Travel First Aid Checklist: Everything You Need in a Compact Kit

I love the spontaneity of travel and not knowing what you will encounter. But I do NOT love getting traveler’s diarrhea the day before I am supposed to take a 9-hour bus ride.  Or having my kid wake up at 3AM with a fever and having to rush through an unknown city trying to find an open phramacy, (and then remember how to say “fever” in the local language!).

Yes, these things have happened to me. 🙂  So, I’ve learned from the experiences and now pack a very thorough travel first aid kit.

I’m going to tell you exactly what is my travle first aid kit and give you some packing tips.  Hopefully this will help you if you are planning a trip too.

My first aid kit, packed

How the first aid kit looks when packed

What to Pack in a Travel First Aid Kit

I find it helpful to break first aid items into categories based on what could go wrong.  Then you can make sure you’ve got items to cover all of the categories.

*This picture shows my travel first aid kit for a 2 month long trip to Peru. We had to restock the band-aids and probiotics. For shorter trips, you’ll still need the same items – just probably not as many.

Injury Items and Wound Care

1. Antiseptic gel for cuts
2. Balm for burns and damaged skin
3. Cotton and q-tips
4. Self-adhesive bandages 
5. Alcohol and iodine cleansing prep pads: Actually used these more for disinfecting toilet seats, not wounds!)
6. Mini tubes of sodium chloride 0.9% saline solution: Good for cleaning debris from eyes or irrigating wounds
7. Sterile gauze pads in various sizes: These are for more serious/larger wounds, so hopefully won’t need them. But if you do need them, then they are a must-have!
8. Triangle bandage: This is a multi-use item for larger wounds or making a sling
9. Sterile roller bandages
10. Vinyl gloves: Wear when cleaning serious wounds.
11. Medical tape: In addition to using it to attach gauze over a wound, we used a lot of it to hang Christmas decorations in our accommodation. 🙂

Meds

14. Ibuprofen
15. Aspirin
16. Cold/flu medication
17. Itch cream for insect bites
18. Liquid Ibuprofen for children: Important if you have little kids.

GI Items

19. Activated charcoal and anti-diarrhea medication
20. Probiotic capsules
21. Electrolytes: These are for treating dehydration. Also good for hangovers 😀  They’re also called oral rehydration salts – buy here)

Other Items

22. Tweezers: Used for removing splinters or thorns (got a bunch while eating prickly pears) and also for plucking my eyebrows 😉
23. Two safety pins
24. Mini cold pack
25. Ace Bandage
26. Mini scissors (not shown)

Things Which I DIDN’T Pack but Wish I Did

• Berberine: This is a natural antibiotic with many other medicinal uses. Also would have been nice to take while combating our food poisoning. You can buy berberine here.
• Aloe vera: Where I live, I could only find this in a giant bottle, so I didn’t bring it. However, you can buy packets of aloe vera gel online.   We needed this when my hubby got sun burnt.  I climbed into someone’s garden and stole a piece of a real aloe plant instead 😉

Tips for Building a Travel First Aid Kit

When I go backpacking, I usually don’t bring this much stuff in my first aid kit.  But I’m really glad that I brought all of this.  It could have been devastating if I didn’t have that bottle of children’s Ibuprofen when Isabel got a temperature at 3am.  Since I don’t think there was even a 24 hour pharmacy in the town, we probably wouldn’t have ended up in the hospital!

• Keep It Organized: As you can see from the pics, the first aid kit is pretty well organized. Each “type” of items are in a specific pocket.  The meds and small items are in plastic baggies.  This makes it easy to find things quickly – which might be crucial if you are dealing with a major injury.
• Think “Worst Case Scenario.” Those sterile gauze pads and roller bandages? They are for serious wounds and injuries. I feel good knowing that I’ve got clean dressings to prevent infection until we get to the hospital.
• Learn How to Actually Use the Stuff: If you don’t know how to use it, there is no point in having it in your first aid kit.
• Be Prepared for Traveler’s Diarrhea: No, your stomach is not as tough as you think it is! After dealing with this in Albania last summer, I was prepared with anti-diarrhea meds, probiotics, and lots of electrolytes.
• Consider Traveler’s Health Insurance: I had never gotten traveler’s health insurance before this trip. But, when going to the jungle where there are venomous snakes and crazy ants, you get insurance! Having insurance also made me more swift about going to the doctor when Isabel got sick.

Pre-Made Travel First Aid Kits

If you are looking for a pre-made travel first aid kit, be warned that most are really crappy.

I once bought a cheap first aid kit online for $12.  The medical tape in it didn’t stick.  The scissors didn’t cut… I did end up using the bag though. 🙂

So, be prepared to pay a bit more for a quality pre-made first aid kit.  Even then you will still need to buy some of your own items like anti-itch creams and electrolytes.  With that in mind, make sure the pre-made kit you buy has some room for extra items!

Recommended First Aid Kits:

1. Surviveware First Aid Kit

This is a good-quality first aid kit.  It is actually a larger kit meant for your car, vehicle, boat, or at home. I love how many organizational pockets it has.  However, it is really large and you definitely don’t want to lug this entire thing around while traveling!

The reason I recommend the Surviveware kit is because it comes with a Mini First Aid kit. The main kit has 200 items.  The mini kit has an additional 50 items. You’ll still need to add a bunch of your own items (like meds for traveler’s diarrhea, etc.) but it has your basics covered. Get it here.

2. Adventure Medical World Traveler First Aid Kit

This World Traveler Kit by Adventure Medical Kit (shown below) is one of the best pre-made travel first aid kits I’ve found.  It is a bit pricier but actually has most of the stuff you need, like stomach ailment medications.  You can
buy it here.

What’s in your traveler’s medical kit? Did I miss something? Let us know in the comments section below.