Travel advice

[Allies40]

On Thursday I'm leaving on vacation to Europe (Germany, Belgium and Holland). This will be my first time traveling overseas with IC. Do any of you have any advice for me? I'm going to pack all my medicines in my suitcase so it's not on my carry-on. Then I'm worried about food and not understanding what's in it. I speak a little french so I'll be ok in Belgium but I don't speak German or dutch.
I've been on airplanes multiple times since my dx and I'm not worried about the plane (although people look at me like I'm crazy because of getting up to use the bathroom all the time). I guess I'm mostly worried about food.
Thanks!
-Allison

[Claredale]

I went to England with IC....no issues with the language there! LOL! But I have lots of friends that have traveled all over and for the most part English is spoken in most countries. Especially the industries dealing with travel. Is there a reason you are packing your meds in your suitcase and not your carry on? I know when I went to England which was a few years ago, I was told to keep my meds with me in their original prescription bottles. I also had a note from my doctor just in case. Nothing at all happened, but I was traveling in a group and a couple people did have their luggage delayed the first night or so. I would definitely check with your travel agent or else the website for each airport and airlines you will be using to see what there rules are. I also took a valium and a muscle relaxer prior to my trip which helped a lot with my freq during the 9 hour trip. By the time we got to England, I had a good sleep and was more like myself. I also had some of those thermal pads to use if I got a little crampy sitting still for so long.

If you use a heating pad, be sure to get electrical thing to use the different plugs in the hotels.

Oh yeah! Have a marvelous time! Try to experience as much as you can. I was careful with food, but I wanted to try new things. I was just certain to stay away from anything citrus and drank bottled water. I actually didn't have any flares while I was there, which I was surprised since we did alot of walking and stayed busy. What was so funny is that we were traveling with people twice our age, but they had the "get up and go" that's for sure! I learned so much from my fellow travelers and the touring company. I can't wait to do it again!

My mom just got back from Italy and she doesn't like to travel much, but I was so glad she went with a lady I knew that would MAKE her stay busy and meet people.

Again have a fun and safe trip!

Tracey

Tracey

[kadi]

Hi Allison,
I'm leaving for Spain in a week :) My first big trip since IC!

I'm taking all my meds with me carry-on. I've had my luggage lost too many times to feel okay with checking it. Also, I've been hearing from other recently travelling friends that theft is way up! Several friends have had things stolen from their checked luggage (odd things like shampoo, blouses, belts). Nothing is more important to the quality of my trip than my meds, so I'm keeping them as close as possible. The liquid meds can be carried on, if you have prescription labels on them & a letter of medical necessity.

What I'm doing for food (and my trip will be longer than yours-18 hours from my origination airport to my destination airport- since I'm starting on the West Coast!) is: I'm making & freezing several muffins with the idea that they will keep other items in the insulated lunch sack cool. Then I'm packing 1-2 roast beef sandwiches (sorry about the garlic to my fellow travellers, but I think it's the least likely to go bad), potato chips or safe tortilla chips, some of the pear bars from the ICN shop, frozen White Chocolate Kit Kat, frozen cookie, peppermints & toothpaste/toothbrush to make up for the garlicky roast beef.

When I get to one of the transfer airports, I'll see if there's a Starbucks for steamed milk. The muffins should be okay for that evening if I can't get to a store for dinner the first night. And I'm putting a box of cereal into my checked luggage, for breakfast next morning (I should be able to find milk somewhere). And after the first day of classes, hopefully will find a market (am renting a room in a self-catering apt).

This will all be an experiment. I've had a few one week trips since I got IC, but those were with family, and were not so far from home. This is one month very far from home, but I'm trying to treat the butterflies I'm feeling as excitement & not get overwhelmed.... I used to love to travel, hope I still do!

In Holland, most of the restaurants I've been to did have some staff that spoke English. It's a nice gesture to learn to say "Good morning. I'm sorry I don't speak ______. Is there maybe someone who can help me in English?" in the language of the country you're visiting. Even in Paris (notorious for riffing people over not speaking French), people became friendly if I made that little effort. And then when they spoke English to me, I could apologize for how badly my sentence mangled their beautiful language!

And am wishing you a wonderful, excellent trip! Please come back on afterwards & share your experiences & ideas with all of us:)

[Allies40]

Thanks you two, I'll keep my meds in my carry-on. All that I'll pack in my suitcase are clothes. I'm very excited to travel, I love going places, I'm just nervous about my IC. I'm not transferring planes, I'm going straight from Washington D.C. to Frankfurt and it's a nightime flight, so I don't have to worry about food, but I want to have my meds nearby in case I need to have pain pills.
I'll let everyone know how my trip goes and how the food goes in Germany, Belgium and Holland.
-Allison