Put Together A Personal Health Kit

When I was back teaching English, I would always be concerned about my health. It’s tough getting adjusted to a new country and all of the inherent health problems that can result. One thing I found that was quite essential for making the transition a safe and secure one was with a personal health kit.

A personal health kit is kind of like a first aid kit, but it’s something more. First off, your personal health kit will contain at least a 60 day supply of any medicines that you are taking. 60 days gives you enough time to find the medicine locally as well locate any substitutes, if you need to.

Your kit should also include those over the counter medicines that you use on a regular basis. While you will likely find those medicines in the country you are going to, it’s much better to have them on hand so that you do not experience difficulties when trying to buy them when they are needed. Trust me, a headache can get much worse if you are battling a language barrier just to buy aspirin.

A personal health kit is not complete without a first aid kit. A few tubes of Neosporin, an assortment of bandaids, gauze and tape are all important to have. Again, you don’t want to be dripping blood while trying to communicate to the pharmacist that you need gauze and tape to wrap yourself up.

Having a personal health kit can go a long ways to making your overseas teaching experience a more positive experience. If you are already back in the states, it’s still a great idea to put together a personal health kit because you never know when you might need it. (Hint: It comes in handy in a natural disaster as well.)