Six Tips for Traveling With a Chronic Illness
I love to travel. I love to see new places, experience new people, try new foods, and dive into that sweet space between safety and adventure.
My love for travel began when I was very young, and I have had a wanderers spirit for as long as I can remember. However, for that same amount of memorable time, I have been battling chronic pain, chronic illness, and an invisible disability that can send me to bed for weeks at a time, making my desire for movement feel impossible to achieve.
Written By Vivian Finck
Chronic illnesses and conditions are often isolating and lonely.
This reality stems from the fact that these disease often present purely as symptoms without a readily identifiable source, meaning: there is no visible ailment. People are less understanding of invisible illness for this reason and the reality of living with them means a lot of personal time is spent trying to come up with solutions that help minimize the nearly-constant discomfort that nobody else can see you living in.
I was 12 when I was diagnosed with chronic migraine, a neurological disease that manifests in visceral pain, language loss, nausea, hallucinations, and other cognitive disruptions for the greater part of each month.
Growing up with chronic pain and a love for travel has presented me with a life of dichotomous desires. On one hand, I want to minimize my pain and discomfort as much as possible. On the other hand, I want to throw myself into the unknown and adventure, which are often uncomfortable places. And let us be honest with ourselves, travel can be super draining on the body and takes a toll on anyone, not just those with a greater disposition to pain.
As someone who experiences an exasperated version of the discomfort associated with travel, I have spent years trying to come up with treatment plans and preemptive measures to attempt at making travel as unaggravating for my pain as possible.
Below, I have created a list of the measures and precautions I take while traveling to try and minimize pain. I figured, there must be a lot of other people like me who are searching for ways to minimize the detriment of chronic illness in one's pursuit of passions and adventure.
Before getting into it, I just want to explicitly state that I am not a doctor, and this is not medical advice. This is from my own experience with travel and my personal experience of pain. Some of the precautions I take for myself and the list below won’t work for anyone, and I always recommend working with your healthcare team to come up with an emergency plan, as well as listening to your own body when preparing to travel.
Make sure to pack your medications and emergency items in your carry-on or personal item.
It is so important to have the medications and devices you may need in order to minimize discomfort while traveling. More importantly, it’s crucial to keep these things in a readily available space, such as your personal item. When in the midst of a migraine, or just a pain flareup, the mind can become really distracted by what’s going on internally, but also the external stimuli. You don’t want to find yourself tearing apart your bag or have any reason for an anxiety increase. So, I always keep my meds in a little cosmetic bag at the top of my carry-on. I also recommend keeping earplugs in this area in case you experience light sensitivity. Beyond this, I try to always have anti-inflammatory medications such as Benadryl on hand. Antihistamines not only lower inflammation but also can make you drowsy and allow you to relax or fall asleep easily to pass the time.
Always have access to water and food during the travel day and throughout your trip. Stick to your usual eating schedule and accommodate if you think you need to.
I always try to keep protein bars on me, whether traveling or just going on a walk. Often, falling behind on my eating schedule can really aggravate my symptoms and just throw my body off. Since airplane meals are timed, having access to a quick pick-me-up to maintain as normal of an eating schedule as possible can really help maintain your body’s internal clock. I also like to keep electrolyte powder on me. Traveling can be super dehydrating and adding a few electrolytes to your water bottle can help rehydrate you a bit faster than usual.
Make sure to move, especially on travel days.
This is something that doctors constantly recommend to me, and honestly, anyone and everyone should do this as well. Moving your body every day to help release tension build-up can be crucial to feeling good. On travel days, I like to walk around every two to three hours. Whether this is in the terminal just in circles or up and down the aisle, I find this trick helps me lower stress and decrease tension.
Learn some easy, seated yoga positions and use Valsalva Maneuver during take-off/landing.
The chairs on trains, planes, airport terminals, and even cars can get super uncomfortable and create tension, specifically in the neck and lower back. Learning some easy, seated yoga positions can help distribute pressure throughout your body as well as stretch out tense muscles. I also love using the Valsalva Maneuver during take-off and landing to help slow my heart rate and combat pressure changes, which can really aggravate my head.
This can help break up the tension as well, which I find especially helpful for minimizing neck tension which leads to migraines.
Wear layers and always have sunglasses for comfort, body temperature, and light adjustment.
As someone with a neurological disease, sunglasses are a necessary addition everywhere I go. I am constantly battling the painful effect of harsh lighting found in public spaces and almost always wear sunglasses. Beyond this, pain can alter body temperature regulation, so wearing lots of layers allows you to adjust to the external temperature as needed and maintain as much comfort as possible. I always say it’s better to have too many layers than not enough!
Download some healing sounds to listen to.
This is something a little bit more niche, but as someone who often gets sound-sensitive while experiencing pain, this is a small and easy way to regulate the environment I’m in. The sounds in an airport or on an airplane are anything but soothing, so being able to find some peaceful and calming sounds to focus on can help create some internal peace.
This list is not meant to be all-encompassing, and not every suggestion will be beneficial to everyone, but in my experience, these are some of the things that have helped me minimize my pain while traveling and I hope that some of my research and discoveries can help those with invisible illness feel more prepared during their upcoming adventures.
I believe in the power of travel and adventure to transform people into the best versions of themself, but it can also be the cause of flare-ups and uncomfortable encounters with our bodies.
Living with chronic pain and invisible illnesses should not stop you from experiencing life. Though travel often takes us out of our comfort zone, finding ways to help regulate our immediate environment can be a huge way to reclaim some autonomy. Working with a travel agency can help to alleviate the mundane stressors of travel, and allow those dealing with invisible illnesses and chronic pain to focus purely on taking care of themselves and being present on their trip.
At Pack Up + Go, we always hold the traveler experience above all else, and if there is anything you need before, during, or after your Trip, our dedicated Traveler Support Team is here to help.
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Meet The Author
Vivian Finck, Pack Up + Go Intern
Vivian is a graduate from the University of Vermont, who studied English, Reporting, and Documentary Storytelling. She started as an intern for the Pack Up + Go content team in September of 2022. Currently, Vivian is residing in Burlington, Vermont and in her free time she loves to do yoga, read, write, rock climb, ski, and explore new places. She hopes to use her degree in writing and her love for language to share her personal experience and advocate for people living with chronic pain.