Traveling With Health Issues? Try These Easy Tips!

She said, "I'm going to be discussing managing health conditions while traveling." And so, in the intro, I'm going to tell you a little bit about myself. And just to preface this, each slide could have been an entire presentation on its own. So, this is not going to be something that's comp comprehensive. Um, but what I hope is that you you're able to take little bits and pieces um away from this presentation and incorporate them into your travel uh to make it just a little bit easier. Um, so as already mentioned, let me go over here. I am a certified health coach. I have been doing that um since 2017. Um, focusing on autoimmune disease and I'll tell you a little bit more about that in a few. And before I even became a health coach, um, fitness became a passion of mine. Um, and that's also related to I believe my chronic illness as to why I took such an affinity to that. And so the picture on the screen is me last year in France um chilling on a hammock next to a lake just enjoying life um in spite of my chronic illness because I hadn't had an opportunity to do that before. Fitness, as I mentioned, I've been doing that since 2016. Um I am certified in over 10 maybe more different formats but the one that I am most um getting the most pleasure and also benefit out of now is teaching fitness for limited mobility. Um, so whether you'd be seniors, people who have who have had surgery and are recovering, um, people who are like myself and have chronic illness and it's that bell curve where too much exercise can send you into a flare or too little exercise can send you into a flare. I work with all of the above and it's my absolute favorite thing to do. I'm also a health advocate. I have my own nonprofit advocating for those with chronic illness. Um, and then I'm also a retreat curator. And so I have pictures on the screen of my last trip um speaking of tips or I have on my compression pants on the plane um just to make sure that my legs are comfortable because it was a long flight. And then that handy vest which I'm going to tell you about in a little bit as well, which was a lifesaver for me um with such a long trip um and layovers and you know different uh I guess modes of travel that I had to take. And then you'll see on the end, I guess, me and the guy that was next to me. Um, again, with with chronic illness, you never know what's going to go with your body. So, I always make sure that I get an aisle seat. Um, because if I don't in those little seats, depending on where you're sitting, um, my knees cramp up. So, that's one tip I'm going to throw in right now. If you have issues with your joints, um, and you can't get a a a seat that's in first class or business class or, you know, next to an exit door, um, make sure that you get you an aisle seat so you can at least move the legs around a little bit. Yeah, it's a good trick. Yeah, absolutely have to. And so, this is me again. Um, I mentioned earlier aside from all of those other things and what this presentation is primarily about is giving to to those of us with chronic illness. I got diagnosed with my first chronic illness in 2015. It was an autoimmune disease by the name of Hashimoto's thyroiditis that impacted my joints. Uh, fatigue, brain fog, all of the above. Um, it's an autoimmune disease. Um then in 2019 uh four short years later I got diagnosed with narcolepsy type two. Um and a lot of people aren't familiar with narcolepsy or they only think that it is what they see on TV and it's not like that at all. If you see the face of narcolepsy this is it. But I mean it's it medicated but it's still it. It's still the place of of narcolepsy. Um, but it was one of the things that I think aside from all of the other chronic illnesses and things that I have that prevented me from traveling before I was diagnosed because I was like, if I'm going to go, it didn't make any sense to me because I'm always going to be asleep. So, it was no sense to me even traveling because I wouldn't get any benefit out of it. But now that I have it more managed um and I'm able to travel, uh, again, I like to give tips to others to help them through that journey. And then four years after that, so if you can find the pattern, every four years I've been diagnosed with a different chronic illness. In 2023, I was also diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, which impacts my joints. And thus the is seat tip that I I have to get that I that I gave earlier. So that's just a little bit about me. Um and that's also too in addition to having asthma, um allergies of all kinds. And I think now I'm on the edge or the cusp of per menopause, which adds a whole other layer to all of that. But I say all that to say that with my experiences, my vast experiences with all types of chronic illnesses um and issues that just pop up randomly um I understand the toll that it can take. Uh the thought of planning a trip or going on a trip with all of those things, but I assure you it is possible. Um, if you have chronic illness, you probably already know there are a lot of challenges. Um, too many for me to name them all um, in this short presentation, but I just wanted to kind of go through a couple. Um, one of them was disrupted routines. One of the things that has helped me a lot with my chronic illness is developing a routine. So, anything that throws me off of that routine is may cause an issue. Not always, but may cause an issue. Whether it be, you know, certain meals that I eat because I have a specific diet. Whether it be my sleep schedule specifically because I have the narcolepsy and a lot of people with chronic illness also have fatigue. So, that can throw you off a little bit depending on where you're traveling to and where you're traveling from. And then movement is a big thing for me. Not that we want to work out all the time. Sometimes we don't like working out when we're not on vacation. But for me, the lack of movement causes me to go into a flare when I'm on a on a plane for extended periods of time. That's going to cause me to go into a flare. Um, and so we need to be able to address those and see what we what we can do to mitigate that. Um, also environmental triggers that can be anywhere. Um, it could be you going from hot to cold to cold to hot. That could be a trigger. Um, the weather, it's raining here now. That's a trigger even when you're not on vacation. Um, it could be allergens. For me, the whatever they use on hotel sheets to wash the the industrial soap that they have always causes me to have a rash. So, I have to bring an extra pillowcase with me so I can cover up their pillowcase and so it doesn't cause as much of a reaction. So, things like that. And then the mental and the physical exhaustion. And that's a big one for those of us with chronic illness. even without travel sometimes it's not even the physical symptoms but the mental toll it takes on you from your mind wanting to go but your body saying no. So how do we prepare for all of that um as we travel because all of it is important but all of them are also um challenges. So before you go preparing before the trip is going to be one of the most important things that you can do. So first there is the medical prep. those things that you don't think about when you don't have that when you don't have um chronic illness and have to travel with medication and consider all the things that you may need or all the barriers that you may face when you're traveling with the necessities that you use on a daily basis. Um so do you have a doctor's note for your medications if that is needed? Some of them are liquid. Um they have liquid restrictions. Um I don't advise that you um that you I advise that you take your medicine medication on your carry-on so that it doesn't get lost. Um because sometimes that's what happens when you travel. They lose your luggage and you want to make sure that you have your your medication. But what if it's a liquid that's larger than what they than what they allow on the plane? Do you have a doctor's notes for that? Um TSA documentation. All of those things that you need again, but you may not consider um if you've never traveled with chronic illness before. And then there's the packing essentials. And I again I want to go back and say when I was curating this or reframing this presentation, there's all types of different travel that you can do or things that you can do while traveling. At the beginning you me mentioned um I believe it was hiking and trekking and climbing mountains and all of that. You right. So there there's there's things that you have to do in a car or you're traveling far on the road whether it be on the plane. All of it's different and you have to have different considerations for all of that. Um so do you have meds for that? And I'm not talking about prescriptions, allergy meds, stomach meds, um digestive meds, because you know you if you go to a different country or you're not eating things that you normally eat, could that cause food disturbances? Um I remember on um my way to France, even though they don't serve peanuts on the plane anymore, I was sleeping on the plane and I was awakened because I smell peanuts of someone eating peanuts next to me. like my throat started to close on the plane because I just smelled the peanuts that were next to me. If I had not had my allergy medicine, Lord knows what would would have happened. And then making sure that you have comfort gear. And so for those two things, I just want I just want to show a couple of things that I use when I travel. Um these are some medicine boxes, small medicine boxes that I got from um Amazon. The reason I like them is because again with chronic illness, everything is so unexpected. Things that that may have never bothered me at home now that I'm in a different environment may pop up. So, you can get these off of um Amazon and they have all of these different labels that you can use so you're not overpacking because we don't want to carry too much in our luggage. But just to be prepared, they have every single medication that you can possibly have, whether it be a leave, Pepsi, all of that, where you can uniquely label the medicine pack and keep it with you. Oh, that's the other thing is I'm sorry. I said that's a good tip for for labeling because I also take medicine with me, but I don't label it. I just put it here. I have mine too when always in my bag, but without labeling just Yeah. I when I found those it was it was it was a game changer for me. Yeah. Just like them. Oh yeah. First aid kits everything. Visine for my eyes because again when I sleep on the hotel pillows my eyes always turn red and I know it's from the chemicals that they're using to wash the sheet. And I understand I want the sheets to be clean. Um but they just bother me. And so I need to I need to take my extra pillowcase to cover the pillow and then also bring all of the extra medications that I may need. The other thing now it may not be fashion forward. You could you could dress it up. It's up to you. But for me it was a game changer because again I was on on the plane seat belt light on. I couldn't move. I needed to have access to my medications. They were in my carry-on either above the in the overhead bin or under the seat. I found this useful. I don't know if I got this off of Pinterest or not. This is a vest with multiple pockets. So, I mentioned earlier that I have asthma. So, I have one pocket for my passport, one pocket for my, you know, in my ID. I have maybe a snack in this one for the plane if I need it. I have my medications. I have my phone. I have my earbuds. I have my eye mask. I can carry that on me. And I'm not going to go over in my luggage because they're going to charge me extra if my if my luggage is too heavy or I have too much stuff. It's right there with me in my pocket. So, it's easy to grab, especially if I have um a bag that I'm rolling through the airport. I don't want to have to dig in my bag. So, all of my essentials are in that vest. So, that if you don't take anything else away from this presentation, that vest was a game changer. Like I said, it's not the most, you know, fashion forward, but you can dress up the entire outfit if you want to. So, just wanted to throw that in there. And I can keep those med medicine containers right there in my pocket as well for those unexpected things. Like at my regular prescriptions, I have a set time, but I who knew who knew that the lady was going to be eating peanuts next to me. So, I have it right there next to me. I don't have to get up. I don't have to leave my seat. I can just pull it out of my pocket. So, if you don't take anything else, that's that's a good one to take from this presentation. Yeah, it is. And then the other one is u mindset prep. Um, don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. And I think that was uh my setback to traveling or my mindset before um I really got my um chronic illness under control. It's just like the thought of travel when my when my regular day sometime is sometimes overwhelming. Now you want me to go into this foreign place in this for where I don't know anything about the food. I don't know anything about the terrain. I don't know anything about what the next person is going to be doing next to me. Um, that can be overwhelming. The the thought of the pace or the or schedule can be overwhelming. But if you have the ability to plan that out, add in some buffered time, whether it be breaks in the day, breaks in your itinerary, extending your vacation or your trip a little bit longer so you can add in days of rest in between. Because what you don't want is to have to have a vacation away for after your vacation to where you're not even rested or enjoy yourself when you go because you won't want to go again. So, how can you make that the most enjoyable experience possible? It's not by cramming. Not always going to be by cramming every little thing in. It's going to be making sure that you prepare your mind to say, "Okay, what I need today is going to be different than what I need the next day." And if I'm planning an excursion today and I know my body, let me plan in some rest and relaxation so I can enjoy the next adventure that I have planned for that particular trip or that particular vacation. So managing symptoms on the road and again I'm going to always preface this by saying and I know firsthand how I manage one chronic illness is totally different than how I manage another. So there's no way I can give tips for everybody's chronic illness or everybody's trip. Um I mentioned earlier I do travel on planes but I also hike. I also camp. I'm camp trained all of that. And so that's a different set of um I don't want to say skills of preparation than I would have for flying. So these are just general overall tips. So how to prevent and respond to flare-ups. Making sure as I just said that you have a rescue kit. No one knows you better than you. And it's always better to be overprepared than underprepared. Especially if you're going somewhere where you don't know where there will be a store. Um you don't know if they'll have the medication that you need. Um you don't know what kind of food that they have. It's always better to be overprepared. So making sure that you have heat packs. Um I carry those with me um well in everywhere I go now, but especially on trips. those not the heating pads, but the heating um I guess stickers that you can put on you because again, if you're going to be sitting for long periods of time, and that's a trigger for you, you want to make sure that you have something that's soothing and keeps keeps your muscles warm. Um so that you're able to enjoy your vacation and your excursions. Um essential oils, peppermint oil for nausea, little things that will help you throughout your trip. Anything that's going to help you reduce your symptoms quickly. Um, you don't want again to end up having a vacation from your vacation. So, preparing ahead of time and knowing what your flares may possibly be is going to be going to be key from preventing them in the first place. Um, the next one is um fatigue. Again, knowing where you're going is going to be so important to this. I remember when I was going to uh when I went to France, um I I should have chosen a different airport to fly into uh because the trains that I had to take to get to my actual destination, which was an additional 3 hours on top of the flight didn't have elevators. Now, they may be used to that in Europe, but I wasn't used to that over here in America, and I wasn't used to that as chronic illness. So, I'm packing these my luggage up and downstairs, and that increased my fatigue. So halfway between um well after the flight and my actual destination, I was ready to go back home. Like I was literally I was like I I don't I don't I don't want to do this anymore. Like I press through. Um, but I was like, "Okay, next time, mental note, note and phone, make sure that I check to see where I'm flying to and and if it's accessible for me um before I actually go because that made my first day after I landed and got to my destination that much more difficult because I have to recover just from the flight alone." Um, and again, pacing yourself. Uh that means making sure that you may not have a connecting flight that's back to back because now if the plane is late that's extra stress. You're running through the airport extra stress. Um and also again as I I want to reiterate making sure that you plan those into your vacation. I know a lot of times we want to incorporate all of the excursions and all of the trips because we haven't been out in a while. We want to make sure that we get it all. But making sure that you incorporate that into your vacation. The next thing is GI issues and inflammation. Um, there are a lot of inflammatory triggers with chronic illness depending on what you have, but especially with autoimmune disease. Um, food is a big trigger. I'm gluten-free, grain free, sometimes um I'm do okay with dairy, but if you know that you have those restrictions, make sure to plan for that ahead of time. Even on the plane they may say um we provide a diet we provide a meal for your dietary restriction. However, the meal that I got that I don't think they put much effort into for the dietary restriction. So even though that's an option for you, I I urge you to consider bringing your own food on the flight um to make sure that you have something edible, especially if it's going to be a long flight. Um preparing if you are on the road. um knowing your pit stops ahead of time um so you know where to stop. There are a lot of there are several apps um that are on the market now that did not used to be on the market where they tell you restaurants that you can stop at um and and even food that you can get um that cater to your particular dietary restriction because again if you get in a situation where you don't have those things and you're not prepared and you eat something um that causes a flare then you then you're dealing with stomach issues. And if you're like me, food triggers inflammation in my body. So now you're dealing with that on top of everything else that you have going on with the trip. And the the next thing is, and again, this is not a comprehensive list. I can go on and on. Um joint and muscle pain, especially for long excursions, um for me being sedentary for long periods of time, cause me to have a flare. My knees will swell up. Um I had double shoulder surgery in 2023. I had knee surgery in 20 um 19. I know I look young, but I've been through a lot. Um and I'm speaking from experience. Um packing light movement tools. And I know that you're like, Jamie, I'm going on vacation. Why do I need to pack a light movement tools? From my own personal experience and from the experience from teaching over the years, especially people with chronic illness and limited mobility, the ones who are able to function best are the people who move on a regular basis. I repeat, the people who are able to function best are the people who move on a regular basis, even when they're on their trip, even when they're on vacation. We're not talking about doing hit workouts. I'm just talking about keeping the joints warm. Um, and when you talk about the scope of removing barriers for women in travel, if you're not able to move on a day-to-day basis, you're less inclined to want to travel because with travel comes walking, with travel comes movement, and your body needs needs to be prepared for that ahead of time. Um, and also too, when you're in the process of traveling, sitting in those long spaces, whether it be the airport, the plane, wherever the case may be, you don't want that to be the thing that prohibits you from having an awesome trip because you're swollen and inflamed because you've been sitting for extended periods of time. So expect symptoms but protect yourself and invest in yourself ahead of time so that you know and will be able to mitigate them and prepare for them ahead of time so that you can still enjoy your trip. And I'm also watching time to make sure that I don't go over and I think we're I'm doing okay. And and I've touched on this um a little bit, but I'll go over it again because it is so important. Um again, for me, um well, I guess for a lot of people, depending on what you have, um I mine is more with my immune system dealing with inflammation. You may have diabetes, you may have, you know, kidney issues where you can't eat a lot of protein. There's all types of different considerations. Um, so before your trip, whether it be a road trip, whether it be a trip to the airport, um, a flight trip, pack safe snacks. It's better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them. Um, research stores before you travel. So, if you're going to some place where you're going to be um, buying food when you get there, make sure you research the stores before you get there. Make sure you research the hotel if you're considering getting um room service to see what their menu is or if they have a special menu that caters to your dietary restrictions. Um also see if they have depending on where you're going in the country, out of the country. I know that every location has something different. Here in the US, we have Instacart something that they can bring it to you so you don't have to go out of your room in order to get food in. Um you can order it ahead of time and be prepared ahead of time and know before you even get there and have everything delivered to your room. so you're not having to travel with it. Um, one of my favorite things because you know I'm also a foodie as well. I'm not sure if you're familiar with tackle boxes. They have the small little tackle boxes, but now they they've even gotten fancier, I guess, on Amazon um with um I guess uh trader boxes. So, I pack little snacks in that. It clamps down and so I make sure I have a variety of everything because depending on my mood is what I'm going to want. So that's I find that and it's easy to pack as well. Easy to pull out of your purse and eat some eat while on the plane. Um and also in the car. You'll see that a lot. Um you can pack one if you have multiple people in the car, kids. It's easy for everybody to have their own snack tray. Oh, cool. Um and they can put what they want in it. You are amazing. Huh? You are amazing with packing. You have many packing tricks. Oh, yes. Oh, definitely. I tend to um overpack. So be only because again with all the chronic illnesses like I just got over like I just woke up and my entire face was swollen last week. Entire face like I had to go to the doctor didn't and again if you're watching this live or on the replay if you have chronic illness especially things dealing with your immune system doctor's like what happened? I don't know. I just woke up. Oh yeah I see. So I've I've become accustomed to being prepared for almost anything. Um, and also too with chronic illness because you are not in control of a lot of things with your body. Whatever I can control type of personality that I have, um, I I I I try to make sure that that's covered. Um, so again, um, so that's before your trip. Make sure that you do all your research. Make sure that you have the snacks that are um, suitable for your um, suitable for your chronic condition. Again, don't just rely unless you know and have have traveled on this particular airline before that they um provide something that's tasty for your dietary restriction. They provide something for you. Um but it might not be tasty and you don't want to be like me and be like, "Well, oh man, uh this is a long 10-hour flight. I have breakfast, lunch, and dinner to go through this." Uh and especially when I was um on Air France, uh it's a lot of bread. I don't do gluten or I don't do wheat. So, it was I couldn't I couldn't I couldn't switch it up even if I wanted to. So, uh make sure that you prepare ahead of time, but don't assume um that they're going to have something that you're going to enjoy. And if you want it to be enjoyable for the entire duration of your trip, it's not the actual vacation, but that that flight time is important. Your comfort um and and it being an enjoyable experience is also going to be important. And making sure that you have food is going to be a part of that process. Also, I have or have had a bad mistake of uh doing this because a while back I did not like to use the lavatory on the plane in all my years of flying. I think last year was the first time I have ever used the lavatory on the plane. Um it's important for you to I say that to say it's important for you to hydrate. Um, I was not hydrating before because I was like, I don't want to use the the bathroom while on the plane. I'll just, you know, not drink anything and not drink any water. Um, but that can cause a a plethora of other issues, whether it be muscle muscle cramping, um, whether it be um, headaches, uh, nausea, u dizziness just from the lack of hydration depending on where you are. And again, I'm speaking from the perspective of the plane um, or being on the plane, but that can be anywhere. It can be in a car. Um, it can be while you're on an excursion. Making sure that you're hydrated and and paying attention to the cues that your body is giving you is going to be uh uh extra important. Uh, dining out, especially if you're in a different country. Well, I don't want to say that. Regardless of whether you of where you are, you're going to want to make sure that you check ahead of time with the restaurant to see what they have on their menu. Number one, um depending on what restaurants you go to, the chefs may not allow or might not have modifications or adjustments for your dietary preferences. Um so make sure that you check before you go because again, you don't want to be the odd ball out depending on if you're going in a group um where they choose a restaurant and you don't have anything to eat. So make sure that you're checking that ahead of time. Um, and not just if they offer um uh or or cater to your restrictions even specifically, is it cooked in the same kitchen? Um, because there could be crosscontamination. Is it cooked in the same oil? Like I don't eat, you know, pork, but I do eat fish. If it's cooked in the same oil, it's kind of defeating the purpose. So, make sure that you get specific um with those particular questions. And then if you're traveling um internationally and you want to make sure that you're very clear, um you can have an allergy card that lists your food's reactions clearly um in that in the language of the country that you're going to so that you can make sure that it's translated properly. Um, also look for the common ingredients that are used. Um, typically, I don't want to say this across the board, the the the internationally away from the US, the ingredients are a lot better than they are in the US. So, if you're coming to the US, from a different country, um, that may be more of a concern than it is from for someone that is going from the US somewhere else. But if you have a specific dietary restriction, um like for example, night shades, um peppers, anything in the pepper family, things of that nature that are common, you know, like for me with um inflammatory issues, you might want to check that before you go. But if you're going to a different country, it might be, you know, other than the US may be uh not so bad, but if you're coming to the US, make sure you do that. So staying healthy during your trip and these are just general uh uh tips. Um overall and I would say regardless of whether or not you have a chronic illness, but even more so if you do um bring blackout masks and stick to your windown routine. So remember I mentioned earlier that some of the things that could happen is disturbance of your routine and of your schedule, especially if you're traveling to a different time zone. um and your sleep schedule is off. That happened with me when I was going back and forth and it took me a while to even recover afterwards when I got back home from the trip. Um so making sure that I bring a blackout mask so I can simulate, you know, nighttime when I'm sleeping during the day and those transitions when I'm in the air was really um helpful. if and I know it's going to be hard for you to but if it's possible depending on where you're going what types of activities you have um sticking to your windown routine um and just just for me I am not going to enjoy myself as much the next day if I don't get a good night's sleep and the last thing you want to do is to go through all of this preparation and planning you know spending money on a trip um and because you are tired from lack of sleep or lack of rest you're not able to enjoy it as much so make sure that you are doing those things to the best of your extent. I do. You say I bring a lot of stuff. I do along with my pillowcase. I bring lavender spray for my pillows. Um the eye mask and all of that um to make sure that I can simulate the experience that I have at home or my routine that I have at home while I'm on the road. Um also depending on how long I'm going to be there as well. We've already talked about hydration and self checks. I've even found that bringing those hydration packs where whether it be um I use a particular brand I use is called Ultima for hydration. So, anything that you can bring extra for electrolytes um especially if you're going to be doing a lot of walking um it's a um more humid or hot environment than you used to and making sure that you're checking in with yourself. Mindfulness again, regardless of whether you or not you have chronic illness, this is going to be um key. And it's not just about uh meditation. Um it's about about being aware of what you need in real time. Um and honing in on that and making sure that you're being proactive um and listening to your body before you have a flare or before the fatigue becomes unmanageable, unmanageable. So incorporating um those mindful techniques will help you catch those flares a lot faster. um so that your trip can last longer and be more enjoyable. Uh finding joyful moments. Everything doesn't have to be go go go when you have chronic illness. Um I mentioned earlier not letting u the perfect be the enemy of the good. Um you can have an enjoyable moment on a walk. Um you can have an enjoyable moment on on your hotel balcony looking out of the window. Um you can have enjoyable moments almost anywhere you go. So don't think that you have to be on go quote unquote or doing a specific task in order to enjoy that vacation. Sometimes the vacation is or part of the vacation is doing nothing because often times in our daily lives it's always something. Um so you don't have to be doing something quote unquote to be doing something. Enjoy those moments any time that you can get them. And then also movement and not just movement for exercise which is helpful. Um movement to clear your mind uh movement to as as a part of your meditation um as a part of pain reduction as a part of increasing your circulation especially when you're um coming off of those long flights. But the key is also too being prepared for it. Um a key part in this as well as I mentioned is I think you mentioned earlier the trekking. You mentioned you mentioned training and and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. Did you mention that as well? So, see, I just joined a hiking club. I I used to do 5ks and run all the time and it's a lot different. When I joined when I joined the hiking group, I was I thought I was going to be Oh, cuz I just had surgery. When I saw them cross trainining at the gym with uh what we call the the I forgot the name of the backpacks. I was like, "Oh, this is serious." So, I had to go out and buy me some trekking poles cuz it's a different terrain. um had I not known and been prepared for those types of hikes, it might not have been as an enjoyable experience. So when you're when you're planning for your movement, when you're getting your movement in, whether it's just for a walk, we're not what over over in France, a lot more heels than it is over here in Houston, Texas. So even that little bit in understanding that and knowing that um so you can prepare whether it be with shoes, proper gear is going to be important. But make sure you get your movement in, but make sure that you're prepared for the type of movement that you're going to encounter based on where you're going and what you're doing. And so with that being said, I'm going to go through these rather quickly just for the sake of time. Um because I just want to reiterate the importance of the movement because that's my thing and that's what that's what I do. And again, if you don't move, if you don't have the capability of moving, you're not going to travel. You're not going to want to travel. that's going to be a hindrance for you. And even if you you're able to to get up and move and and actually make it to your destination, if you don't feel good, if it's a cumbersome process for you, if you feel pain while you're move moving, you're not going to enjoy yourself and you're going to be less likely to plan that second trip. Um so making sure that you're you're stretching in the airport is going to be critically important. It helps relie relieve the tension, improve circulation, um discomfort from um uh moving long periods of time, whether it just be reaching your hands over your head. Um using resistance bands, things of that nature that you can carry with you in your luggage and your carry-on is going to be extremely important. And even on the plane, in and out, in and out, especially with the legs I mentioned earlier, that aisle seat, I don't even see how people sit for that long. And even on the international flight when the seats the spacing was a little bit larger, it was still difficult for that long period of time. So when the the seat belt light is off and you're uh and you're on the plane, make sure that if you can that you're getting up and moving around um to keep that circulation going. Um even in the hotel room, a lot of hotels now um have gyms. A lot of them even have specific rooms where you can get uh fitness equipment, but you know, you might not be the fitness person and don't want to do all that on your on your vacation, but at least getting some movement in so that you're not stiff and preparing your body for movement. Um, we don't necessarily think about warming up to go on vacation. Um, but we warm up when we do an exercise. And if you're going on a long walk for the day, excursions for the day, and you don't prepare your body for that, you're going to you're going to be more prone to injury. So before you before you walk out that hotel room, making sure that you're doing some squats, even if you're laying in the bed and stretching, it's going to be helpful um to keep you moving throughout the day. So again, the gear is going to be extremely important. Um I have a different pair of shoes for everything. And since y'all are climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, I know that you all know that that's important. I didn't know again my running gear is different than the hiking gear. I had to go out and buy the wool socks. Um, what do they else did they tell me? The specific hiking boots. I got those. I went to the store. I tried them on. They had a little heel that I walked down so I could see I got a size bigger. It was I didn't know like I have full out gear. I have the backpack um with with my with my camel pack and all of that. So making sure that again you could be going to France, you could be going to Mount Kilimanjaro that you know ahead of time so that you have the proper gear and the proper shoes. The Rebot might not get it. The Brooks tennis shoes that I use for running are not the hiking boots that I use for hiking and going up and down different terrain. So make sure that you're aware of that. Um it's going to be critically important. And also making sure that you're controlling your breathing. Again, we talked about um uh different environments, um whether it be uh different elevations, um different types of weather, um different types of speeds, um depending on how fast or slow your group is moving, all of that makes a difference. Um make sure that they're aware of your limitations. Um so they can help you um on the journey. is going to be important in making sure again that you're maintaining your stress level or reducing or mitigating your stress level by making sure that you're taking in those mindful moments and focusing on your breathing as well. And so these are just some little exercises that I have that you can um do and I have them actually in my lap. You said I always have anything these little bands are so easy to pack. For me, it's essential. I mentioned earlier, I'm have rheumatoid arthritis, which impacts my joints. I had shoulder surgery. This is one of the things that I can do on a plane, put it in between, and I'm exercising. And this is what I mean by exercise. I know you're like, Jamie, we're not exercising on vac. This is what this is all you have to do. We're keeping it simple, right? You can put it under your foot while you're on the plane and you know uh and contract expand your arms in and out and the little bit of space that you have even over your head going above your head. As long as you're getting some movement in that added resistance is also building your muscles which also will when you when you build muscle what does it do? Brings down your blood sugar. So the more movement that you get in uh the better. So we have those resistance bands. We also have the loop. Again, something simple. It already comes in a loop. You can put it around your ankles while you're sitting in in the plane, while you're in the airport, um while you're in your hotel room. Legs side to side. You're getting some extra resistance in as well. And then also seated rows, leg curls. I mentioned earlier the you might not want to get out of bed, but you need to stretch. You're in a hurry trying to multitask. You can lay in that bed and put that loop around your feet and and have at it and then you're going to be ready for your day because your your muscles are going to be warm and you're not just going out there willy-nilly trying to climb Mount Kilamanjaro without stretching before you go. Yes. And then you have this other this last band. And all of these are easily um can easily fit in your luggage. They're really easy to incorporate. And again, I'm just saying you might just want to incorporate this on your trips for your for your people. Anyway, these are simple. You can get them off of Amazon, little little little bands um to add in. And some people just like working out while they're on vacation because it's going to be harder for them when they get back to get back into the routine. So, these are simple things that you can take with you to incorporate if your hotel does not have a gym or if you just want to keep it simple and not even go to the gym, you can pack that and do that almost anywhere. And again, some other examples of how you can do that in your hotel room. Just clip that on the door and have at it. some other ones while you're sitting that you can do on the plane. So, supporting your mental wellness on the road. Um, and again, I wanted to add this in. Um, it's it's good for everybody, but I know for me specifically when you're going through that chronic illness journey, a lot of us have more than one chronic illness on the hardest days because you can't control your body because you thought your life was going to go a certain way because you thought you were going to be able to go on all of these adventures and your mind says no, your mind says go and your body says no. the mental toll that that takes on you is sometimes far worse than the physical toll of that particular um your that particular chronic illness. Um so making sure that you are taking time up out to recognize those feelings and address those feelings and determine why you're feeling that way. Um is it something that you can control? Is it something that you can um manage if you have the proper tools, if you have the proper proper support? A lot of times, again, the way that I'm able to do this and and I and I mentioned earlier, I became um addicted to movement, quote unquote, um because it was the only time that I felt like myself. It was a time where I wasn't thinking about work. I wasn't thinking about kids. I wasn't thinking about my illness. I had an endorphin rush. It was like a high and I was actually in that one hour per day able to really think and say, "Okay, Jamie, it's going to be okay." Um, that's how I got into I say I run, but it started off like a little walk. That's between a walk and a jog. Um, during that time, I didn't think about anything. Um, it gave me a sense of accomplishment. Um, and so the I view things a lot through the lens of movement, but not just movement in the in the in the space of my body. Um, but in the space of my purpose, I'm moving my purpose forward. I'm moving my life forward. Um because I am accepting where I am and the life that I have but in spite of making strides, getting educated, learning tools, um so that I can live my life to the fullest. It may look a little bit different than I thought it would have without chronic illness, but I can still enjoy the things that other people enjoy in spite of it. There was a time in my life where I was just like, "This sucks and it's going to suck for the rest of my life." It was it was years where I had not been on vacation at all. It was a span of 20 years where I did not go anywhere. Um because I was in a space of woe is me. Um but I had to get to the point where I'm like, if I want the years ahead of me, even though they don't look like what I thought they would be, to be greater than the years behind me, I have to do something. None of it is linear. There are good days and there are bad days. But if had I done had I done nothing, where would I be? Um where would I be if I had done nothing versus where would I be if I take small steps on a daily basis? And so that's what I mean by mindful movement. How are we moving that needle forward in spite of our circumstances and in spite of our chronic illnesses? Planning and preparation, which we've talked about throughout this presentation. And again, taking those mindful breaks sometimes, depending on where you go and who you're with, um, it could be more difficult. I try to surround myself with other people. I went on a trip recently and I've been doing a lot of advocacy with other people who have chronic illness. Sometimes when you go on a trip and when you go on a conference at work, just give the example, you're at work and you're traveling and you're sitting all day and you're doing presentations and then afterwards they want to go to the bar. I'm like, I don't want to go to the bar. I want to go back to my hotel room and chill out. the people with the chronic illness, they understand that. So sometimes if you're on a trip, you can feel like right that that you're a barrier to other people or you're you're you're not enjoying the trip or able to enjoy the trip to the to the fullest extent um because of your limitations. And again, knowing that ahead of time and preparing your mind ahead of time for that and taking those mindful breaks and saying, "Okay, in spite of I'm still enjoying myself. If I do go out, I won't be able to enjoy myself tomorrow. The lesser the lesser of two evils. I I'm proud of myself for even making it this far because it's farther than I've made it before." Um, it's really going to be important for you to enjoy yourself in the present and to continue to travel going forward, making sure that you have joy in the in the current moment. So, putting it all together and I'm on time. I am surprised we have about 9 minutes. So, putting it all together. Um, adaptability is key. Making sure that your your routine is flexible so you can modify your hotel rooms, modify for your airports, and modify for your outdoor adventures. Um, if you're traveling in a group, making sure that the group leader or someone there or whomever you're traveling with is aware uh of your limitations. Um, and seeing how they can work with you. um smart food strategies, packing anti-inflammatory foods or being prepared. Knowing where you're going to go, uh where you can shop if that's the that if that's what you're going to be doing while you're there, if you're going to be preparing food for yourself, knowing what the hotel serves, knowing what the city serves, what's the culture, do you have any restrictions and preparing for that ahead of time. making sure that you're having your daily movement touch points, you're walking, you're stretching in your hotel room, even if it's on a day where you're not moving at all and it's your rest day, lay in that bed and swing that leg up side to side, do something so that inflammation won't set in and you'll be able to enjoy the next day to the fullest, making sure that you're mindful everywhere. Sometimes, again, on a daily basis when we're not traveling, the chronic illness can get you down, but you don't want it to get you down while you're on vacation because you paid your good money for that. So making sure making sure that you have those mindful moments and you bring yourself back. A lot of times I do that with gratitude. Like I may not be able to do what I want to do but I'm doing much more than I thought that I would because I am here. And when you re I like to call it the reframe. When you reframe um and have a different perspective, it makes things go a lot easier. And if stress is a trigger for you for your flare ups like it is for me, you're going to want to make sure that you're incorporating those mindful moments everywhere. Don't think of rest as a negative thing. Rest is productive. Make sure that you schedule those breaks in. And don't hesitate to recharge when your body signals that it needs it. And even before your body signals that it needs it. Um it's it's almost like now before I used to go go, but now I need a nap before I go out to the club. If I went out to the club, I know I would need a nap before I went out. I can't just just get up and go. I need electrolytes and I need a nap before I turn up. Um, hydration matters. Again, going on to the next one, electrolytes, filtered water, making sure that you're sipping um frequently to help support your system. And again, that people underestimate that and I've mentioned it a couple of times. um with your hormones, uh with your blood sugar, um with with your inflammation, you're going to want to make sure that you're staying hydrated just to enjoy your trip, period. Especially if you're having a little drink, you know, make sure you stay hydrated with water. Um and then also, again, just to reiterate, making sure that you're looking for joy in every moment. Even if it's laying in bed because you've had a long day, whether it's a quiet view, a laugh in the hotel lobby, or on the plane, enjoy your experience while you're there. Important dos and don'ts. Making sure that you're man managing your energy wisely. Celebrate again those small victories that you have. I know for me, just planning a trip at one point in time was a victory cuz I didn't want to. I'm going to be more tired. That was my mindset. When you think about mindset, I'm gonna I'm gonna go on this trip and when I go back, come come back home, I'm going to be in a flare for a whole week and then I'm going to get behind on my job and then it's just going to be like I need a vacation from a vacation. Who wants to go through that? But if you plan properly, you don't you you'll know that you're going to be restored after your vacation rather than being uh tired um and cranky because you're behind after your vacation. Don't push yourself beyond your limits. And those may change from day to day. Um from year to year, from week to week sometimes, you know, in this period, menopause, menopause, hour to hour, it may change. I know all of you may not be there on the line on the on the presentation. You may not be there. Um but I'm up in age. And so, uh the menopause is a consideration as well, but don't push your limits. Um and again, just to reiterate, every moment is a moment of joy. whether you're having a conversation on a plane with someone and I always strike up a conversation with anybody that I'm with. If I know you or not, um find those moments of joy throughout that vacation. And then at the end, I have for you, if you have any questions, let me know. And then I also have these checklists. Uh and as I mentioned, there's impossible for me to cover everything. Each of these slides could have been an entire presentation in of itself. Um just because there's all so many different types of trips. There's road trips, trains, um there hiking trips, local trips, international trips, what have you, that all have different considerations. And so these uh this particular checklist has checklist for almost everything. It's 60 pages. Again, it's not as comprehensive as it can be. I'm always adding things to it. Um, but it's a good starter for someone who just wants some quick tips or, you know, things to jog their memory, things that they may not have considered um, when preparing to go on vacation or on a trip. So, with that, that concludes my presentation. I know it was fast, um, but I wanted to make sure that I got through it and at least leave a couple of minutes for questions if anybody had any. Yeah, thank you so much, Jamie, for the presentation. It's amazing. I learned a lot, especially for the movements and and packing. I'm not that good at packing. I learned a lot from you. Thank you so much for the presentation. And do you have any questions? Uh, Kelly, do you have any question? No questions, but I just wanted to say thank you so much to Jamie. This was very very uh insightful, a lot of useful tips and uh you clearly have so much experience with travel. So I appreciate you coming here and sharing all of your knowledge with us. Thank you for having me. Yeah, M. I really appreciate it. Uh I learned a lot a lot especially for the movement. I don't move at all when I'm in the airplanes. I just want to sleep. Yeah. I mean, I want to sleep too, but for me, just because with my chronic illness, I have so many joint issues and it like like even when I go to a restaurant and I sit for long periods periods of time, I'm I'm constantly moving my legs under the table because if I don't move them, inflammation will set in my legs. Um, that's why in the beginning um the the beginning slides, I had on compression pants. Those are those are actually my compression pants that I use to run. I do not run without those. Um the compression not only helps when I'm traveling with the circulation, it helps when um afterwards so I don't have as much swelling from the sitting and I can actually enjoy my trip when I get there just by, you know, having a couple of extra tools. So I guess I don't look fashionable when I'm traveling with this compression pants and the vest, but it's a lot easier to move around and I feel a lot better and I do a lot better as far as managing or mitigating my symptoms. I want to have my compression pants um and my vest with all my medications and pockets on it. Okay. Thank you so much. And you're welcome also to our next event. It will be on 30th June at 6 p.m. PDT. And I I just want to remind you about the upcoming trips. If you are interested, we have to climb Kilimanjaro. And now you also have to be ready and do the go to gym and train. As Miss Jamie said, you have to move. We have October luxury safari in Tanzania, November Peru and Guatemala. And for 2026, we have Peru, Morocco, Costa Rica, Bali, and Tunisia. And thank you, thank you so much, Jamie, for the great presentation and tips. I really would love to to see you next time also in our community event. You're welcome to attend and yeah, absolutely. Thank you. You're welcome. Have a good day. All right. You too. You too. Bye. Thank you. Bye. Bye. Bye.