Travel supply

The usual packing mistake is one day short: seven nights away is eight days of doses when you count the day you leave and the day you come back. Put in the dates and this counts them properly, adds spare days for delays, and rounds up to whole pills.

Count days, not nights

A hotel booking counts nights. Your medication counts days, and a trip that leaves on the 1st and returns on the 7th is seven days of doses, not six. If you take a morning dose before you leave and an evening one after you land home, both of those still come out of the bag.

Why spare days

The risk on a trip is not the plan, it is the day the plan slips: a cancelled flight, a missed connection, a bag that arrives two days later than you do. A few spare days in your carry-on covers all three. Keep the spare with you rather than in checked luggage, and split the supply between two bags if you can.

If you do not have enough

Refill before you go. Getting a prescription filled abroad is slow at best and sometimes not possible, and some plans will authorise an early refill for travel if you ask. The refill too soon calculator shows the earliest date a normal refill would go through, and the travel checklist covers the rest of the packing. Once you land, the time zone dose planner helps with when to take them.

Common questions

How many pills should I pack for a 7-day trip?

Count every day you are away, including the day you leave and the day you return, then add a few spare days. At 2 pills a day, leaving on the 1st and returning on the 7th is 7 days, so 14 pills, or 20 with 3 spare days.

How many extra days of medication should I bring when travelling?

A few days more than the trip is a common rule of thumb, enough to cover a cancelled flight or lost luggage. For long trips or remote destinations, ask your pharmacist how much spare makes sense for your medication.

Can I get a refill early before a trip?

Often, yes. Many insurance plans allow an early or vacation refill if you ask the pharmacy and explain you are travelling, though the rules vary by plan. Ask well before you leave, because it can take a few days to approve.

One thing this cannot do

This is an arithmetic tool, not medical advice. It works out numbers from what you type in — it does not know your medication, your prescription, or what you should do if something goes wrong. Anything about changing a dose, spacing doses differently, or handling a missed dose is a question for your doctor or pharmacist.