Traveling Alone Tips!

I did it. I went to Europe. On my own. As a teenager. As a diabetic.

Words cannot explain the wonderful, exciting, crazy trip I went on! For the past two weeks, I participated in a Belgium-American exchange program, where I stayed with my host families for two weeks. I had the chance to emerge myself into the European culture – try new food, experience new things, and explore new places.

Nevertheless, everything I did in Europe can’t amount to the craziness that I was there on my own, without my parents, for TWO weeks across the country!

While I am fairly independent with my diabetes, never have I traveled that far (time and distance) from my parents! With that said, the fact that they trusted me enough to allow me to be part of this program is something I will be eternally grateful for. Here is some advice I have for those diabetics who may be a little on the edge on traveling by themselves.

Packing

I was gone for two weeks, and here are the diabetic supplies I packed in my suitcase:

• 10 pump sites (I just packed a box of the Medtronic sites
• 10 reservoirs (^)
• 1 test strip bottle
• 1 lancet bottle
• 2 Dexcom site
• 1 Dexcome transmitter
• 3 bags of shots
• 1 bottle of tablets (50)
• 20 Alcohol swabs
• Handful of fruit snacks (20 grams each)
• 5 Cliff Bars (40 grams each)
• 4 apple juice bottles (30 grams each)
• 1 tablet juice bottle (15 grams each)
• 2 insulin bottles, which I kept in one of this ice lunch packs that keeps things good for 15 hours or so 

For my carryon, I just packed my emergency kit. I’m not sure if everyone has this, or just me, but if you don’t happen to have an emergency kit, I highly suggest making one. Basically, my emergency kit has everything I would need in the case of… you guessed it, an emergency! I bring it with me whenever I go on small weekend trips, etc., so I don’t always have to repack! This is what is in my kit:

• 4 pump sites
• 4 reserviors
• 1 pack of 4 triple A batteries
• 1 test strip bottle
• Half a box of lancets that I put in a ziploc bag
• 1 bag of shots
• 4 Alcohol swabs
• 1 Dexcom site
• 1 insulin bottle that I keep in a small ice keeping bag

I also throw in snacks to my carry-on of course, in case of a low or if I’m hungry.

Dexcom

I don’t even know much I can emphasize this point. DEXCOM SAVES LIVES!!! This was such a big part of my trip as Dexcom made it easy for me to go around during the day time without worrying as I could easily see what my blood sugars were before meals, when walking around, participating in activities, etc.

At night, Dexcom alerted me whenever I started to go low. One difficult part of my trip was getting up at night. Before going to Europe, I worked hard with my parents to get up to the Dexcom alert. I highly suggest figuring out your weaknesses beforehand and making sure you can combat them before going on a long/far trip. My dad made sure I was able to wake up at night before allowing me to go!

Dexcom also helps with parents. My parents are pretty protective, especially when it comes to diabetes. Ten follow up texts an hour are common, and constant check ins are a must. However, my sharing Dexcom with my parents, I didn’t have to constantly text them updates - they had it at their Dexcom share app!

I am so thankful I had Dexcom on my trip as it was a LIFESAVER!

Establishing support

It is extremely important to make sure that your peers know that you have diabetes. The group I went with on the trip was pretty big - roughly 30 Americans + all of the Belgian students we stayed with. I knew every single one of them wouldn’t have time to learn about my diabetes. However, I made a point of explaining my condition to a few people I knew I would always be around in case of an emergency!

Also, notify and educate the chaperones! It’s important to not be embarrased or shy about your diabetes. Be prepared to emergency.

I have more advice that I will probably share later down the road, but those are three important points for now! I hope this helped any diabetics wanting to travel alone!