How to Prepare for Travel with Chronic Illness

The debilitating nature of chronic diseases like psoriatic arthritis can curtail our traveling dreams, but there is hope! A little extra preparation can go a long way when it comes to a more comfortable and enjoyable experience. 

Social media gets flooded with images of people prancing through fields of flowers or looking out at incredible views as they venture around the world seemingly without a care. When living with an incurable condition, imagining ourselves following in their footsteps might feel impossible, but it isn’t!

Living with chronic illness doesn’t have to mean no travel. The process just necessitates a little more care and attention.

At times, the extra care required to travel can feel demotivating and discouraging. We don’t want to feel different, and the additional challenges can feel intimidating. But it’s well worth the effort.

Chronically ill people are capable of so much more than society tells us, and that includes seeing the world’s beauty up close and personal!

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Why is travel difficult for chronically ill people?

“It’s definitely made it more challenging to travel,” said travel journalist and brand and web designer Ashley Couto. “I did my degree in art history, so a lot of the travel I like doing is to Europe to see old museums and historical sites, and some of those places aren’t exactly disability friendly.”

“I had to leave the Boboli Gardens after an hour because the slanted landscape was murder on my hips,” she continues. “It sucks to have to center my disability in my travel plans, but I have to be realistic.”

One of the most complicating factors of traveling with a chronic illness like psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is the dynamic nature of the condition. Some days are better than others, and predicting when a flare-up might undercut our travel plans is difficult.

Although PsA interrupts our daily lives with vicious cruelty, it doesn’t need to rob anyone of the joy of traveling the world. Traveling with chronic illness simply requires more care and caution than the average person.

“Often, we hear from potential customers from the disability community that they haven’t been on holiday for years, sometimes even decades, because they find the idea of travel as a person with disabilities too stressful and overwhelming to even contemplate,” said Angus Drummond, the CEO and founder of Limitless Travel, a company that provides wheelchair-accessible, disability-friendly travel experiences.

“We’ve been able to prove time and again that by providing a higher level of service with appropriate equipment and care, the world of travel, and even solo travel, is accessible to everyone,” he continues.

Planning the trip

People without disabilities and healthy folks might hop on a plane and visit a new country without a second thought. This isn’t always possible for people living with PsA, but that just means preparation must become our closest travel companion.

“Be prepared, make sure you’ve done all your homework, fully understand what your trip will involve, what kind of care and equipment will be provided, and plan for this,” Drummond said.

Part of this preparation must involve identifying any barriers to visiting the destination of your choice, such as limited access to healthcare and essential medication.

“If you have any critical medications, sometimes that’s illegal in some countries; you need to look into all of this,” said Neha Arora, the founder of Planet Abled, a travel company making travel accessible with innovative solutions. “Plus, if you don’t share your accessibility needs in the minutest detail with the local service provider, you’ll regret it.”

“For you, it’s normal, so it’s a great possibility that you’ll miss out on sharing some details because it’s a day-to-day thing for you, but for others, it’s not, so finding that balance is very important,” she continues.

Think in detail about all the possible information that your chosen service provider or local tour guide will need to know. The more they know, the better equipped they’ll be to handle any mishaps.

Yes, we’d love to be able to dismiss the existence of our conditions, but they aren’t going anywhere, so we need to be realistic and plan accordingly.

“Please request airport assistance,” advises Couto. “This is a game changer and pro tip: You usually end up getting out of the airport faster than everyone else when you land because you don’t have to sit in the big customs line; you go in the priority line with the flight crew and your bags are priority tagged to be brought out first on most airlines.”

Finding adaptations that work for you

Illness impacts us in various ways, meaning that even if you have the same condition as someone else, everyone may need a different approach. It may take trial and error which often involves making modifications to accommodate symptoms and potential flare-ups.

“I travel for long stretches of time, and I have to do a few things,” Couto said. “I have resigned myself to needing to take cabs everywhere. It’s just easier, even if it’s more expensive. I also have to stay at a hotel with a bathtub and request a room close to the elevator.”

As Couto discovered on her adventures, finding tools that fit your essential needs is crucial to finding the proper adaptations to make your travel dreams a reality.

“I made two investments that drastically upgraded the quality of my travel: a telescoping stool and a container that keeps your fridge-only medications cold,” she said. “I get the motorized one so I can plug it in on the plane, and it keeps my medication to the right temperature.”

Mentally and physically preparing

“I think another important aspect is to be mentally prepared if something unprecedented happens,” Arora said. “It’s all possible, but try not to fret too much about it.”

“A positive attitude is important,” she adds. “It happened. Let it be. You don’t know what might happen, so try to have a good attitude.”

Something might go wrong with an illness, meaning you need to have contingency plans in place before you go. For example, identify a nearby doctor who can step in if you have a severe flare-up, locate the nearest pharmacist if you lose or misplace medication, and write down backup plans so you have some mental reassurance.

Make sure to adapt your routine, too. It may be tougher if you’ve recently become unwell because we want to do everything our body used to manage, but this will only cause more issues.

Lower your physical expectations just a little to make the most of your trip without ending it early to manage a flare-up.

“You will kill yourself trying to fit in four to five activities a day,” agrees Couto. “One to two activities a day, maybe three if you’re feeling really good, and that’s about it. Leave plenty of time for rest and bring a lot of over-the-counter medications as you may have a flare.”

Finding the right insurance and provider

Selecting the best provider for your needs is essential to turning your travel fantasy into a reality, but be selective to find the right one.

“The first green flag to look out for is if you reach out to a company or service provider, do they understand your needs?” Arora said. “If they’re OK with your most complicated condition and have heard of it, that’s a green flag.”

Next, never travel without insurance, even if you don’t have a chronic illness. If something goes wrong, you’ll regret not having this backup, so be sensible! It may be a bit more complicated, particularly if you have multiple conditions; however, it’s worth shopping around.

“Talk to people in your area or your country who have a similar condition to yours; ask what insurance provider they used in the past,” advises Arora. “If there’s no ready product, you can negotiate with insurance providers.”

The bottom line

“If you want to travel, there’s a way,” Couto said. “I completely understand that it can seem like too great a hurdle to book a holiday, but by making sure that all care and equipment requirements are taken care of, you can focus on the important business of enjoying your holiday and making special memories.”

Whatever your fears about travel are, there’s a way to conquer them.

“Start small, don’t travel 2,000 miles the first time,” adds Arora. “Start with exploring your neighborhood, then go 1 hour away, 2 hours away, go for a weekend getaway, and then a week. Take baby steps so that you build the confidence up slowly.”