When you’re traveling, whether it be by car or by plane, your medications, prescription or not, could come under some scrutiny. It’s important to know how to more safely travel with such things. It may actually take a little research on your part, especially when traveling via mass transit and to other countries.

Check Flight Restrictions

Planes, trains, and buses will all have their own rules when it comes to medications. Take some time to visit the website of the place your transportation is through to see if they have any rules or restrictions. It may be something as simple as having them in the original containers, or you may have to have some sort of medical note from your doctor.

You may need to keep them on you person or in your carry-on, or they may need to be in your baggage that gets checked. Plus, some airline companies may even have different rules than others. If you can’t find the info you need online it pays to call your airline and find out, rather than missing your flight or having your medicine confiscated. These rules are set in place to help keep drugs out of the wrong hands and for general safety.

Pack Them Wisely

If there are no specific rules, or you are traveling in your own vehicle, it’s still wise to pack any medications wisely. You don’t want them to get lost, and you don’t really want them to be right out in the open if you get pulled over or something. Simply keep them in a bathroom bag, packed with other medical or first aid items and it will show that the purpose of them is medical rather than recreational.

Keep Them In Original Bottles

You can save yourself many traveling headaches and nightmares by always traveling with medication, prescription or over-the-counter, in their original containers. If you have a baggie full of pills it’s going to look suspicious to airlines and to police officers, but if they are in a prescription bottle with your name on they likely won’t think twice about them. If you need to have them sorted for daytime and nighttime you can do that once you’ve reached your travel destination.

Leaving Your Medications At The Hotel/Motel

While you would hope that the employees of the place you are staying at would be trustworthy, that’s not always the case. You may want to keep medications in your vehicle with you when leaving your room, or even keep them hidden in a special compartment in your luggage. You might even want to keep a tally of how many pills you have on hand.

Obviously, if you have a medical condition, or are on prescription medications of any kind for any reason, you can’t travel without them, so make sure you travel with them as smart as possible.