Do you wear contact lenses? If so, you may be thinking of keeping them at home when you go on your next vacation. After all, a third of Americans already do the same because they feel like glasses and contacts will ruin their travel experiences. If it is the latter, then you may be getting anxious about losing them. As a result, only 21% of respondents in a 2023 OnePoll survey believe contact lens supplies are a must-have for vacations.
However, that doesn’t have to be the case. By simply making the right preparations, you can fully enjoy your trip without having to worry about your contacts. Here’s what you should consider doing when traveling with contact lenses:
Switch to daily contacts
When visiting new destinations and sampling all the sights and activities they have to offer, you expose yourself to more contaminants that can potentially infect your eyes. Hiking and biking, for example, can see dirt particles flying into them if it’s windy or you’re riding at high speeds. To prevent these contaminants from sticking under your lenses and entering your eyes, consider switching to daily disposables for the duration of your trip. The market for daily contacts is growing precisely because they’re more hygienic: as single-use products, they prevent bacterial buildup and are thus proven to lower your risk of developing conditions like microbial keratitis and inflammation. That way, you don’t need to worry about emergency room visits disrupting your vacation plans. Traveling for longer? Try the next tip.
Buy contacts in bulk
Credit: Dnywlsh under CC BY-SA 4.0 – no changes were made to the image
Doing this will more than just ensure you won’t run out of dailies on your next trip. Packing extras of everything—from lenses and solutions to cases—can be helpful in an emergency. However, it can also be space-consuming. If you want to fit more into your suitcase or need to pack more liquids into your carry-on without exceeding airline limits, it can actually be more efficient to order contact lenses online. ContactsDirect sells space-saving boxes of 24 to a whopping 90 pairs each from most major brands, including Acuvue, Dailies, and Biofinity. So you’re sure to find a pack that’ll last long trips — and since each pair is disposable and stored in the necessary solution, you don’t need to bring separate bottles or cases on vacation. Going away for more than six months? You can usually get discounts when ordering enough contact lenses to last you half a year or more.
Pack some eye drops
Credit: Jake Wild on Flickr under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 – no changes were made to the image
If you’re flying to your destination, the dry cabin air will exacerbate the fact that contacts partially block oxygen flow to the eyes—and, ultimately, further affect their ability to produce tears. To prevent the burning or stinging sensations that come with dry eyes, it’s thus best to remove your contacts, especially on long-haul flights. For shorter trips to nearby destinations, you may prefer to keep your lenses on. In these cases, it’s worth buying moisturizing eye drops to supplement your eyes’ natural tear film. Consider the likes of Bausch + Lomb’s Miebo for your trip. These prescription eye drops are specifically designed to keep tears from evaporating so your eyes stay moist for longer. They’re also preservative-free and thus safe to use with contacts. Not sure if you need them? You can take a quiz on the official Miebo website to see if you should ask your eye doctor for an eye drop prescription.
Consider getting prescription goggles
The one activity you can’t wear contacts for is swimming. Water—regardless of whether it comes from pools or natural sources like seas—often contains the bacteria Acanthamoeba. Once it multiplies on contacts and penetrates the eyes, it can permanently damage the corneas and potentially cause blindness. That said, it’s crucial to never wear contacts while swimming and doing other water activities, like kayaking. If these make up a hefty portion of your travel itinerary, invest in prescription goggles. These should be watertight while still providing vision correction, which will help prevent eye irritation that can occur even if you’re not wearing contacts in the water. Major swimming apparel brands like Speedo offer prescription-capable goggles, so don’t hesitate to buy a pair if you feel you’ll use them often on your next few vacations.
Worried about contacts limiting what you can do on your travels? Try the above tips when preparing for your next vacation.
For more travel tips, keep reading the All World Travel Blog.
About Peter C.
Peter is a digital nomad who largely writes from Asia, Europe, and South America. Always following the "vibe," he sets up shop in hostels and AirBNB's and continues to entertain us with wild stories from life abroad. Ask him anything in our community forum.
