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I’ve had to go with tips for travelling with chronic pain as the title for this post as that’s what between myself and the doctor we’ve figured out is wrong with me. The tests have all come back as normal which in one way is great but in others not so much as it means I don’t have a formal diagnosis other than “it hurts a lot”.
When you do not have a formal diagnosis, but still experience chronic pain, finding ways to make the pain more manageable is so important – for instance, if CBD is something you’re considering using to ease your symptoms then CFAH is a great place to find all the info you need.
This post does include a gifted item but this will be made clear and all thoughts and opinions are my own as usual.
I figured I should share all my tips for travelling with chronic pain and hopefully you can find something that helps you too. Now I know they may not be anything new but they are all tips that have helped me.
Pack light
Now this is one tip that I do need to work on myself. I always over pack and it’s a habit I can’t quite break yet. I have started this by downsizing the purse that I use when I travel. This one by Village Leathers* (£25) is perfect for travel. It may be small but it can hold almost as much as my large purses.
There’s two sections for coins at the front of the purse and then the back section holds notes and bank cards. The two coin sections are handy when travelling as you can have your pound coins in one section and then your other currency – in my case Euros – in the other section. This meant that instead of the two purses I usually carry I only needed the one. Even better, I went for the Hufflepuff yellow. I’ve been loving yellow accessories at the moment and it makes it even easier to find in the bottom of my bag.
For more tips on what to pack if you have a chronic illness, Through the Fibro Fog has a great post about the 9 things she always carries. There were definitely a few items there that I hadn’t thought of!
Open Top Bus Tours
An open top bus tour is a great way to see the city without hurting yourself. I did this in Paris and it was a great way to see the city and I got some amazing photos too that I wouldn’t have been able to get from the street. I wrote a post a while ago all about the planning process for my trip to Paris and I’ve go one lined up all about what I saw while I was there too.
The other bonus is that I didn’t have to walk too far in the heat – it was 30+ degrees when I was in Paris. I can recommend doing them in the UK too as you get to see places you know from a different perspective.
Planning
I don’t mean that you have to plan your day done to the minute with a spreadsheet, although if you do this then send me what you use as I would love to see it. What I mean is if you have some monuments or museums that you want to see then make a general route of how you’ll find them.
Another thing that I’ve found helps is to make sure I have my ears cleaned by a professional before I travel, especially if I’m flying as it helps with my ears not popping as badly. I recommend Northern Spire Hearing Services if you’re looking for somewhere to have this done.
Having a general plan means that you won’t double back on yourself or end up walking the same route twice. I can say I’ve done this and it wasn’t any fun for me or my poor feet.
