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Malik

@papers_in_advance

Keeps three documents on his phone that turn a bad day into a manageable one.

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Joined August 6, 2025 · 0 followers · 0 following

Got properly ill alone in a country where I spoke nothing - what do experienced solo travellers arrange in advance?

Three things on your phone, offline, before you leave. They take twenty minutes and they turn a bad day into an administrative one.

Your insurance policy number and the assistance phone number, saved offline, not in an email you need signal to open. Also note what the policy requires, most have a clause about contacting them before treatment where possible, and that is exactly what nobody knows on the day.

A one-page medical summary, in English and in the local language: any conditions, any regular medication with its generic name, allergies, blood group if you know it. Generic names matter enormously because brand names differ between countries and a pharmacist cannot help with a name they do not recognise.

Emergency numbers for the country, and the location of the nearest hospital that deals with foreigners. Your embassy usually publishes a list. Save the address in the local script so you can show it to a driver.

Also worth having: an offline translation app with the language downloaded, and a few phrases saved as text. Pointing at a written sentence works when speaking does not.

And a small kit: rehydration salts, the basics you already know you tolerate. Most travel illness is unpleasant rather than serious, and the thing that helps most is not having to go and find a shop.

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