Hello my travel hungry companions!! I wanted to continue along the lines of my last post and talk a little about packing. I know, I know. How hard is it to stuff clothing in a suitcase and go? Well my fellow special needers, if you are like me it are not that simple. There are variables to consider like medications. Unique medical necessities like catheters and the occasional traveling shower bench. This stuff takes some thinking about.
Lets start with the stuff you want to carry on. I know with the added fee of checked baggage you want to carry on everything, but on long trips that is not always an option. So you want to keep with you what I call the “essentials”. You know the stuff that you can’t just run into your local department store to replace. Medication is to be kept in its original bottles (or pharmacy packed medi-set with labels) and in your carry on. DO NOT CHECK THIS. I really cannot stress this enough. If it is something that your doctor says you need on a schedule don’t trust an airline. You should treat it like it is gold or diamonds. Keep it with you. I pack mine in a clear Ziploc baggy so that when you go through security they can look at it but not mess them up or have the vials flying all over the place.
For daily medical supplies like cathaters, leg bags, gloves, testing strips, etc. I personally try to pack this as small as possible. Take it out of unnecessary boxes or other packaging. Get your pharmacy to print you labels and place them in sipper baggies and squeeze the air out of them. Rubberband together your cathetars and store them in a side pocket so you have more room in the main compartment. Alot of this is just about using common sense. Basically you are trying to keep it as light and essential as possible.
My last big tip is this. If you have a big trip comming up contact the hotel in advance to see if you can have items shipped to the hotel you will be staying at. I have had great sucess with this when traveling and if you explain yopur situation most good hotels will assist you with what they will need on the addressing slip (ie guest name, room #, attention to). These folks want you to have a good time and most importantly give their hotels good word of mouth.
That is another post from your travel companion. I have more good posts on the way so keep coming back. Also if you have any questions or comments email them to me at wheelchairsiteseer@yahoo.com
More to come,
