Episode 13: Traveling Well with Endometriosis - Packing, Planning & Preventing Flare-Ups

Traveling with endometriosis can feel overwhelming. From long flights and unfamiliar foods to disrupted routines and the fear of a flare-up, planning a trip often involves much more than simply packing a suitcase.

In Episode 13 of The Endo Edit, Katie and Ragan share the strategies they've learned through years of traveling with endometriosis. They discuss how to prepare before your trip, what to pack, ways to support your body while traveling, and simple habits that can help make vacations, work trips, and weekend getaways feel less stressful.

They cover topics including:

• Planning ahead to minimize stress
• Packing an endo-friendly travel kit
• Supplements and medications to bring
• Staying hydrated and nourished while traveling
• Managing long flights and road trips
• Building flexibility into your itinerary
• Prioritizing rest without missing out on the experience

Whether you're planning your next vacation or simply hoping to travel with a little more confidence, this episode is filled with practical, realistic advice from two women who understand the unique challenges of traveling with endometriosis.

✨ Plus, don't miss our brand-new Traveling Well with Endometriosis Guide, a comprehensive resource packed with checklists, planning tools, packing essentials, symptom management tips, and even more strategies to help you make the most of your next adventure.

Because endometriosis may change how you travel—but it doesn't have to stop you from seeing the world.

#endometroisis #womendiagnosisstories #endometriosisawareness #womenshealthpodcast #womenshealthstories #womenswellnessstories #endometriosispodcast #endometriosiscommunity #endometriosiswarrior #EndoWarrior #TheEndoEdit #travel #traveltips #travelingwithdisease 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You're listening to The EndoEdit, where real stories about women's health and lived experiences about healing. I'm a Katie Turner, an Endo Warrior over ten years in the making, a believer in clean living, and prove that your diagnosis doesn't define you.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

And I'm Regan Hubbard, a registered nurse, holistic health coach, and fellow endo warrior.

SPEAKER_00 0:19

If you've ever felt dismissed or unseen, you're not alone.

SPEAKER_01 0:22

This is where we talk about what's been silenced. Welcome to the Endo Edit.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Welcome back to another episode of the Endo Edit. Today we're gonna be diving into some of our tips and tricks for traveling well with Endo, just because from personal experience, we both kind of dread travel as much as we also love traveling and going and seeing new places with family and friends and our loved ones. Unfortunately, travel does not really do well with our endometriosis, our symptoms, my bloating, pain, everything always just kind of flares up and freaks out. It can be like a simple road trip, and I'm still like, I need to bounce back from it. So yeah. We're gonna share some tips and tricks today on traveling well with Endo, really just sharing from our own personal experience. But we are only gonna talk kind of briefly on some of these points without going into too much detail because we will also be launching our first official downloadable guide called traveling well with endo that you can download on our website at theindoedit.com or at the link in our Instagram bio. And this is the guide that you can download and have on your phone, use it as a packing list and use it as a guide to really help you like keep your indo symptoms at bay because what fun is it to go on this trip just to get there and be like, I need to lay in bed. I am not okay. So hopefully this podcast dives into enough detail that gets you to go download this guide so you can get all of the full details for yourself. You can always come back to it. This is definitely a guide that I wish I had had, even when I was just packing for my honeymoon a few months ago. Like you just like, you know, you're always thinking of like the outfits and the shoes and the accessories, and you kind of forget about like, wait, I do have this disease that does not travel well, literally and figuratively. So um, yeah. So we're gonna just dive into some things. And then yeah, if you want more information, more details, all of the good stuff, nitty-gritty, again, go to our website, download the guide. I think it's a great resource. I'm definitely gonna use it every time I'm packing for something, big or small, even if it's just a 24-hour trip. Because I hate when I finally like get myself, my endo, my mental well-being, physical well-being, everything is like in a good place. And then I go leave for a day or a week, whatever it is. And I'm like, I literally need a week to recover from that vacation now.

SPEAKER_01 2:52

So let's dive in. Yeah, let's dive in. Both Katie and I love to travel. I think when I first got diagnosed with endometriosis, that was honestly one of my first like panic thoughts of like, how am I supposed to do this? And I think, I mean, best case scenario to try to like plan around your period is great. Try to go in your like early phases and you know you're gonna feel good. But realistically, that doesn't always happen. I know, at least for me, like our honeymoon. I started my period. The we've taken a few vacations just living internationally, and almost every time, just logistically, it falls during my cycle. And so this travel guide, I feel like has been such a game changer. And if you can keep your endo at bay, you can travel just like everyone else. I think that is very, very key to living with a chronic illness. Um, one of the main things that I've noticed and like really try to focus on while traveling is hydrating, making sure I hydrate a lot the day that I'm traveling. And like I always take some form of a water bottle with me. Uh, just so it's easy to refill. There's water fountains, even like water bottles, whatever. I'm just always refilling it so I know when I need to hydrate, it's there, it's ready, it's cool, it's good to go. Yeah, I don't know if you have any input on that, okay.

SPEAKER_00 4:13

Yeah, no, hydration is huge. I think it's also like the easiest one to keep up with, but also the easiest one to fall back on. Like to like forget. Like I've there's like times where we're in a road trip and I'm like, oh my gosh, I just want that whole four and a half hours without a bathroom break. I'm this is not good. Like, I need so I'm with you. I pack a big cup, I pack extra water bottles in a cooler if we're driving somewhere and I'm like, sorry, husband, we're gonna be making pit stops. Like, this is not about who can get there the fastest. Like I'm staying hydrated so I can feel good when we're there. Um, especially the next day. I think I feel it more the next day. Yeah. Like I feel puffy, I feel swollen, so dehydrated, probably a little constipated, um, which is never fun. And it's like that, like I needed to just drink more water, more fluids, electrolytes, anything like that. And then, yeah, big thing for airport travel, you can pack your own water bottle as long as it's empty. You can bring it on the plane with you. It'll go through a security just fine. Again, make sure it's empty. And then you can fill it up when you get there, and then you can just keep refilling it as opposed to being like, oh my gosh, I gotta really make this water bottle last because it was like seven dollars at the airport, you know? Like terrible. And I used to hate asking the flight attendants for a cup of water. I'm like, that's so silly. But like, I do. Even if I have a full water, I'm still like, I'll take a water. You can never have too much water, I'll refill, I'll like use it to fill up my water bottle if I need more water. Like, hydration is huge. Uh yeah, and just like keeping everything replenished and good. I feel like water is more important than food. Like, yeah, hydrate first if you don't do anything else. Like if you're an anxious traveler with a nervous stomach and you don't you can't eat before or during, like that's fine. Just drink, drink water, electrolytes, Gatorades, something that's got that's gonna keep you hydrated.

SPEAKER_01 6:04

Yeah, definitely. I think another really easy thing to forget and neglect is movement. Both ways. I we tend to be pretty active, like travelers. Like if we're going somewhere, we're planning for a hike or a few, or you know, something else very active. Um, so I think just being very cognizant of how's my body feeling, how much am I moving, am I not moving enough? And if that's the case, let's go for a walk or like walk somewhere instead of Ubering somewhere if you can. And then if you are moving a lot, like it's okay to cut out a hike. Yeah, and just really tuning into what your body needs, but especially with long plane rides, can be very easy to get zero steps in in a day, and that's also not great. So just making sure you're taking the time to walk up and down the plane, walk the terminal when you have layovers, or if it's a road trip, get out, just see some scenery, plan to see something pretty and go for a little walk.

SPEAKER_00 7:01

Walk around the gas station, grab a snack. For sure. Keep the circulation going.

SPEAKER_01 7:10

Yes. Unfortunately for the type B in the room, planning is very key for traveling. But something that I have found to be life-changing is having like kind of a routine in my notes app that I'm like, this is what I'm gonna do, and also having an already packed, like period and just all-encompassing bags. But I have two. One is more period related, and one is like vitamin C and zinc and magnesium, like just extra things that I know I'll probably be needing. And then those are always packs. When it's when I run out of something, I immediately put it back in. So that the next travel, I don't even have to think about it. I just put it in my bag and I know I'm good to go. So if you're type B, do it. I love the one and done. I have my routine in my phone, I have my bags packed. I don't have to think about it. Yep.

SPEAKER_00 7:56

The stagnant travel list that never changes.

unknown 7:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:59

Checklist. Cards are always gonna be part of my travel packing list.

unknown 8:04

100%.

SPEAKER_01 8:05

That's been game changing for me.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

Yeah, great. Yeah. So back to the movement piece definitely makes a difference for me during travel versus especially planes. I feel like if I'm sitting on a plane, even if it's just for like an hour and a half, I just feel like I get so much like pressure build up like in my stomach and in my abdomen, and I feel so bloated, and I'm like, I can barely breathe. So, like for me to just get up and like walk, which if you're staying hydrated, you're gonna need a bathroom break, probably even on a short flight. So, great excuse. Stay hydrated, get up, go for a walk. Try to maybe go for the air, the bathroom that's not right next to your seat. Maybe walk down the aisle to the further one. You know? Um, but like walking makes such a difference. Since being pregnant, I've started wearing compression socks when I travel. And I'm like, honestly, I might do it all the time. Like it just helps with circulation. Like, I'm not a big sweller. Like, I know some people, like if they're sitting on a plane or in a car for an extended period of time, like their feet and ankles will swell. I've never really had that problem, but I'm like, I can't hurt. Like, if it's good for pregnant people and people with like blood circulation problems, it's probably good for everybody. Like, just one more thing to keep things moving and grooving. But I also prioritize movement leading up to my travel. So like I try to eat good, eat clean, because I'm probably, if I'm on a vacation, I'm not, I'm gonna, you know, eat, get the ice cream and the pizza and the whatever. So I try to like eat good before. I prioritize movement before. Um, if it's not a super early flight or a super early, like pack up the car and go, I'll try to do something that morning, even if it's just like yoga, like stretching, just something to get the blood flowing to just start everything off on a good note before we're just stagnant for a few hours.

SPEAKER_01 9:54

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:55

And no matter where we're going or how long we're gonna be there, I always pack a pair of walking shoes and like a workout outfit, just in case I can squeeze a walk around a neighborhood or something like just the next day, or when we get there, like I if I can get just a little bit of movement, it makes a big difference. It doesn't have to be like a full hour-long workout lifting weights and doing anything crazy, like just stretch, go for a walk.

SPEAKER_01 10:19

Yeah. I remember when I came, I traveled a long way to come to your wedding. But something about that trip, because it was such a great, like I felt good and it's I don't want to say rare, but it is a hit or miss if I'm gonna feel good while traveling or not. But I think a huge game changer was that we walked daily. Like that was most days we fit in a walk somehow, someday. And yeah, that was a game changer. I think movement is key. It's easy to like look at vacation and be like, I'm gonna not move my body at all. And I think that's where, at least for me, I would run into trouble. Like beach vacations, I'd literally do nothing, and then I feel awful. So walking on vacation.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

This is my excuse to take a break from my routine. And then wonder why do I feel so terrible on vacation? I'm not doing my normal routine. So yeah, I love a good walk, a walk outside, um, bundle up if it's cold, you know, like just pack accordingly to like try to fit in a good walk. I feel like it just like re-regulates everything after a period of stagnation. Is that a word? Stagnation. Yeah, I think. I think yeah, it's right. It is now, but yeah, I just think it just like helps like wake your whole system up. And like after traveling, for me, things kind of slow down. So it's a good way to like just get everything back up and running a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

Yeah, I agree. Another area that I feel like recently I've realized is having clothes that are comfortable and make you feel good. I don't know why in my brain for vacation, I'm like, I'm gonna pack all the clothes I never wear because they look cute or like I I have clothes that are like are a little bit too small for me right now. And I'm like, I'm gonna pack those. And I don't know why my brain is like this is a good time to do that. And when I kind of pivoted and I was like, oh, I'm gonna pack my favorite outfit and I'm gonna pack something that makes me feel really comfortable, or something that like I feel good in and I feel like I look good in that I wear consistently, like kind of changing my packing list to things that I like and are comfortable in, make it so much better. Because I can't tell you the amount of times I've been places like we go to a nice dinner the last night of vacation, and I'm wearing this like super tight, uncomfortable dress, and I'm like anxious and irritable, and it's like what I want to feel good and comfortable. And if maybe I didn't eat all the right foods this vacation and I'm a little bloated, I want to still feel like I look good. And so I think that is I don't know if you do that, but I only recently was like, why am I putting myself through this? I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Yeah, I learned big time on our honeymoon because I packed all these cute, like tight dresses and like open stomach things, like two pieces and bikinis, and I'm like, I'm on my honeymoon, and I like I just got married, I'm super like in tune with like my fitness right now. Like, I was like, I'm I'm looking good, I'm feeling good. Well, after like nine hours of traveling and a seven-hour time change and not moving and not eating for an extended period of time. By the time we got to our hotel, like the first day, I was like, I have nothing to wear. Like, I'm so bloated, I'm so uncomfortable. Like my whole honeymoon, I was like, I I don't, I don't, I don't fit into any of the clothes I packed. I did before we left. Yeah. But my into was like an SOS right now after all of that travel, that it's like, yeah, we need like baggy dresses. I learned now I always pack for every like tight outfit. I pack a looser, cute, comfy just in case.

SPEAKER_01 13:52

I get an answer. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:55

I'm like, you know what? Like, if if I know we have a nice dinner, I'm like, all right, I'll pack this if I'm feeling good, and I'll pack this if I'm not feeling good, but I still want to like feel good in what I'm wearing.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

Like I want to have two backups that like I'll be happy either way. Cause you also hate like having a cute outfit, and then you're just like, I'm not putting that on today. And all you have is like a baggy pair of like jeans and a t-shirt, and you're like, well, I can't really wear that either. So rock in a hard place. So yeah, always, especially when traveling, like if I know we're flying somewhere to meet up with friends or family and we're gonna have dinner plans that night, and like not a lot of time to like freshen up and change, I'll literally like buy a pair of jeans that are a size too big just to like have on the plane and like be okay with going to dinner in them. Also, like I would just so much rather like wear your stretchy pants, wear your comfortable clothing. Like, there is no fashion police in the airport. Like, just I'm always looking for like comfy sets that I can feel elevated in them still.

SPEAKER_01 14:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:57

Like I could wear this out if I really wanted to. Like if we get delayed and we have no time, like I could wear this outfit to a dinner or to a whatever. Right. I'm just always looking for like breathable, comfy, stretchy, especially like my pants. Like not wearing anything high-waisted. That's for sure.

SPEAKER_01 15:15

Yeah, 100%. Yeah, I totally agree. I feel like when I am traveling, especially if I'm feeling not the best, which with endo, I just kind of feel like I would rather walk into a vacation expecting that okay, I might be in pain and have bloating, and just be like I'm gonna make the best of it and that's okay. If anything is touching my stomach, I'm like not okay. I'm like, I need I need room. I need room. And it's only been since having surgery, which I think is kind of interesting, but yeah, I think one of the key things for me at least has been finding clothes that I love that I can wear on vacation that are not super tight on my stomach, but still make me feel really good. Yeah, it has it was so funny. I was thinking about this as we were prepping for this episode. I was like, Loki's so mean. I'm like, why do I do this to myself? Where I put two small clothes in my suitcase and hope that I'll feel confident. Like, I don't know. It's so weird.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

You will wear this, you will feel good in it, you won't be bloated by the end of vacation. This is perfect. So this is the perfect outfit.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

Yeah, so I'm trying to be nicer to myself now. Yeah, but anyway, it's made a huge difference. I there's one outfit I take literally every vacation. It's an easy romper, and if I'm bloated, I still feel like I look really good in it. And so I take it everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 16:32

So, like my jeans will shrink every time, and they it can be a very nice brand, but they'll shrink until I like wear them and then you know eventually they get loose again. So I'm like, okay, I made a mistake once of like packing all of my favor of of washing all of my favorite pairs of jeans right before we left and not a single pair fit. I it was not, and like no one wants to get to vacation and be like, oh my god, I'm so like chunky, none of my clothes fit. Like they fit last week. What happened? And I'm like, I freaking washed them, is what happened. Happened. So I'm like, all right, get them to like the perfect loose-ness, and then like don't wear them right before vacation and don't wash them until you get home and are gonna be ready to like restretch them again. Yeah, I my weight also fluctuates so much depending on the time of my cycle. So it's like even if it's an outfit that I wore the weekend before and it fit fine or it was a little loose, I will still try it on like the night before we're leaving to see like does it still fit the same way? Because like I'll just hold on to so much water, like everything just like things will just fit different throughout the month.

SPEAKER_01 17:43

Yeah, I'm the same. I fluctuate six to eight pounds throughout the month, which is like and like I we're both pretty short. So for a short person, that's like a that's a pant size. It's a lot, yeah, it's a lot. So I yeah, I agree. I have all different sizes of everything because at the beginning of the month I can fit into smaller things. At the end of the month, I'm like close to a large. It's just yeah, yeah, it's just the reality of of Indo. Probably the reality for a lot of women, even without Indo, there's hormones do a lot to your body, and that's okay. We're made like this, so we'll just adapt. It's yeah, you can still have the best vacation, even if you're a little bit bloated.

SPEAKER_00 18:23

And it goes back to your thing about like planning. Like, I will spend a whole week packing my suitcase.

SPEAKER_01 18:28

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 18:29

Like, I just want to like slowly like I am not, I hate my husband. Will wait. Like, if we're like driving to a parent's house after work, he will wait until he gets home from work to pack his suitcase. And I'm like, if you would have just done this this morning, even we could be on the road by now. And then just stresses me out, and then he forgets underwear and he's like, Why don't you pack underwear? I'm like, you packed your bag last minute, buddy. I'm not I ain't your mama. I didn't pack your suitcase. You didn't pack underwear. So that just stresses me out so much. So I will literally like, if I know we're leaving somewhere on Friday, it's like the weekend before I'm getting my suitcase out and I'm slowly adding to it. And then I'll probably wait until like the day before to actually try everything on. Which is probably why I hate packing because it is such a process. But like I have gotten to too many places with no outfits that actually work at the time to be like, I don't want to feel like I don't like feeling that on a regular basis, let alone now I'm not at home to like pick something else out and I'm stuck with these options and now I don't want to leave the hotel. Or I'm buying something from the gift shop that's way overpriced that I'll never wear again because I just packed like a dummy. So plan, take your time.

SPEAKER_01 19:41

So funny. I'm not gonna lie, I probably will never spend a week packing. Like that is my brain. But but I I've done a lot better. Like I remember in college, we I was going on a study abroad trip, and I kid you not, I started packing six hours before our flight left for a like multiple month thing. I don't remember how long. Now it's like a few days before I will fully pack and then I'll relook at it the night before and be like, okay, is this what I want to wear? I'll add, take away, whatever. When you talk about your husband, though, I could not like resonate more the amount of times we've been places and he's like, I don't have any socks, I don't have any underwear, I don't have any shirts. And I'm like, why did you think that you needed for this trend?

SPEAKER_00 20:23

I'm like, you literally didn't pack any of the necessities. Like underwear socks and toothbrush and deodorant. The amount of times he like smells like me. I'm like, well, you would have just packed.

unknown 20:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

I can't talk about it. All of the things you don't do every day, but like these are things that you wear and use every single day, and you didn't even pack them.

SPEAKER_01 20:40

Yeah. I can't talk because I didn't forget my toothbrush on our last vacation, and he refused to let me use his. So we had to go to the grocery store. But so um, yeah, I'm not saying I'm perfect, but it is really funny because he packs lead absolute last minute that he possibly could, and then he always forgets something, so that's hysterical. It's just boy brain. Yeah, chronic illness. We do. Yeah, unfortunately. That brings us to the next topic, which is eating. I think eating is drinking and eating are probably the two big things like these are gonna directly affect how you feel for the whole vacation. But I do fully believe in eating for your soul as well. Like have the ice cream, have the cheeseburger, try to add in add in some like healthy options throughout. But I think um, which I don't want to dive too deep into it because a lot of this is in our guide. Um, but yeah, just knowing what is triggering for you and trying to keep it as bland as possible with also just like making the informed decision that I'm gonna have this burger and I might not feel great in a couple of hours, but I'm gonna enjoy it and and love, you know, love the community that I'm getting at the dinner table. Like just kind of more fo more so focusing on the community and connection versus like I'm gonna stick to this very strict diet plan. Yeah. And then that kind of leads into supplements too because I like I personally have a supplement stack that I take on vacation to help. I know I'm not going to be eating the best and I'm like I'm going to take and I don't want to give the exact ones for that because those are also in our guide. Yeah. But I think those go hand in hand. It's like having both is Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:18

I love the supplement list and stack that we have in our guide because it is it is like all the essentials without being overwhelming. Like it's not pages of supplements. It's like if you can only pack six things, like here are the six things that we always bring with us. And it might not even be things that we are taking every single day, but it's like just in case. Or to prevent something or like there's definitely things that I'll take while traveling that are not a part of my daily stack when I'm at home doing my routine eating and preparing my own foods.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Which just one big thing on food for me that I kind of just recently learned and started doing is to just limit fiber before traveling. I'm like, oh fiber is so good for you. I'm going to have like a salad I'll pack a salad in the car or I'll like get the broccoli or something. And then I always end up so bloated. And I'm like, what did I do wrong? Or like I'll pack like apples and peanut butter. Apples are high in fiber. And I'm like and I'll get so bloated and it's like oh my gosh well duh, fiber slows down your digestion. Like it's good for you. But not when you're already going to be like stagnant or in an airplane or whatever. So like if you're on a long flight, don't eat the vegetables. Like if you're like ordering food on a plane like get the pasta. Like get like which was huge for me. Yeah. Because it's so on a routine healthy. So you're prioritizing like I would like pack sweet potatoes and chicken for like a road trip dinner and I'm like I'm doing so good. And then like I'm so bloated because the sweet potatoes are so high fiber. So it is like simple bland don't overdo it on the health feedness before and during a travel day. Save it for when you get there and then don't touch it until you get back home again.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

We because we do have to do international flights like multiple times a year. And that was something I discovered on our first flight over here. I got the like salad healthy high fiber meal. I felt horrible literally terrible I was like this is awful. And now I always choose the pasta if I'm doing gluten at the time you know there's that too but I always try to pick the bland low fiber just for the day of travel like there and back. Those days I'm like give me a least amount of fiber. And then once I get there I usually will like take a fiber supplement so the next I'm getting back into it. But it's miserable if you're going on a however many hour flight and you're so full of fibrous things. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Which again I never would have thought of until I did it and I was like this is awful. Don't do that. Learn from us. It's not fun.

SPEAKER_00 24:58

Don't do it. Just avoid avoid the salads avoid the fiber avoid it during and after that's the only food thing I really wanted to like touch on because we do have a lot of other good tips and tricks on preparing food for travel that I'll say for the guide. And it's things that like I don't skip. Like I don't like I will probably have a whole carry-on full of supplements and food. And and that is what's in my backpack when I'm traveling.

SPEAKER_01 25:25

Yeah mostly that in a book usually is what's in my backpack. Yep. So the next topic can be we can put it over to sleep.

SPEAKER_00 25:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:34

Touch on sleep and anxiety.

SPEAKER_00 25:38

Yeah. And I I just want to like kind of backtrack a little bit and say a lot of the things that we're touching on is important for leading up to travel, travel day and also like while on your vacation or on your trip. Like I feel like it's kind of like a threefold thing of like you should be paying attention to these things before or during well before and during like travel. So sleep is one of those where it's like I'm prioritizing my sleep before travel, on travel days and then also while I'm on my vacation like sleep is huge for me. I am a solid like I am one of those people that if I don't get my full eight to nine hours don't talk to me. Like no amount of coffee is going to help a workout is not going to help like I just need all reset after my full sleep cycle I I don't function well on bad sleep.

SPEAKER_01 26:26

I just do not yeah I'm the same yeah my husband calls me in gremlin if I don't get my full nine hours which is funny but also very true. And it's an immediate I wake up and I'm like that was not good. It's going to be hard. So yeah that's sh I think on vacation sometimes it can be so what we're on vacation which to an extent yeah so what? Like let loose but for me at least I'm like I I know when I need to start winding down to go to bed in order to have a good day tomorrow. And it's more worth it to me to have a good overall vacation than to have one night out of five to six nights fun and I'm up late. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:03

Yeah which is for everybody. I mean I know friends who can run on four hours of sleep and then once they get back from their vacation they crash. Like you know they have got the adrenaline they can go go go they're up all night drinking and then they're on the boat the next morning on three hours of sleep whereas I excused myself from the function at 9 p.m I chose to do that like because sleep is more important to me. I'm like I will see y'all tomorrow. If I don't sleep right now no one's going to want to see me tomorrow. Okay. I'm jealous for everybody.

SPEAKER_01 27:31

Yeah I totally agree. Yeah which we have more tips on how to make sure you're protecting your sleep and the guide as well sleep and anxiety for me go hand in hand. If I'm tired my anxiety is going to be horrendous. So that's kind of the first step for me for anxiety. And then after that I kind of have like a routine of like travel day this is what I do to kind of calm my nervous system. And then something that's been really pivotal for me is still having a much smaller low key morning routine. Like even on vacation I still will wake up and do my devotional. And usually it's like when I'm at home it's longer but for vacations it's like three to five minutes. But I feel like that is something that has been so pivotal because I didn't do that for a long time. And then I was like I just I feel anxious on vacation and I don't want to feel that way. And I realized it was kind of like my routine is spend time with the Lord as soon as I wake up and that's important to me even on vacation and it has made a huge difference. And then just having all of the what I have at home I try to replicate where I go someplace else. Which for me is not a lot but like I know for some people can be like sound machines or like whatever. Whatever it is that you're doing at home try to replicate it on a smaller scale where you're going.

SPEAKER_00 28:49

Calms you down and helps with your sleep and all the things just pack it with you. Yeah. Yep. I definitely overpack if I'm driving somewhere because I'm like I have a whole car to fill.

SPEAKER_01 29:03

Well it's a pro.

SPEAKER_00 29:06

Yeah. As opposed to like a plane where it's like all right I'm really trying to only pack a carry-on so that's when I'm like what are the absolute necessities like what can I supplement when I get there and like voice machine I can use a YouTube soundtrack or something.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

You know like style things you can do for sure.

SPEAKER_00 29:25

But yeah the more you can just like for me it's like my sleeping space where whatever my sleeping space is going to be because sleep is huge for me. I am a huge sleep person. I know not everyone is like this but for me like sleep or not sleeping is what brings me anxiety. So I always make sure I have all of my sleeping things. Anything that's going to get me a good night's rest. I'm like the rest who cares you know if you have that and like milk for my coffee in the morning. Those are the two things that give me anxiety about traveling. Like do you have any grocery requests? I'm like as long as there's milk for coffee I'm good. As long as there's milk and coffee actually I'm good. I don't need anything else. I don't really care about anything else. Water is always available everything else those those are two big things for me.

SPEAKER_01 30:07

Yeah yeah I agree. I think when making this guide and kind of prepping for this episode one of the biggest things that stood out to me is living with Indo is not always easy. But that doesn't mean that you have to give up things that you love. We love travel. That's why we're making an episode because we want people who have endometriosis and love to travel to still travel to still do those things but I I think something for me has been to kind of plan for the things that I can and release everything else that I can't control. Yeah. If if we get there and my endo is flaring really bad and we have to not go on the hike and we have to maybe do a low-key walk and go to a pool or go to a cafe or go to a museum instead that's okay. Like the whole I because I used to be like day by day itinerary this is what we're doing. If we don't do these things I'll be like sad because we didn't get to do what I wanted to do. And I think it's just and it's so freeing to be able to be well this is what I thought I wanted to do but now we're doing this and this is I guess what we should be doing and it's going to be awesome. And just kind of having that mindset of like yeah these are the things I want to do but if I don't get to do it and we do something else that's totally fine.

SPEAKER_00 31:16

Yep. Yeah I was just gonna say if you have any say or control over the itinerary make sure every day has like a built-in free block. Yes. So if you need a minute to just lay down I always need a minute to just lay down. Mm-hmm. Yeah. You just lay down for just a second and then I can go on to the next thing like I I don't do well on the rigid go go go go go see and do all of the things like every minute is accounted for those vacations are I call them trips. They're not vacations that's a trip. A vacation has downtime a trip does not a trip is exhausting. You need a vacation when you get back from your trip. So I'm always like all right let's just make sure there's like time for a nap. I don't I'm not a napper but I do just need like a minute to just like unwind for a second. I need to decompress and breathe and then I'll be ready to change and go run into the next thing. So yeah I'm always like any say I I try to avoid early mornings on vacations if I can help it because I know I'm going to stay up later on vacation. But like a lot of like the fishing excursions are early morning. So it's like all right let's do one of those. Yeah. We're not going to do a fishing thing every morning or a belt thing every morning we'll, you know, pick and choose and space them out and just do as much as you can that's gonna like make your vacation enjoyable because you enjoy you deserve to enjoy your vacation.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

Yeah absolutely absolutely I think that's a really good point to like plan for rest which sounds so counterintuitive but if you don't plan for it it probably won't happen. Especially if you have groups too it's like everyone wants to do a bunch of stuff.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

Yeah otherwise you're like on the party bus like asleep because you haven't slept in days.

SPEAKER_01 32:57

Could not catch me on the party bus on vacation zero chance.

SPEAKER_00 33:01

Oh my gosh no exhausting I'm just thinking those vacations have sailed I've grown I just feel like we always like are planning for something and we want to fit all of the things in but it's like what's actually realistic. Like let's think about this for a second.

SPEAKER_01 33:16

Yeah and like what's important for you? It's my husband's so easygoing so it's rare that he's like I want to do this non-negotiable so something that I've had to really rein in is like okay what is what are like two to three things or depending on how long the trip is two to three things that I'm like I really want to do this. Yeah so I'm gonna plan so that we can do this whether that's a hike or a museum or like whatever. And then all the other stuff is just optional and we just go with it. And if we want to great if we want to go lay down we go lay down so I think that was that was key too especially when you're in a new place you're like I want to see it or at least for me I want to see it all and it's like that's just so unrealistic and they're gonna make you so exhausted.

SPEAKER_00 33:57

Right. Like the times that you do that do that you're like by the third day you're like why did we choose to do all of these things? Like I mean we canceled excursions on our honeymoon like the day of of like I kind of just want a day of nothing. Like I wanna like we're gonna do stuff but I don't want it to be so planned out and mapped out and I think it's I think it you know it's more on the longer trips where it's like we don't know when we're gonna be back here. So we have to do as much as possible and make the most out of this one trip when it's like but I still want to enjoy it.

SPEAKER_01 34:27

Yeah I don't want to be like oh my God that's we uh discovered by accident a like wonderful trick for traveling we went on a uh a cruise in January which sounds terrible right but it was the best because we it was to like a bunch of islands so each day we would get off and go to the island we had a certain amount of time so we literally had to pick one maybe two things that we wanted to do get back to the boat on time. And then because it was in January we just there was nothing really to do on the boat. We literally laid around and did nothing and it was like rest. So we would like the day was maybe exhausting if we did a couple of things on the islands but yeah it was just and it was cheaper it was it like unlocked travel for us. We're like this is great. We're gonna go see tropical places in January because the weather is still not terrible it's like 70s and nighttime it gets into the 60s so you need like a sweater but it's still totally doable. The sun is still shining we were like this is great. So now every not every but most I would love to go on vacation in January again. It was great 10 out of 10 okay yeah and just kind of force the downtime because it was like well we're on a boat we got nowhere else to go the best weather for the pool necessarily so let's just lounge and read books and watch movies and do nothing it was great.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

Yeah I do love a good cruise yeah uh it was my husband's first cruise and he eats for like a family of five yeah and the money we saved from the buffet unworldly we used to cruise for spring break all of our like high school spring breaks were cruises which was like so fun with a large group of like family friends the best my husband and I went on our first cruise just the two of us a few years ago and he was like why don't we do this more often because it it is like it's kind of like an an all inclusive like adult fun like it's kind of like all of the work is done for you. Yeah because you're kind of mapping out where you're going and when you're gonna get there and how you're gonna get there. Like it's kind of like here's where the boat's going. So do we want to go to those places? If not look at a different trip and it's what time we dock and what time we leave the port. So here's the time you have to spend on the island and lots of excursions if you want to do any otherwise there's great beaches and all these things I mean this is great.

SPEAKER_01 36:45

And you come back on and there's always food and drinks and like there's plenty of things to do if you want to do a lot or you're like let's just go sit in the room for a little bit and like yeah play at the buffet take it back and the fact that there's just like a nice dinner every night and I don't have to cook or clean or think about it like this is this is a true vacation. I know cruises get so much hate this there's lots of germs like whatever and I've heard that from lots of people and they're like we'd never cruise and I'm like you say that but go on a cruise go on a not fully booked crowded cruise.

SPEAKER_00 37:18

Yeah ours was like 50% capacity it was amazing. There were no lines you kept running into the same people like you don't have to worry about dinner reservations like you kind of like the days already mapped out for you like every day for like a week two weeks however long your cruise is you're like this is nice. I'm just like showing up and I didn't have to do all of the back work either like the cruise people do it all for you.

SPEAKER_01 37:42

You just show up yeah yeah cruise people yeah the funny thing about our cruise is that it was international and no one spoke English like we were I think the the only Americans that we knew of on the boat almost spoke English and we were so weird. So we didn't make any friends but honestly it was kind of kind of nice it sounds terrible but it was just like we just hung out and didn't have to think or do anything with anyone it was pretty wonderful. But it was kind of funny because I've been on cruises without him in the past like going out of Florida where I'm from and it's like yeah you make your cruise friends and that's who you hang out with the whole time. And this one was just yeah we couldn't talk to people we were like oh I don't speak English Yeah that's so funny.

SPEAKER_00 38:28

So yeah if you don't travel well with Indo but you want to hit a lot of places look at a cruise for sure.

SPEAKER_01 38:33

Yep it's a game changer I think those are most of our topics and there the details and extra like supplement names and packing guides all of that is in our travel guide on our website theint.com so yeah if you're interested and you have a trip coming up and you want to still really enjoy it please utilize this tool. I know for me it has been super helpful to have it all in one place. We've kind of done a lot of these things through the years but it's just nice to have it all together and like know that I can just go through a travel guide and be like, okay, this is these are the things I need to do in order to have a great trip. And yeah yeah so I hope it's really helpful.

SPEAKER_00 39:11

My checklist of necessities because like each trip you pack different different outfits different accessories you need different things but these are the things that like will be coming in my bag at all times and I will be making room for them in my bag at all times. And it's great because it's digital so you can print it if you're like a printout person and you want to cross things off that's great. Otherwise you can just pull it up on your phone, your tablet, your laptop, screen share it on your TV so the whole house knows what to pack like it I think it's a great guide and it's definitely one that I mean we make we made this guide as if we were going on a trip ourselves as people who have traveled a lot in our few years of life. It's yeah I I think we kind of thought of it all it covered all of the major bases um in case of a flare in case of no flare like these are tips to try to keep flares at bay because this is all about like you're taking the time off of work you're spending the money the time the effort all of the things to go on this vacation to go on this trip. You deserve to enjoy it. Yeah and if I'm not enjoying it no one wants to be on the trip with me because it's not enjoyable because I'm not enjoying it because I'm not feeling good. You know like no one wants to be that person when it's like I'm trying not to be that person but I literally can't help it. So hopefully if you implement these things you can travel well with endo better than if you weren't doing these things.

SPEAKER_01 40:35

Yeah yeah and we can say from firsthand experience because I have been that person on vacation and it's it's not fun. So we want you to enjoy your vacations and because you deserve it too take the time off take the time to decompress and really truly enjoy and yeah see the world that like the world's beautiful yeah we want go out go explore.

SPEAKER_00 40:56

Absolutely and as someone who would get a lot of anxiety around traveling just because I was unsure of how my endo would be once I this has taken away so much of that anxiety. Cause it's also like you know what at the end of the day I know that I packed all the things I did all of the things did all of the prep if there's still a flare like at that point it was just something that was out of my control or I ate something bad.

SPEAKER_01 41:18

Like I did it to myself I didn't get the sleep right to help the flare like there with that that's kind of like at least for me the fear of okay I'm doing all these things but what if I get there and I still have a flare and I don't have what I need I forgot something or I didn't think about this. And it's like okay well we've thought ahead for you guys so that you know it's there, it's written down so you don't even have to think about it. Kind of takes the stress out of that which I really wish I had when I moved over here. It's like sure a lot out of you for sure.

SPEAKER_00 41:51

Yeah absolutely so again if you're interested if you like this episode but you want a little more details more information all the good stuff the guy is available on our website which is just theindoed.com you can also access it through the link in our Instagram bio at theindoed so I hope you guys enjoyed this episode. It's not just for summer travels. This is something like we travel a lot over the holidays spring weddings like we just as people who also travel in the summer we're like what a perfect time to release a travel guide because I know a lot of people spend their summers traveling especially before back to school season. But again this is like an all season all year round travel guide. So buy it once download it it's yours forever always come back to it. And if you think we missed something please message us. Yeah yeah I would love what what things have you done that make your traveling with endo a little bit better. But I think it hits a lot of the I mean if there was if we had more to add to it it would be on the guide already but I think it's pretty pretty solid pretty cut and dry. So yeah hope you enjoyed this episode and if you have any other questions we're always available on Instagram. Otherwise happy traveling and we'll see y'all next time.

SPEAKER_01 43:05

Thanks for joining us for another conversation on the endo edit.

SPEAKER_00 43:09

If this episode resonated with you share it with a friend a sister or anyone who needs to hear they're not alone.

SPEAKER_01 43:16

You can find more resources stories and community at theendoed.com or on Instagram at theendoedit.

SPEAKER_00 43:23

We'll see you next time and until then take care of yourself.