What I Actually Use to Feel Safer When I Travel ✈️
AirTags, Medjet, Travel Insurance & the Stuff That Gives Me Peace of Mind I love traveling. I also love knowing where my suitcase is, where my Moss (Money Boss) is, where my passport is, and preferably where I am. 😂 Somewhere along the way, my travel style evolved from passport, sunglasses, let’s go to a small personal security operation….
AirTags, Medjet, Travel Insurance & the Stuff That Gives Me Peace of Mind
I love traveling.
I also love knowing where my suitcase is, where my Moss (Money Boss) is, where my passport is, and preferably where I am. 😂
Somewhere along the way, my travel style evolved from passport, sunglasses, let’s go to a small personal security operation.
AirTags. Travel insurance. Backup credit cards. Copies of important documents. Emergency information. And now I’m seriously considering joining Medjet again.
Is this what happens when you get older?
Maybe.
But I’m still getting on the plane. ✈️
Here are the travel safety essentials I actually use—or personally consider—when I travel, and why.
📍 1. Apple AirTags — Because Apparently I Track Everything Now
I used to put a luggage tag on my suitcase and call it a day.
How adorable. 😂
Now I put an AirTag in the luggage.
Because when an airline tells me, “Your bag should arrive soon,” I apparently prefer evidence.
I use AirTags when we travel because I like being able to check where our luggage is from my phone. They’re tiny, easy to toss into a suitcase, and they’ve become one of those things I don’t really think about anymore—I just pack them.
But then AirTags took on a completely different job.
On our Viking cruise from Athens to Barcelona, we were traveling with dear friends, and one of them was living with Alzheimer’s.
Suddenly, that little tracking device wasn’t just about finding a suitcase.
It became an extra layer of reassurance.
Do I think an AirTag replaces paying attention, planning ahead, or taking care of each other?
Absolutely not.
But do I travel without one anymore?
Also absolutely not. 😂
👉 Check Apple AirTag Prices on Amazon
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
🚑 2. Medjet — The One I’m Thinking About Joining Again
🍷 Apparently, Fine Wine Still Needs a Decanter
Before I met Ted, he was already a Medjet member.
Then I came along.
I was still in my late 30s, ready to accompany him on his adventures, and apparently, my presence gave the man a completely unreasonable sense of security. 😂
What could possibly happen?
So he dropped Medjet.
And because I like to travel with the whole village, at one point I even added my daughter and my sister to our travel plans and coverage.
Years passed. We traveled. We got older.
Then COVID happened.
At some point, keeping Medjet required us to deal with some paperwork involving our primary-care doctor. Ted was getting older, life was busy, and we did what responsible adults occasionally do with important paperwork:
Absolutely nothing.
We let it go.
Today we carry annual travel insurance, and our policy includes a transportation benefit that gives me some peace of mind if something serious happens while we’re traveling.
But here’s the thing.
Ted is now over 75.
And I am over 50.
Apparently, we have become fine wine. 🍷
Unfortunately, nobody tells you that with fine wine, the cork sometimes gets a little crumbly. You need to open the bottle more carefully. Maybe use a decanter.
And perhaps stop pretending you’re still the bottle that came home from the liquor store yesterday. 😂
That has made me start looking at Medjet again.
Not because we’ve stopped traveling.
Quite the opposite.
We’re still going places. And some of those places aren’t exactly around the corner.
The older we get—and the farther we travel—the more I think about what happens after the unexpected happens.
Travel insurance is one layer of our plan.
I’m now considering whether Medjet should become another one again.
🚑 So What Would Medjet Add?
This is the part I’m trying to figure out for us.
Medjet isn’t travel insurance. It’s a medical transport membership.
According to Medjet, if a member is hospitalized 150 miles or more from home, it can arrange hospital-to-hospital medical transport to a hospital of the member’s choice in their home country, subject to the membership rules.
And this is where our ages suddenly matter.
I’m under 75.
Ted isn’t. 😂
Medjet has a Diamond Membership specifically for travelers ages 75–84. It requires an application, including a health questionnaire and paperwork completed by a doctor.
Ahhh. The paperwork.
Now I remember why we procrastinated. 😂
But at this stage of our lives, filling out some forms might be preferable to finding ourselves halfway around the world wishing we had.
Affiliate disclosure: We were Medjet members previously and are considering joining again. If you purchase through my link, I may earn a commission at no additional cost to you.
🛡️ 3. Travel Insurance — Because Medjet Isn’t My Only Backup Plan
We already carry annual travel insurance.
For me, travel insurance is one of those things I happily pay for and hope I never have an exciting story about. 😂
Our policy gives us coverage for certain unexpected situations while we’re traveling, including medical-related benefits.
But I’ve learned that travel insurance and a medical transport membership aren’t necessarily the same thing.
And that is exactly why I’m looking at Medjet again.
I’m not interested in paying twice for exactly the same thing.
I’m interested in understanding what our travel insurance already covers — and where there might still be a gap, especially as we get older and continue traveling farther from home.
Because apparently my travel planning has evolved.
Twenty years ago:
Passport? Check. Bikini? Check. Let’s go.
Now?
Passport. Insurance. AirTags. Medications. Emergency numbers. Backup plans. And where is the nearest decent hospital? 😂
Still going.
Just with considerably more paperwork.
💳 4. My Backup Money Plan — Vienna Taught Us a Lesson
We usually travel with some cash.
Not a fortune. Just enough for the important things in life.
Tipping.
Stupid little things I suddenly decide I cannot live without.
And the universal travel category known as:
Just in case. 😂
But I don’t keep all of our cash in one place.
I divide it between three different places.
Because Ted and I learned that lesson a long time ago in Vienna.
Back then, Ted was the one who carried the money.
Then he got pickpocketed.
Vienna: 1.
Ted: 0. 😂
Needless to say, the Money Boss revised his financial-security strategy after that.
Now we spread things around. If one wallet—or one pocket—disappears, at least it doesn’t take everything with it.
We also both carry credit cards that don’t charge foreign transaction fees when we travel internationally.
So my sophisticated international financial strategy basically comes down to:
A little cash. Three hiding places. Two people with credit cards. And never give one pocket control of the entire vacation.
Apparently, Vienna taught us something after all. 😂
📄 5. Copies of Everything Because I Know Myself 😂
I love technology.
I also don’t trust technology enough to let it hold the only copy of anything important.
Phones die.
Batteries disappear at exactly the wrong moment.
Wi-Fi decides it has never met you before.
And airline apps apparently believe your trip ceases to exist the minute it’s over. 😂
So I keep paper copies of our important travel documents in both suitcases.
Not one suitcase.
I love technology.
I also don’t trust technology enough to let it hold the only copy of anything important.
Phones die.
Batteries disappear at exactly the wrong moment.
Wi-Fi decides it has never met you before.
And airline apps apparently believe your trip ceases to exist the minute it’s over. 😂
So I keep paper copies of our important travel documents in both suitcases.
Not one suitcase.
Both.
Because putting your only backup copy in the suitcase that goes missing would be a very Aidalyn way to discover a flaw in the backup plan.
We also keep digital copies on both of our phones and in cloud storage.
So if my phone dies, Ted has them. If Ted’s phone dies, I have them. And if both phones die…
Hello, paper. My old friend. 😂
And here’s something we’ve learned along the way:
Keep your boarding passes.
We save paper copies of ours instead of assuming they’ll always be sitting nicely inside the airline app.
If we ever need documentation later for a travel insurance claim, reimbursement, missing luggage, or some other travel drama, I don’t want to discover that the boarding pass I need has vanished from the app.
Maybe it’s excessive.
But somewhere between traveling internationally, delayed flights, lost luggage, and getting older, I’ve developed a very simple philosophy:
Digital copy. Cloud copy. Paper copy.
Because “I know I had it somewhere” is not a filing system. 😂
👜 6. My Little “Something Went Wrong” Travel Kit
Calling this a little travel kit may be misleading.
I apparently prepare for travel as though we’re going somewhere with no electricity, pharmacies, coffee, underwear, or civilization. 😂
But after enough years of traveling, I’ve learned that the stupid little thing you leave at home is inevitably the thing you desperately want at 2 a.m. in another country.
So yes. I pack things.
A lot of things.
There’s the sensible stuff:
Portable chargers, a universal adapter, luggage scale, charging cables, a power strip, luggage tags, an RFID passport holder, water bottle, pen and notebook, and a folder with our itinerary.
Then there’s our little traveling pharmacy.
Both of our prescription medications come with us, along with Tylenol or Advil, Band-Aids, magnesium, alcohol wipes and our injection medication cooler organizer.
Because apparently our medications now travel better than we do. 😂
I also bring a tiny sewing kit, safety pins, nail clippers, extra glasses and a lens cloth.
Then we enter the category I like to call:
Things That Sound Ridiculous Until You Need Them.
Ziplock bags.
Trash bags.
Large paper clips.
Do not ask me to defend the paper clips. I just know that someday I’m going to need one, and on that day I will be insufferable. 😂
I pack snacks, too, because hungry Aidalyn should not be released into an airport unsupervised.
And a spare set of underwear.
You can lose my suitcase.
You cannot take away my dignity. 😂
☕ And Then Things Start Getting a Little… Extra
I sometimes bring tea.
Not tea bags.
Tea and a tea set.
Do I always use it?
No.
Do I apparently need the emotional security of knowing I could have a proper cup of tea somewhere over the Atlantic?
Yes. 😂
Sometimes there’s also a thermos for coffee and powdered milk for my coffee, because international travel is no excuse for beverage disappointment.
Ted brings books.
He never reads them.
But they travel internationally and are apparently having a wonderful life. 😂
Then there are my Hermès scarves.
Obviously.
There are emergencies, and then there are fashion emergencies. 🧣
✈️ My Carry-On Has Its Own Spa Department
I keep overnight toiletries with me, too.
And yes, sometimes that includes a facial mask.
I’ve actually done a face mask while we’re up in the air.
If I’m going to sit in a metal tube for hours while the cabin air attempts to turn me into a raisin, I might as well moisturize. 😂
Depending on the trip, I also have my laptop, iPad, noise-canceling headphones, and sometimes my camera and lenses.
And somehow, all of this needs to remain organized.
My secret?
I reuse those little airline amenity pouches.
Instead of throwing them away, I use them to separate everything—medications in one, cables in another, toiletries somewhere else.
They’ve become my little travel drawers.
So when Ted asks:
“Do you have a Band-Aid?”
Yes.
“A charging cable?”
Yes.
“A safety pin?”
Of course.
“A large paper clip?”
“Things That Sound Ridiculous Until You Need Them.”
Toilet seat covers.
And a roll of toilet paper.
Yes. An actual roll.
If you’ve traveled enough, you already understand.
If you haven’t…
Your day is coming. 😂
There are certain moments in life when Hermès scarves don’t matter, Medjet can’t help you, and all the credit cards in your wallet are useless.
You just need toilet paper.
And on that day, I intend to be prepared. 😂
TED. THIS IS MY MOMENT. 😂
🛍️ The Things That Have Earned a Permanent Spot in My Bag
I’ll link the travel things I actually use here—not 47 random products I’ve never seen outside of Amazon.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
