International travel with DS

[Bagaof4]

Well, there's no going back now! Bought my ticket for my trip to Istanbul in June!!! I am just so excited I can hardly stand it!

Now to start getting things in order. I want to ask if anyone has experience with packing vites for international travel. I don't want any problems, but don't really want to pack unopened bottles due to space issues. I will be gone for a month, entering Turkey, but taking side trips to England and France.

Ideally I would like to take my vitamins portioned out in tiny ziplock baggies for each dose. I do have a letter from my PCP stating that my vitamins are medically necessary. Do you think I would be ok not having them in original bottles and with no identifying info on them? I plan to keep them all in my carry-on.

At 62, I am not up for a Midnight Express experience! Haha! I am thinking that I might have more issues with US customs?

Any experiences would be appreciated.

 

[DianaCox]

I put them in pill containers or baggies, and then I took the labels off of each bottle and stuck them on a sheet of paper that I took with me.

 

[Bagaof4]

Thanks, Diana. That sounds practical. Has anyone ever questioned you?

 

[DianaCox]

Nope

 

[Munchkin]

I did even less than Diana. All I did was put them in baggies, the little snack size ones. One for AM and one for PM. I didn't even bother taking the labels. I never had a problem with it.

 

[huneypie]

I went to Turkey recently and I had my vitamins sorted into pill boxes and was fine. I flew from London so can't speak as to the US side.

 

[bearmom]

I just came home from a month in Europe, and had no issues with my vitamins in my daily pill containers, stored in ziplocks.

I did have an issue several years ago with some being taken out of my checked bag (stolen, not confiscated in customs) so I don't put them in checked anymore. I'm sure that whoever took them thought they were something more exciting than vitamins, lol. If I can't spend the month w/o it, then I put it in the carry on.

Something I'll relate here, as it may be an issue, and it's not like you are gonna read about it from Rick Steves, or any normal travel site. Since the DS, I'm a morning pooper. Always. The time difference for me was 10 hours, which meant the first week I had to be cognizant of where I was going to be when the "morning" poop hit. For me it was usually at a restaurant, so no big deal, but it did make me change the time of when I planned on taking a gondola ride in Venice. Can't poop off a boat. Not like it's that big of a deal, but there were places I preferred not to have to poop while there, and most toilets were pay, so I made sure to ALWAYS have toilet change when that time was near.

After a week or so, the jet lagged poop schedule caught up.

BTW, I am so jealous! I'm barely back home, and figuring how long till we can go back! We ended up conversing with many locals in different countries, and met some very seasoned world travelers. When we said we were sort of scouting where we may do some future telecommuting from, we were told numerous times that we had to put Istanbul and Turkey into the plan. People who were living in some of the most charming and exciting cities in the world, were telling us to go to Istanbul and Turkey, so clearly those are places to see.

I'd love it is you shared some pictures of your trip here when you return.

 

[Bagaof4]

Yes! I definitely will!
That is a very important point about the poop schedule that I had never thought of! I haven't been to Turkey in 35 years, but back then, I can think of MANY places I would NOT want to have my morning session! My son says things are so much nicer now, but still....thanks for pointing that out!