It’s totally normal to get a little obsessive with packing your bag for a long travel trip.

Space is at a premium so EVERY. SINGLE. THING must count. You can stand there holding precious belongings in your hands, tilting your head and feeling as torn as if choosing between which parent you love the most, for hours before deciding that no you probably don’t need seventeen bikinis.

So, it can be a little very annoying that you have to pack something that takes up this precious bag space but you may not even need to use. No, I’m not talking hair straighteners or high heels, although they probably won’t get as much use as you may be imagining. I’m talking about the travel first aid kit that every backpacker should carry around with them as a ‘just in case’ but blooming essential item.

You don’t need to take your entire medical cabinet but you will need a small kit to cover the most common complaints (*side note – does anyone actually have a cabinet or do most people keep an assortment of lotions, potions and cough sweets in a washed out ice-cream tub like my family does?).

Before you begin scavenging what you’ll need it’s worth looking up how cheap and easy it is to access medical supplies in the destination you’re heading to. Some places charge extortionate prices even for basics like tampons and paracetamol, so to give your travel budget a break it’s worth taking these with you, but in some countries it’s not worth lugging round tubes of antiseptic when you can pick up the same stuff for a fraction of the price.

That’s not to say that in an emergency (hangovers totally count) you will want the basics nearby so you don’t have to leave your pit, trekking in the blazing sun to pick up some ibuprofen, plasters or immodium.

Once you’ve created your mini first aid kit you can have it to hand for future trips, obviously making sure that things haven’t gone out of date. Pro tip - To try and save on valuable space in your bag take out the information leaflets you get in packs of medicine, chuck the boxes and just keep the papers together. I carry my first aid kit in a see-through zip up bag for easy access and to save time rummaging for what I need when I feel like crap.

If you’ve been prescribed medication from the doctors then always make sure you have enough to last the duration of your trip and carry a copy of your prescription. Also, make sure you carry this all with you in your cabin bag along with a doctor’s note, just in case you arrive but your hold baggage doesn’t with these vital meds in.

Travel First Aid Kit - The Essentials:

• Antihistamines/hayfever tablets
• Tampons/contraceptive pill/condoms
• Rehydration salts (ultimate hangover cure)
• Vitamins
• Plasters
• Antiseptic cream/spray
• Mosquito spray and insect ease
• Diarrhoea tablets
• Paracetamol / Ibruprofen
• Indigestion tablets
• Nail scissors, tweezers, cotton pads, cotton buds, travel wash cloth

Staying healthy on the road may not be the most sexiest travel themed topic but it sure is important. Stock up on your first aid kit essentials, pack it well and then hopefully forget about it!

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