Travel is fun, adventurous and exciting. All of us wish and desperately want to go for some long trip to relax and rejuvenate. Besides, the fun and thrilling experience involved with travelling, it is also connected to the changes in time zone, body clock, temperatures and food. But, for people living with diabetes this can have a drastic impact on their ability to manage their diabetes level. However, this doesn’t mean that people with diabetes can't travel or that they need to make massive adjustments to travel peacefully. Today we have, Ms. Sunita Pathania – Sr. Registered Dietician and Diabetes Educator, Healthy Living Diet Clinic, Mumbai, giving us some simple and effective tips to help people with diabetes travel without any problems...

Planning and lots of planning: Planning and plotting is very much essential if you are going for a trip, because traveling involves lots of changes and you should be mentally ready for it. Planning completely depends on the place you are visiting, time period and food you will be consuming. If you don’t want diabetes to be your barrier, then plan well in advance, so that your blood sugar level doesn’t cause trouble during your journey.

Visit your doctor: To have a great journey, visit your doctor and go in for a check-up at least four weeks before your journey. Plan out a schedule for your medicines and meals with your doctor, to avoid interference in your blood sugar level. Take a list of all your medications including their generic names and dosage. Get a letter from your doctor, saying that you are diabetic so that you will be able to carry medicines along with you. 

What to do if you are ill? Ask this question to your doctor, to avoid inconvenience during your journey. It is common to undergo motion sickness while travelling, hence keep some juice along with you, which has carbohydrates in it. Besides, if you are very sick then test your blood sugar level every 2-4 hours, continue with your diabetes medications, drink plenty of sugar-free fluids, avoid any caffeine products, consume at least 15 grams of carbohydrates every hour, call for a doctor if your health worsens and take adequate rest.

Identification: Use some sort of self explanatory mark like a bracelet or necklace, so that others around you realize that you have diabetes. 

Travel insurance: Go for health insurance that includes medical problems. Read all your policies before signing on the document, as travelling with diabetes may pose to be a challenge when things go wrong. People with diabetes can have unexpected low or high blood pressure or can develop an infection which can further cause severe health problems. Hence it is very important to get the best health insurance. 

Packing: First and foremost carry extra supplies of medicines with you. Make sets of all your medicines and pack them in more than one bag, to avoid problems in case you lose your luggage. Always carry other essentials like drinking water, medicines to treat vomiting and diarrhea, and comfortable shoes. 

Food: Always carry some low calorie food along with you to avoid fluctuations in your blood sugar level. Have a proper schedule of your insulin doses and food consumption. And never be on an empty stomach. 

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