Unfortunately, someone arrived on my first JY holiday (USA National Parks) with a severe cold and it soon spread to about half the people on the coach. We trecked into Wallmart to look for some cold remedies, only to be confronted by a whole aisle of off-the-shelf medication, but not one of the branded products was familiar to us (no Beecham's Powders, no Lemsip etc). There was a mind-boggling array of pills and potions available, so a lot of time was spent reading the small print on the packets & bottles to try to work out which ones might be suitable. The language on the labels is not as simple and informative as it is in the UK, so it all got rather confusing. My first choice of medicine had absolutely no effect whatsoever, despite being sold as a 'cold remedy'; complete waste of time & money.

So, my travel tip is to make sure you pack a full course of you favourite cold remedy, along with some lozenges and a thimble-full of Vic's Vapour Rub, then you can treat yourself as soon as you begin to get bunged up, and don't have to wait for several days before you find something that is effective for you.

Incidentally, on my second trip to Wallmart, the pharmacist recommended a remedy called 'Mucinex' which worked really well at drying up mucous membranes and relieving cold symptoms. It's available off-the-shelf and came in the form of small blue pills. It's not available in the UK but has some of the same active ingredients as many 'Max Strength' remedies we are familiar with at home.

Hope this is helpful to someone, especially those on long-haul coach trips.

Roger.