forms, a ‘stopper’ and an antibiotic. A good doctor will provide you with both and a flow chart for doses and other info for treating yourself. These medications are usually effective in stopping Diarrhea within 24 hours.

Giardia: If the Diarrhea medication does not work or you get worse travel doctors usually go straight to Giardia, this is a viral infection rather than a bacterial one. The flow chart mentioned above progresses to this medication.

Dehydration: With a hangover or any Diarrhea causing infection it is a good idea to rehydrate and keep hydrated, really if you drink enough water you’ll be fine but some re-hydration tabs that restore electrolytes also can help.

Bites and stings: Mosquitoes, keep them away, if some got through you might want something on hand to treat the itching so you don’t scratch bites open and get them infected.

Malaria: Unless I’m going into a high risk area I prefer to avoid anti-malarials, if someone who knows the area well suggests it is a good idea I’ll take their advice. Otherwise I’d rather just avoid them. If you get a fever in a Malarial area, go straight to a doctor for blood tests.

Also consider medication for motion sickness and altitude sickness if you know or think you could suffer from either.

This makes for a pretty small but very useful kit. The reasoning behind it is simple, why carry all that first aid stuff when it is unlikely to be needed? Sickness is more common than injury. You’re traveling, leave the cotton wool at home and live a little.

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and this is opinion only, not medical advice. See your travel doctor before any trip of length for your personalized needs.