Domestic Traveling with T1D

How do you travel with Diabetes? They let needles on the plane? How do you keep your insulin cold? How do you know how many supplies to bring? These are only some of the questions I receive when it comes to traveling with a chronic illness! Its not the easiest thing to do, actually very stressful to be honest, but it is totally doable for ANYONE! Don’t let your illness stop you from doing what you love to do!

If you are anything like myself, you will have a months worth or more of everything for any trip you take. While I am getting better about this, I never skimp out on over packing diabetes supplies, no matter the duration or distance of a trip I am taking. I got burned one time on an overnight trip to West Virginia, the 1st year of having a pump. I didn’t pack extra supplies, my pump site was on my butt, and it ripped out. I had to spend the remainder of the night trying to figure out how to get a replacement site without getting ridiculed by my parents or driving back home haha; talk about stressed!

The last two trips I went on, I flew. We went to California this summer, which for me is a 4 hr flight, and a couple weeks ago we went to Minnesota, which is a 2 hr flight. California was my first trip with my new pump and sensor, Omni Pod and Dexcom. I was less stressed with these two devices, then my previous traveling with a tubed pump. When flying, always call or look up regulations of the airport you are coming from and going to. Most of them are the same, but some can be a bit different. All diabetes supplies ARE allowed on your carry on bag, please do not allow someone to tell you you have to check your supplies… this is NOT true! If you are going on a long trip and have a lot of supplies, you can check them; but, please make sure to have supplies in your carry on bag for during the flight!

My diabetes bag looks like this: enough sites for 1-2 possible changes a day, enough sensors for a change a day, enough insulin vials per days I am on the trip, alcohol swabs, Skin Tac wipes, spare needles, prescriptions for everything I bring, extra test strips, Ketone sticks, Glucose Tabs, and baggies for ice. I pack this in its own bag, that’s easy to pull out to let TSA check and send through the X-ray machine. I wear my pump/sensor in a location I feel comfortable showing TSA when I walk through the scanner. Once through the scanner, I always get stopped. I let them know I am a T1D, show them my sites, they wipe my hands down for explosives, and I get sent on my way. I also wear a medical ID band at all times, this is especially helpful when traveling incase anything were to happen to me.

Once I get through security, I plan for the things I couldn’t bring through, that I’ll need on the flight; such as: snacks, drinks, and ice. My husband and I always make sure to both get a gatorade, then whatever else we want to drink. For our drink choice on the flight, I always get a water. When it comes to drinks I use to only get one gatorade, but QUICKLY learned my lesson on our flight to California. I ran extremely low during the flight and didn’t come back up as quick as I had planned, and was in a panic while deplaning our flight. After this experience, two gatorades are mandatory for every flight. Snacks, we normally both get a snack we want, then I will grab a bag of candy. This may seem like a lot of sugar/carbs, but you can never be over prepared for going low on flights. Id rather be safe than sorry. For the baggies of ice, I pack two baggies. I will go to a coffee place or restaurant, once through security and ask for a cup of ice. I will double bag the ice to keep in my carry on bag. The ice is to keep my vials of insulin cold during the flights.

Once on the plane, I will check my numbers and plan my insulin from there. I always try to run 120-150 before the flight. I know 150 is a little high, but when you fly your numbers can change so drastically, due to various things such as: stress, excitement, temperature, altitude, etc. These numbers work for me, but may not work for every T1D, so do what works best for you! Most flights we sit together, but my husband also has the Dexcom app and can look at my numbers during the flight, if we were not able to sit together. I haven’t travelled alone as a T1D yet, but if you are, let a stewardess or the person you sit next to, know that you are a T1D. This may seem weird at first, but can be very beneficial, if something were to go south during the flight.

Once we arrive to the airport, we will restock on drinks/snacks with carbs for the hotel room. When we check in we will ask where the vending machines, ice machines, and little hotel store is located. Every hotel room normally has a mini fridge, but if they don’t, put ice in the ice box that they provide each room. Dry out the baggies from the plane, place your vials of insulin in the baggie, and place the baggie in the ice box with ice to keep them cold. Don’t leave your insulin vials without a baggie in the ice box. The vials are glass and could break from being too cold. When I leave the hotel room, I always carry a spare site with me, incase I need to change it while we are out and about.

We drove the coast of California, when we went. We were in and out of the car a lot that week. I did everything the same as I normally do while traveling. I had plenty of snacks/drinks for lows, kept my supplies in the back seat for easy access, restocked ice when we would check out of our hotels to keep insulin cold in the car, and always had an extra site on me whenever we left the hotel/car to do something. When we went to Minnesota, we went to a Vikings game. I was super nervous about entering the stadium, due to the super small/clear bag policy the NFL has. I packed my Omni pod, an extra site, alcohol swab, and my mask. I made sure my numbers were in my preferred range before leaving the car to walk to the stadium. It was only a couple blocks away, but most non diabetics don’t realize the stressors different environments have on your blood sugar. Dustin carried a half open gatorade from the previous day with us until we got to the stadium. My numbers were still in range, so we threw the gatorade out and made our way into the stadium. Security was easy, didn’t get stopped at all thanks to the clear bag I had showing my diabetic supplies. Once inside, we decided we would stop for food and drinks. We both got food and a gatorade, just incase I ran low during the game. This gatorade would work for the walk back to the car and the ride back to the hotel.

While traveling with T1D is very stressful and takes a lot more planning then the average person, it’s POSSIBLE! Don’t let your chronic illness stop you from doing what you love to do. There are plenty of tips and tricks you learn from your own experiences and other T1D’s. Plan ahead and know the policies for the places you are going! Bring all the extra supplies, drinks/snacks, and ENJOY your trip!