Chronically Traveling

Chronically Traveling

What It’s Like To Travel While Chronically Sick

Ive been very lucky to have had a lot of opportunities to travel.  Ive been to Africa twice, Canada, New York, the beach and a few other random places. Africa was long walks in sun, dancing in the rain, red dirt everywhere, and for me, constant excruciating pain endured in silence. Canada was easier because I had a better grip on my health and had more coping tools. New York was hard.  There was so much walking and getting lost. We ended up in China town and that’s when I realized the value of a travel agent. 

Knowing what I know now about my body and my health, I would have waited until my health was more under control. But at the time, I was misdiagnosed and told to “ignore the pain”. It is crucial to know and understand the important difference between, pushing through in a healthy way, and pushing through in an unhealthy way. And now that I know what my body can and cannot handle, traveling has become easier and more enjoyable. 

Traveling takes a lot of energy. And with my chronic illness I don’t have a lot of energy to begin with. It would have been useful, when I first started jet setting chronically ill, to have had some short to the point advise. This is what I've figured out and hopefully this can help someone else who isn’t going to let a little pain keep them homebound. 

Traveling with a chronic illness was a hassle for me at first. I turned down a lot of opportunities to travel because of my health. I didn’t want my own body to be the reason I  stopped sight seeing or waisted a day by sleeping instead of experiencing the new place I was in. But to be honest with you, I don’t care anymore. I want to see the world. And for me to be able to do that, there are some minor adjustments and accommodations that need to be made. Now that my health is under control,  I can travel and take care of myself with little to no help from others.

Bring your pillow.  Even healthy people do this.  Honestly one of the most important things to me is rest. When I really think about it, rest is my number one priority while traveling with sleep apnea. People can have differentiating degrees of sleep apnea. Anywhere between mild to severe. Unfortunately, mine is so severe that if I were to miss one night of sleep with my bi-pap machine, I will be in bed for the next two days with seizure like episodes, muscle spasms, migraines, and full body pain.  It will also take a couple of recovery days until my body is back to “normal”. Having my bi-pap machine is life or death to me. And so, when I travel, I bring everything that I need to rest well. Without restful sleep, I am completely useless and dependent on others to function. 

I bring my meds. I bring backups meds. And backups to the backup meds. Just like my bi-pap machine, my medications help me function. When I fly, I keep them in my carryon. There is no way I’m risking them getting lost among the hundreds of other bags at the airport. I make sure I have them clearly marked and in the original medication packaging. Security can be tricky so I make sure I check with the airline on there specific rules regarding medication packaging. 

This may sound high maintenance but I go out of may way to make sure I am comfortable. Not from a prideful place, but from a practical place. Anything can trigger a flare or a migraine. If I have to walk a long distance, I ask for help carrying my bags. If I’m getting hungry I eat a snack. If I have a free hour, I lay down with earbuds and a sleep mask. I don’t have energy to waste worrying about causing problems, being a burden, or how strange it may look to others that this girl brought her entire bedroom to nap for a few minutes.  For me it’s all about prevention. I will gladly sacrifice some dignity to prevent flares.  I use my handicap tag when I feel sick and I take compression socks with me on the airplanes to help with blood flow and muscle stiffness. 

I bring all my tools for dealing with chronic pain. Massagers, braces, weighted blankets, essential oils, headphones, earplugs and more. I take a lot of stuff because it's all about prevention. I would rather pay to bring an extra suitcase full of tools than sacrifice a day or more of fun because I was flaring. 

The more I travel, the easier it gets. On every trip I figure out something else I can do to help my body stay happy and healthy away from home.  Just because I have a chronic illness, doesn’t mean I have to stay close to home.  Like I said, the main thing when traveling with A chronic illness, is prevention. Sleep well, eat well, don’t play too hard, and everything will be fine. 

Also, I can’t forget to talk about the money. When traveling with a chronic illness, sometimes means spending a little more for comfort to prevent a flare. Looking back at my New York trip, I wish I would have payed extra for a taxi to take me to the Met than sacrificing energy and causing more unnecessary pain by walking. I now see the value in using a travel agent to plan and map out the best use of energy and time in a city that Ive never been in before. It’s so very difficult for me to do spur the minute activities or walk another three blocks unexpectedly. Having a chronic illness means spending more money to take care of yourself. To really get the most out of any trip, pay a little extra money to avoid flares. You're mental and physical health will thank you.