Travelling can be stressful at the best of times.
If you’re a last-minute packer or always running for the train, you'll know it doesn’t take much for your trip to be thrown off.
Packing your medications is just one extra thing to remember, but clearly it's one of the most important.
If you take a regular medication, you have probably wondered about the best ways to travel with medications. Whether that’s how you can easily take your pills with you on holiday, without taking an entire pharmacy’s worth of packets, or if it’s okay to bring prescription medications on a flight, these are the last things you need to be worrying about when travelling.
So, here are some top tips for travelling with medications.
Pack a pill organiser
If you’re trying to plan a quick getaway or perhaps a weekend treat, the last thing you want to do is pack an extra bag for all your tablets.
We might be biased, but the most useful accessory for shorter trips is a compact pill organiser. Ditch the cumbersome pill packets and organise your medications into each of the daily compartments, so that when you arrive you have each of your tablets ready to go each day.
We think our Pill Box is a cut above the rest: it’s made of chic yet durable aluminium you can toss it in the bottom of your overnight bag and not worry about pill spills or tablets getting crushed. Not only that, but it will keep your pills safe and dry – in case you get caught in a downpour on your travels.
Bring your prescription
It’s always best to bring your prescription with you when travelling, in case you need to explain what medications you are carrying. It could be the paper slip from your pharmacy, or a digital version on your phone, either should do fine.
Bring some spares
As the saying goes, you can hope for the best but plan for the worst. If any of your pills get lost or damaged, it can be a real hassle to get any replacements, and potentially expensive too. Rather than spending a day speaking to doctors and pharmacists, pack a few spares and you can spend the day on the beach instead
For travelling abroad with medications
When travelling abroad, you need to take some extra time to think about your medications. If you get it wrong, there can be serious consequences – you could have your medication destroyed, and some travellers have gone to jail. Usually with the right documentation and provided you are travelling with small quantities for personal use, you should be okay. Here are a couple of steps to follow.
Plan ahead
Different countries may have different rules about bringing in prescription medications when travelling. Not only will these rules vary by country, but it may also depend on what kind of tablets you are taking. The safest thing to do is look it up ahead of time and see what the specific requirements are for each country. The NHS website is a great resource for those in the UK.
Know your tablets
If you plan to travel with controlled drugs (such as opiates like codeine or morphine, or benzodiazepines like lorazepam or diazepam) then you should carry your prescription, and you’ll usually need a letter of proof or a personal licence to go with it, to prove that the medication is prescribed to you.