How do prescriptions work wrt international travel and especially customs? Do I need a prescription for something that is not prescription medication at my current place, but is in the destination country? Do I need to have it translated? I'm not terribly worried about obtaining the meds once I get there, but I'd like to take my supply with me until I have, and customs might make that difficult, I suspect.

Please boost.

@michaela_p depends on the actual medication. For stuff that internationally is restricted it can be a pain, ie, stuff like ADHD medication and the like.

For regular medication at most a print out of your medication list with the international (English) names, ideally with contact data for pharmacy and/or doctor and possibly their signature/stamp will be more then sufficient, your pharmacy should be able to do a print out.

Do travel with it in original packaging with your name on it.

@michaela_p If it is not prescription where you are, it might be difficult to get a prescription, but you could get a note that says you need the meds. In my experience (between Germany and US) traveling with meds is not a problem as long as they are in an amount that is for your own use. You can always check the website of the customs office in your destination country for more info (more reliable that what strangers tell you here :-)).

@michaela_p I've crossed borders several times with meds and as long as I kept some kind of proof they were prescribed, it was never an issue. Most border agents don't even ask.

@michaela_p not sure where you are / are going to. But in Europe, prescriptions from other EU countries are accepted. Ideally they should be in English, however that shouldn't mean that a pharmacy can deny them if they aren't translated.

Normally when travelling with medication across country borders, a doctors letter is sufficient from the country in which the meds came from. You can take a maximum of 6 months supply to/from any country, including the UK.

@michaela_p for the odd case of prescription in one case, not prescription in others, most of the time a pharmacy can also put those on there. Like my vitamin D is not prescription but they still put it on the list.

Oh and technically, the country of destination may have more requirements, but in practice for most countries this is the way to handle it.

@michaela_p Would possession of said medication be illegal without a prescription? If yes, I'd make sure to have proper paperwork, whatever that might be.

@michaela_p perhaps get a doctor's note for this? My experience is that they are interested in addictive (or unfamiliar to them) drugs, and as long as you have a standard pharmacy container with the prescription info they are happy. Not sure if they will care about something like, say, melatonin, which needs a prescription only in some countries.

@michaela_p I’d suggest to keep all paperwork with. I use Amazon Kindle for this kind of stuff (also used during COVID for my proof of being vaccinated). Any other E-ink device is also great. The reason is that for prescription etc. I want to keep them in a single place, which always has battery.

Full algorithm:

1. Scan each paper/recipe/receipt with iPhone’s Notes app that I need to carry.
2. Copy the PDF’s to the Kindle.

For redundancy I tend keep the scans also in the Notes app for the course of the travel. Papers get lost so this feels the most fail-safe approach (and best for your personal privacy).