the Must-have guide to a safe and healthy journey

235,000+ copies in print world-wide
Travel Health Guide app for Apple & Android
Digital & paperback copies available for purchase

Written by one of Australia’s leading Travel Doctors, drawing on 37+ years of hands-on expertise.

In Your Suitcase: The Ultimate Travel Medicine & Vaccination Guide

Getting sick overseas can ruin even the best planned trip.
Nearly half of all travellers face a health hiccup, from food poisoning to heatstroke, altitude sickness, or worse.

I’m Dr Deb, The Travel Doctor. I’ve spent decades helping people stay well while they explore the world.

Travelling Well was first published in 1989. Now in its 22nd edition (2025), it’s become Australia’s most trusted travel health guide, with over 235,000 copies in print worldwide.

It’s full of practical, no-nonsense advice to help you stay healthy- before, during and after your trip.

To make things even easier, I’ve created the Travel Health Guide App, so you’ve got access to expert advice where ever you go.

It’s like having an experienced travel doctor in your pocket, offering simple, step-by-step advice on how to manage common health problems when they happen.

From recognising heat stress to fixing food poisoning fast, the app puts practical solutions right at your fingertips.

Whether you prefer the depth of a book or the convenience of an app, both Travelling Well Book and the Travel Health Guide App give you the tools to travel with confidence, so you can spend less time worrying about illness and more time enjoying your journey.

Wishing you safe & healthy travels,
Dr Deb The Travel Doctor

Trusted travel health advice for every destination

Travel safe with the book that’s helped over 235,000 travellers stay healthy. Available in paperback and ebook/ digital download.

Download The travel health guide For easy access

Download the Travel Health Guide for Apple and Android $4.99

Travelling Well 2025 – now in its 22nd Edition

I’m excited to share that the 22nd edition of Travelling Well is here — now available as both ebook and paperback.

Every few years I update Travelling Well because travel medicine never sits still. Vaccines change, new illnesses pop up, and fresh research means better advice for travellers like you.

So, what’s new this time?

Information on new vaccines for Covid, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Mpox, Papilloma virus and Shingles
Updated recommendations on malaria prevention, gastro treatment, and tick bite management.
A refreshed travel health kit list with modern essentials like N95 masks, Covid test kits, pulse oximeters, and improved dressings.
Updated guidelines on altitude sickness, accident risks, scooters, water safety, and even selfie hazards.
A fully revised section on responsible tourism for today’s traveller.

The book may have a fresh cover, but its heart is the same: practical, doctor-tested tips to keep you healthy on the road.

After 35 years, Travelling Well is still Australia’s most trusted travel health guide. Whether you’re trekking in the Andes, diving in Asia, or wandering through Europe, it’s like having a travel doctor in your suitcase.

Travelling Well : Helping Travellers Stay Safe Since 1989

“Doctor Google” Can’t Help When You’re Out of Wi-Fi Range

When the internet drops out and Google won’t load, you’ll be glad you packed Travelling Well : Australia’s trusted travel health and vaccination guide for overseas trips.

Whether you’re heading to Asia, Africa, South America, or the Pacific Islands, this travel medicine handbook gives you practical advice on common travel illnesses, food safety, vaccinations, malaria prevention, altitude sickness, and first aid for travellers.

Available in paperback and digital download, it’s expert advice you can keep in your pocket or on your phone, so you’re never without reliable guidance on staying healthy while travelling overseas.

Travelling Well is packed with crucial information

From vaccinations and disease prevention to staying safe on the road, this guide covers the essentials every traveller needs for a healthy journey. INCLUDING:

Vaccinations: How they are given, why you need them, side effects, and how long your protection lasts

Culture Shock: What it is, who is at risk and how it can adversely affect your health.

Mosquito-Borne Diseases: Real world tips to keep hungry mozzies at bay, wherever you go

Sexual Health: Global travellers are a high-risk group; know how to protect yourself

Jet Lag: Prevention, trip planning, in-flight strategies and medications that can help.

Motion Sickness: Medications, natural remedies and some tricks and tips for prevention.

Heat, Cold and Altitude: How to keep your body healthy in extreme environments.

Food Dangers: Safe and unsafe eating practices when you’re sampling local cuisine.

When Creepy Crawlies Attack:Sensible and effective protection from harmful insect pests.

Keeping You & Your Gear Safe: Practical tips for personal security overseas.

Fevers:Their assorted causes and how to treat them.

The 8 keys for treating any illness.

Sniffle Alert:How to prevent and treat colds, coughs, chest infections and flu.

An A-Z list: Outlining the most prevalent
medical concerns for travellers.

Tap Water Safety: Advice for safe water consumption and efficient purification methods.

Travelling Well’s handy Fast-Find Index
for symptoms.

Adventure Travel: Tips for trekkers, divers, snowboarders, surfers and more.

And a whole lot more!

get medical help while travelling

When you’re overseas and need medical help fast, knowing where to turn is vital. Travelling Well shows you how to find a reliable doctor abroad and includes a Drug Reference Table — a quick A–Z of common travel medications with details on names, doses, uses, and precautions.

This compact but comprehensive guide (available in print or on your phone) prepares you for every trip. Learn essential health tips for travelling with children, navigating pregnancy or mature-age travel, and the authorisations you’ll need when carrying medications across borders.

With expert, doctor-written advice at your fingertips, you’ll be ready to handle whatever your journey brings.

How To Use the Travelling Well Book

It is not surprising that travellers are not familiar with the local hazards in places remote from their home. This book is designed to give you the information you need to minimise any health risks of travel, the easy way and without pain and suffering. Travel is about new experiences, but sickness or accidents are experiences we can really do without. Travelling Well is divided into sections for easy reference.

Before You Go: Prepare for a healthy trip

Set yourself up for safe travels with expert pre-departure advice. Learn about essential travel vaccinations, malaria prevention, pre-travel health checks, and how to build a reliable medical kit.
Travelling with children, pregnancy, or pre-existing health conditions?
The guide covers what you need to know before you board that plane, including medication authorisations and packing tips to avoid customs issues.

While You’re Away: Stay Safe Abroad

Travel health isn’t just about vaccines—it’s about avoiding common risks. From scooter and pedestrian accidents to waterfall injuries, contaminated alcohol, and even selfie-related mishaps, Travelling Well helps you recognise and prevent the unexpected.
Practical tips help you manage everything from altitude sickness to heat exhaustion so you can focus on enjoying your adventure.

If You Get Sick: First Aid & Medical Support Anywhere

Even the best-planned trip can be disrupted by illness — but with Travelling Well, expert help is always in your pocket. The book’s Drug Reference Table helps you identify medicines overseas, understand correct dosages, and find medical help fast. The Symptoms Fast-Find Index lets you quickly look up common travel issues — from gastro to fevers — and follow clear, doctor-written advice to manage them confidently.

When You Return Home: Ongoing Travel Health Care

Travel health doesn’t end when you land back in Australia. Stay alert for lingering symptoms, especially after visiting high-risk or infectious disease areas. Travelling Well explains when to seek medical advice and highlights warning signs not to ignore.

Do you travel with a medical kit?

Maybe you should ! Research shows that 50% of travellers experience medical concerns on their trip.

Having a decent medical kit is vital, especially if you’re travelling independently or venturing off the beaten track.

Travelling Well’s extensive list of kit items for a range of travel scenarios is indispensable, whether you’re planning to surf in Ecuador, take the kids to Disneyland or trek through Romania.

Make an appointment with your local travel doctor to purchase a personalised medical kit, equipped with everything you need for your travels.

Dr Deb’s Clinic brisbane Find A Travel medicine provider (aus-wide)

What Fellow Travellers Say

“Thank you Travelling Well for 18 months of guidance in India, Nepal, Africa and Madagascar. You gave us (and all those who borrowed you) peace of mind when we were isolated and proved a true friend in times of need with diarrhoea and infection! Thanks to you we fulfilled our dream of marriage on the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro in excellent shape, as we watched others battling with the altitude or even being forced to turn back. (Sadly, we also heard of the preventable (?) death of a trekker from acute mountain sickness that very week. Thank you for keeping us safe and for being written in such a user-friendly, easy to understand style.”
Lucinda and Ed Shelton
Safely returned to Australia
“Travel Medicine is a highly specialised area that requires dedication and concerted attention. Dr Deb Mills is a recognised pioneer and leader in this field in Australia and neighbouring regions. Information gleaned from years of experience has been condensed into Travelling Well, a book that presents, in succinct and straightforward language, all the important, practical health information that any prospective traveller might need, before, during or after their trip.”
Dr Paul Prociv, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, FRCPA
Associate Professor, Dept of Microbiology & Parasitology, UQ – Australia
“Travelling Well is a great travel companion. It is packed full of information and is so easy to refer to. Everything you may need to find out about, from ‘Accidents’ to ‘Yellow Fever’.
It is a must read before, during and after your travel adventures.”
Grant Kenny
Phenomenal athlete & world traveller
“Full of sensible, easy to follow advice……the section “If You Get Sick” is particularly helpful to travellers.”
Dr Gil Lea, MBBS (Lon)
Medical Consultant in Travel Health,
Trailfinders Travel Clinic, London – UK
“Travelling Well contains the essential information that travellers need to protect their health overseas. The feedback from our patients is that this book is extremely useful and worthy of a place in their luggage.”
Dr Norman Hohl, MBBS, DTM&H, FAFPHM
Medical Director, The Travel Doctor – Gold Coast – Australia
“Clear, concise, practical and without doubt the most user-friendly travel health book available. This book is essential reading for all travellers. Prevention and treatment of common travellers’ health problems are covered in an easy to read and understand format. I feel secure that when my clients travel with a copy of Travelling Well they have an excellent tool to help them on their way to having a great trip. A true don’t-leave-home-without- it item.”
Dr Trish Batchelor, MBBS
CIWEC clinic, Kathmandu – Nepal
“Travel Medicine is more than a few jabs and tablets for diarrhoea. Information on how to stay healthy while travelling and how to manage minor medical problems efficiently and effectively is essential. Travelling Well is written by one of Australia’s most experienced travel medicine practitioners and will make an excellent companion in your travels.”
Dr Bob Kass, MBBS MRCP MScMCH DCH FAFPHM
International Public Health Consultant – Australia
“There are three things I wouldn’t dream of leaving Australia without – a passport, a sarong and a copy of Travelling Well tucked into my first aid kit. It’s a hell of a lot cheaper than carting a real, live physician around the world with you!.. (and the crew are always borrowing it to diagnose themselves on the road.) It’s a gem.”
Sorrel Wilby
World traveller & presenter on Getaway
“The information in this book, and the medicines that go with it, are a very valuable thing when in a country where the hospitals can make you sicker than you already are. Thank you very much for your help so far in my travels.”
Chris Barnes
Ongoing traveller – Central & South America
“The eternal dilemma of which tablet, when and why! This book is an invaluable resource in answering this question and many more when medical assistance may be unavailable or just plain dodgy! Keep it stashed somewhere amongst all those other essentials.”
Kathryn Fulton
Ongoing traveller – Middle East & Africa
“Travelling Well is a precious publication. This book provides all the necessary information on the prevention of travel-related sickness. I wish this book had been available while I was an airline manager based in Tokyo. It could have helped many Japanese travellers who have had to suffer unnecessarily during or upon their return from their holiday.”
Yukiko White
Former Air Nuigini Regional Manager
for South East Asia and Micronesia
I visit the Travel Doctor prior to all overseas trips. With the Medical kit and the Travelling Well book, you have created an easy to understand (especially for the lay person), comprehensive, empowering, accessible and sensible reference for any traveller. For what it is worth, I thank you. I can now travel with increased confidence, knowing that I can deal with the more common travel illness myself, and even more importantly, can act to prevent them in the first place.
Daniel
World Traveller

about the author

Dr Deb The Travel Doctor (MBBS MPHTM)

I’m Dr Deb, The Travel Doctor.

Since 1988 I’ve dedicated my career to helping Australians travel safely and stay healthy overseas. My book Travelling Well is now in its 22nd edition with more than 235,000 copies in print — proof that good health advice never goes out of style.

I’ve trekked all seven continents and combined those experiences with decades of medical expertise, so you get practical, trustworthy guidance you can actually use on the road.

My clinic, Dr Deb’s The Travel Doctor, has been trusted by Brisbane locals since 1988, providing expert travel medicine in the heart of the city.

MORE ABOUT DR DEB