Originally Posted by
NoelEvans
I agree with a lot of the posters here that the "passport, wallet and phone in your pockets" is good enough, leave the rest.
Well, that ain't good enough for me, not any more. For several years now I've been one of those in the "fun" position of depending on medication (lots of it) to keep me alive. Passport wallet and phone I can fit in a pocket, travel documents too (used to - started to rely more on electronic copies of those now), the meds I cannot, and they won't fit in a waist belt either. The meds
must be carried in cabin baggage, doctors' instructions, to do otherwise is to travel against medical advice and thus void insurance too. I may need access to them on board if pills time is during the flight - some of them are time critical, must be taken same time each day within an hour.
I should clarify that I could fit the actual pills (even a weeks worth, or maybe two) in a pocket, probably a fairly large coat pocket, but nevertheless on my person, in a pocket,
but I am not allowed to do that. Flying internationally (which is all my flights), the rules
require me to transport the pills in original packaging. Prescription meds packaging varies, but is invariably much much larger than the actual pills, pharmacy stockpiles are mostly air. You don't get a choice of packaging either, for me sometimes some of the packets are twice the size of the previous prescription, same drug different brand.
So, what I do is:
- medication (which is always sufficient for planned trip plus extra days for possible delay etc.) is in a small cabin bag, underseat sized, and it goes under seat, not in an overhead.
- backup medication (because I never travel with only one set) is in checked baggage, or if travelling cabin-only it'll be in a travelling companion's cabin bags (solo travel is not a likely occurrence, would require extra planning).
- meds bag will have shoulder strap for quick grabbing and hands-free carrying, because it's coming with me
- if I do get separated from the meds bag in an evac, first backup plan is that I will turn out to have hit my head coming down the slide, with my meds and history that means straight to hospital anywhere with vaguely competent medical (if I'm without that and without the drugs, I'm probably dead anyway) - once in hospital I can get my meds sorted out, I can list all of them, the doses, the times, and have written copies of the list on my person anyway.
- if all else fails I have enough experience that I can probably appear to have a stroke and get shipped to hospital that way - there might not be anything new on CT/MRI but there is plenty of old damage for them to look at.
People do need to think for themselves.
Your problem is that if everyone thinks for themselves then inevitably some of them are going to come up with a different conclusion to you - probably because their circumstances or perspectives are different (see example above). You can't have both "people think for themselves" and "people do exactly as I say".