Adventures Abroad With Sickle Cell

Get ready with me for my next adventure, a tour around Europe! I have been dreaming of returning to Europe ever since my trip to Spain back in high school! My parents were over-protective and I was their sick, fragile little girl – so it’s a miracle they let me go back then. My mom only agreed to it because a few of my high school teachers would be there too and one of them was a family friend she knew would look after me.

I only really got sick once during that trip. It had rained badly all day and I missed out on going to see Barcelona vs. Madrid (I know…) but spent the day at the mall staying mostly dry instead. Still, enough of the rain got to me and I did have some aches that night, but otherwise, I was okay. I had the time of my life and hope to one day go back to Spain.

Failed travel attempts

I tried to go again in high school when they went back to Spain two years later, this time the south instead of the north where we had gone before, but it wasn’t affordable to pull off again. In college, I had many failed attempts at adventuring abroad. There were a lot of study abroad and even research opportunities all over the world, but my mom was too worried about me to let me go thousands of miles away all alone.

Finally, a chance to travel abroad again

Fast forward to medical school where I again had missed opportunities to go abroad, mainly due to busy exam schedules and the COVID pandemic. So at some point early on in medical school, I promised myself that I would go to Europe after graduating. And the time has finally come, I gifted myself a trip to Europe and will be exploring several countries there! Unfortunately, I cannot go back to Spain this time around. It was the best financial bet to explore somewhere new, so I’m going to the UK, the Netherlands, France, Germany, and Italy instead. Yup, I know, and I can’t wait.

I had planned to go on this trip alone, and somehow my mother supported me in this…she’s hard to predict. But I booked a tour where my accommodations and a lot of my food are taken care of. This was important to me for safety and stress reduction. Having a tour guide and planned itinerary way in advance helps relieve a lot of stress and anxiety for me, so I can focus on having the time of my life.

Packing my sickle cell medications

The real problem is how I’m going to pack for 15 days in a backpack and tiny suitcase, I don’t want to have to lug anything around much bigger than that. Luckily, there’s also transportation provided between locations or my feet would be in for a rude awakening. Though I still plan to explore a lot by foot!

The most important thing to pack is all of my medications. I mean not just pain meds but any medicine I could potentially need while abroad including anti-diarrhea, anti-acid, allergy, upset stomach, lactaid, and whatever else I can think of. This is to ensure that nothing stops me from having a good time! And of course, my everyday sickle cell medications and heat pads. I wish I could somehow bring a water filter too, there are travel-size ones, but that shouldn’t be too much of a concern – staying hydrated is crucial. I’ll also bring a comfy pair of shoes for all the walking and options to layer up in case the weather doesn’t act according to plan.

Sickle cell crises are impossible to predict but this feels like a pretty good setup for success. Thankfully, flying isn’t a trigger for pain crises for me. Unfortunately, flying gives me terrible anxiety but I have meds to help with that too.

Am I missing anything? What tips do you have for long flights or international travel?