PART 2: managing sickness on vacation: our new plan!
In Part 1 I shared how my husband got hit hard by food poisoning in Costa Rica. We made it through, but honestly? I want to be way more prepared next time.
So I called in reinforcements. My friend Dikeysha from @Roamreadyfamily helped me build out a real game plan — she travels with her family constantly and has thought through all the “what ifs” so the rest of us don’t have to. Give her a follow on IG for more travel tips!
Here’s what we’re doing differently next trip.
Pack a real medication kit (not just bug spray)
My biggest mistake last time was overpacking for one thing (bugs) and under-packing for everything else.
Dikeysha’s full medication packing list is here — I love that she organizes it by symptom, so you can see at a glance what covers what.
A few things that would have saved us in Costa Rica:
Oral rehydration salts (the real MVP for stomach bugs)
Anti-nausea meds
Anti-diarrheal meds
•Extra of any prescription meds — pack more than you think you need
Sort out travel insurance before you go
My husband bounced back in two days, but if he hadn’t, we’d have been heading to a hospital with zero plan.
Dikeysha’s pre-trip checklist:
Confirm you have travel insurance and know exactly what it covers
Save emergency contact numbers in your phone
Look up local hospitals with ERs (note that adult and pediatric ERs may be separate)
Get a rough sense of treatment costs and what insurance will and won’t reimburse
build a travel sos folder on your phone
This one is genius and takes maybe 20 minutes before a trip. Create a folder with:
Passport copies (for everyone)
Health insurance cards
International / travel health insurance info
Telehealth login info
Lodging address (in the local language too!)
Nearest hospitals with addresses
Each family member’s medications and dosages
Flight details and confirmation numbers
Bonus: share the folder with your travel partner so it’s not all on one phone.
the takeaway
No one wants to plan for getting sick on vacation. But a couple hours of prep before you leave means that if something does happen, you’re problem-solving from a list instead of from panic. Huge thanks to Dikeysha for the assist — go follow her at @Roamreadyfamily!