It's been a long time since I've been on a real vacation. I planned a vacation last year after my mother and godmother asked me to join them on a trip they were putting together for this coming May. It sounded like fun and a great opportunity to spend time with just them. Of course after everything was put into place, I started wondering what I was supposed to do about my Migraines, medication and still enjoy the vacation.
This vacation is coming up so quickly and since it was planned, my sister invited herself along, my mom dislocated her shoulder and my sister was in her accident where she had some mild traumatic brain injury that started her almost daily head pain too. Won't we be a pair on this trip! Luckily, mom's shoulder is doing great.
As far as Migraines are concerned, this trip is going to consist of a very long plane ride and a lot of outdoor time with plenty of sun. Summertime and heat usually increase my Migraines. Oh boy...
I know I have to do much more planning for this whole trip than my business trips. I will be around more of my summer and outside triggers, but hopefully I will be able to unwind and won't be stressed about anything either. I don't plan on having any stress anyway! :-)
The plane ride will have a connecting flight going and will be a direct flight coming back so the travel times are approximately twelve hours and then ten hours. I know I will need to drink lots of water and bring my own meals with me for the plane ride. I've never traveled this long on a plane, but eating and drinking are really the two big things I'm worried about unless of course, you count someone wearing some smelly stuff. What do you do if someone is wearing smelly stuff while you are trapped on a plane? What else do I have to plan ahead of time for the plane as far as my Migraines are concerned?
We have some down time after we get to the island which I think we will need especially since we will have to adjust to the new time zone too. We have some excursions planned; some are all day trips that I'm hoping we will all be able to enjoy since they sound wonderful. My biggest concerns there are going to be the sun and the lights in the rooms.
I am packing my own light bulbs. This has worked out so well on prior trips I have taken. When I get to a hotel room, I will switch my lovely incandescent bulbs for those devilish CFL bulbs that all of the hotel rooms seem to have anymore and then change them back once I leave. This is the first time I will be bringing my own bulbs on a plane. I have a small plastic container that fits a box of light bulbs perfectly. Other times when I have flown, I have called the hotel ahead of time to ask them about switching the bulbs in the room. We will be changing hotels a few times during our vacation so I thought this would be the best way to handle my light sensitivity issue.
As for the sun, I have my hats and my sunglasses. I just hope that will be enough. The sun is really what terrifies me the most. I will have to be outside. Let me reword that, I want to be outside. I want to enjoy a little life, history and nature! I don't want Migraine to take over. Although I've decided not to invite Migraine along with me, like my sister, it may decide to come along anyway and I must decide how to handle it if it does visit even with the precautions I will have tried to take already.
I will take more preventative medications in my carry on than I will actually need for the entire trip. I will take my abortives and rescue meds with me in my carry on too. This has been a very tough year. I've had a rough time with medication adjustments and will be going back to my doctor one more time before my vacation. Like so many of us, I really need to get away, unwind and it will be nice to spend time with the girls while doing it.
What helpful hints do you have for a vacation? How have you found it best to manage the sun? Do you have any helpful hints for the plane?
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