Kathy - <BR>Last thing I want to do if I have lower intestinal distress is to be making a mad dash around Rome looking for a pharmacy hoping I won't have a "candy cane blowout" in my pants. I''ll be leaving the Cosco gallon eco size concentrated multi strength immodium at home (it won't fit in the overhead, I tried and don't ask how I got it through security) but I will be bringing small supplies of the basics. A good traveler is always prepared.

After years of embarrassment about always bringing Imodium and a laxative with me on trips (and using them -- if it's not one thing, it's another), thinking that I had inferior innards, I learned that intestinal acting up is often a symptom of jet lag, as your digestive tract attempts to reset its clock. Knowing that I'm bound (no pun intended) to need one or the other, and also quite likely to need a decongestant and that panacea, ibuprofen, I unashamedly bring my own. Yes, I realize they have all the medicines you need in Europe. But my own don't take up much space, are almost weightless, and are better than experimenting with new meds that may give me a reaction while I'm on vacation.