Come Fly With Me- Holiday Tips for the Summer Season

Ever since I was young I have loved travelling, to Abu Dhabi, Brunei, China, America and various destinations in Europe including Greece and Italy to name but a few. And on my travels I've picked up some tips and learnt good habits in an effort to minimise stress and ensure a great travel experience, This time of year everybody is enjoying their summer holidays. Some lucky people may still have there's to come. I believe that having diabetes shouldn't stop you going away, but there are a few precautions I like to take to ensure for a happy holiday.

Insurance

My holiday precautions when I traveled to Italy began a few months previous when I had to start thinking about insurance. In case something should happen, and if I would of had to visit the hospital in a foreign country there were two options I needed to consider. 1) As I was traveling in Europe it was imperative that I applied for an E111 card. This card is recognised across Europe. And acts as insurance to the foreign hospital that you are a resident of the EU and can be treated. 2) Insurance can be really expensive for people with Type 1 diabetes, I believe because insurance companies believe we pose a greater risk regarding hospitalisation. For this reason and because of the expense involved, I decided to pay a monthly fee for my travel insurance. This was something available through my bank. For previous holidays I had made the mistake of paying for insurance cover per trip. Which worked out very costly, especially when travelling in the United States. So paying a minimal monthly fee minimised the cost and ensured that if I take a last minute trip, the insurance will cover me. The insurance offered by my bank allows cover for a first medical condition. Which luckily included diabetes as mine. As in the past I have found diabetes to be a trigger word that accelerates the price.

Food

Food can always be an issue when travelling on an airplane, especially if your doing long-haul or many flights in a day. I believe preparation is key. I always assume that there won't be food available and try and take my own in order to minimise the risk of hypos and low blood sugars. Although I often find that travelling on plane my blood sugars go up. I think because of the inactivity and perhaps also from a slight adrenaline rush due to the unfamiliar environment. Because of recent times and not being able to carry large amounts of liquid on the plane, I choose to carry two alternative things for hypos. The first is dextrose tablets, ideally the ones you can carry in a plastic tube so they don't get damaged in transit. And secondly, recently I have discovered hypo-stop shots. Which are a small bottle of enough liquidised dextrose to treat a hypo in minutes. Without the need and time it takes to eat and digest the tablets. But unlike Lucozade for example, it only contains enough liquid for one hypo.

Medication

When travelling abroad I always pack my medication in my hand luggage. Just in case my suitcase were to get lost or delayed. Heaven forbid I would be without my medication. Enough to more than cover the time that I'm away. But I also pack a small amount in my suitcase, just in case something should happen to my hand luggage. I order my medication at least a month in advance from the doctor before I go. Just in case there is a problem getting it or a shortage of what I was looking for. This means I can take enough medication for double the time I'm away, in the situation of delays or extended stays. Before going to the airport I put all of my liquid medication into one of the see-through bags, to save any last minute panic at the scanners before making it through departures. This year I managed to find a back-pack with a cooler section in it which was great to use as hand luggage to keep my insulin cool.

Have fun and stay safe in the sunshine this Summer!