Around the Globe With Angelic

It's a little hard , those long halls . It was about a 10 and a half hour flight straight to London . Excuse me , but I think the main thing for me was to stretch and move my joints every now and then . It was an overnight , so it was good that I was able to get the rest that I needed as well , so I was able to do that .

So , yeah , it went really smooth .

It goes around the table that comes out in front of you and it goes around that and you can put your feet on it and it's great because that is as little as the lift is or can be . It makes a huge difference in your comfort . So that's a definite tool that I highly recommend for long-haul travels or even domestic flights .

But I was able to upgrade to premium so I had a little bit more room to spread out a bit and thankfully it was a pretty fairly empty flight so I had the next seat available to me , so I had a funniest space and comfort as well . So it worked out pretty good .

So it was a two , about two and a half hour flight from London and that was nice , you know , fairly quick compared to a 10 and a half hour flight . So , yeah , it was great . You know , once you're in Europe , I mean you can just get anywhere in a couple of hours you know , go down to Spain , you go to Germany .

You know it's really easy to get and cheaper you know pretty cheap to get around . So , yeah , it went really well . I had all the things that I needed . I think a lot now that I plan ahead in terms of when I'm packing , you know , when I make sure I have with me and things like that .

I think that's really important when you're traveling with chronic illness is that you know you make sure to have , like , say , pain reliever with you , of course , your meds . You don't want to check them in , you want to keep them with you in case your luggage gets , you know , left behind or something .

And you know things like compression socks we were just talking about compression socks and those are very important of course to have , especially on long haul flights . And what else ? My eye mask . I have to have my eye mask , so that's a great thing to have as well and it helps keep me asleep .

You know , of course , that light can really be effective on your sleep , so I'm asked for sure . So all these kinds of things I always make sure that I have with me at all times when I'm traveling .

But when coming back , all the flights are during the day and that's the hardest one for me . Usually people have more jet lag going east , but it's harder for me coming back west and I think it's for that reason , because it's a day flight and , as they like the whole time , my body knows that Our bodies are in tune with that sunlight .

So it's like , even with my eye mask and everything I have , it's still a little difficult for me to rest well . So I struggle a little bit . It takes me about a week to get over the jet lag .

But that's what helps for the most part is trying to do that .

They give you a little bottle , but I like to have my big bottle because it's such a long flight that I can take a swig every 30 minutes when I'm awake to stay hydrated , because that's so very important . As you know , hydration is a big part of traveling Just making sure that you're overall wellness , really .

So those are the three things I would say the foot rest , my eye mask and a big jug of water .

Right , I like to listen .

But what I normally do too is I get a I'll get a salad or something , a protein mix , you know , a little bowl or something from one of the delis at the airport , something a little bit more substantial than because I hate airplane food . So I always grab something else for dinner that I can have on the plane .

And you know , because the airport , oh my gosh , so so much full of sodium and all that other stuff that's like . And then they want to stuff you with cheese and bread and that's like , yeah . So that's another thing that I do . I really like to just pick up my own little meals before I get on the flight .

Oh , my gosh , and I keep telling them if you get people like that , I don't get those chatty people . Take the gum , just take it . Pretend you want it . Pretend you put it in your mouth . Just do whatever you can . Take the dang gun Right . No , I think that's another good thing of the eye mask .

We just go down to the park , go down to London fields , just have a picnic there were a couple of block parties and just being together . We just it was just so nice to be back with my family and enjoying the time and that was , you know , all I really wanted .

The Portugal trip was nice , you know we just my husband likes to get away every now and then , excuse me , so we , you know , we had down there for a few days and then that was an amazing trip . I mean , I absolutely love the city there .

It is quite hilly , so it was a little intimidating in terms of my RA , you know , even though I am making progression . It was a little just discouraging , but I did what I could and my husband was very mindful about it , so that was really nice .

And then we stuck to just really flat grounds , activity , things to do , going down to the docklands and having a nice lunch on the marina there watching the people go by and the boats and everything , and it was just really nice , you know , just nothing crazy , nothing more really adventurous , but just being in the culture and just you know , meeting new people ,

meeting the . Portuguese people and just so friendly and welcoming and making connections . And , of course , the food oh my gosh , we could not get enough sardines . And then they have this dessert that they have with their breakfast , their coffee , their morning coffee pastel de nata .

Oh my gosh , I'd have this every morning and our Airbnb just across the street was a market , a beautiful little market , and they'd make the homemade pastel de natas and I'd go over there every morning and grab a few for our coffee and they were just so good .

I think I probably gained like 10 pounds on that with the little trip , but it was so fun and , yeah , we didn't care , we just enjoyed it , we embraced , just being together and just being happy . So , yeah , it was just an amazing time . Back at home in London , I do miss it . I didn't realize how much I missed it .

Right , it was just like I love being here in San Diego , I love my home here , but without my husband it's not home . My home is where he is , and so that was really special to me and I'm looking forward to getting back .

But getting to see all the beautiful scenery and the places you guys were walking , I loved it because , first of all , I've never been to either country . And so getting to watch you just dive in there and enjoy yourself and , oh my gosh , how did your body handle all of this ? Did you flare up at all ? How did it go ?

So I'm really thinking that my current treatments are helping and hopefully propelling me into remission soon . I don't know , we'll see . I see my rheumatologist next month , so I'm crossing my fingers and maybe thinking that we might be able to start weaning myself off the medications . We'll see .

It doesn't have to be a long haul flight , but , you know trying and go see a friend in another city , take the help that is there for you . There's wheelchair access at all airports . You can call ahead , arrange that . You know , let go of that fear of travel . If you're able to get up and go , by all means , you know , go for it .

You know and just open your mind to the idea that you can do it , because you can . You know , and there are people there to help you and there are ways to move through . You know security and other things like that . You know it's not gonna be as crazy as you might think .

So I would just say you know , keep your mind open to that and don't give into that fear of travel , whether it's a road trip even . You know there's you take breaks , there's ways that you can move , even in the car , even on the plane , I move my joints around .

I make sure that I'm constantly moving my wrist , my feet , my toes , my fingers , whatever it is . We gotta keep moving our joints and keep that blood flowing , stay hydrated . But yeah , I would really , I really encourage you to just get out and see a little bit of a place where you haven't been , or just a place that you haven't been in a long time .

You know that you might wanna revisit . Get out there , be adventurous and don't be afraid to do it .

I want you to feel your best and I want travel to be feasible , and so he really worked on finding us better luggage , something that rolls super easy for me , right For luggage itself being lightweight .

Yes , and honestly , I don't like to travel by myself very often , and when I do , I keep it simple Nothing that I have to worry about lifting and putting above my head .

I always look for something where there's , you know , thousands of people that love something , and I'll scroll down , I'll look at the pictures , I'll look at the videos , I look at everything that people have to say , and if it all looks great and there's only maybe one complaint , I'm definitely going to try it out .

So that's a little , that's a little tough because you know I like to just go on carry-on but I can't obviously take my syringes on a carry-on . So those I got to check in . But but yeah , you know , having the right kind of luggage is so important and so helpful in in the ease of travel . And I would also say to arrive early .

I always arrive a little bit early just so I can decompress , because traveling can bring up some anxiety . I get it , I get a little bit myself .

You know , when you don't want to forget anything , you know you want to make sure this and that and the other thing , I always make sure to get to the airport where I can decompress , just take a seat , have a cup of coffee or whatever , and read a book , read my book and just calm the nervous system down a little bit , you know , chat with somebody , maybe ,

or so that is really helpful for me too is that I have that time to just settle down and calm the nerves .

You know we have to park our car in a long term parking lot if you're going to be gone for so long and so , like example , when we went to Hawaii , we had to park our car and then we had to catch the little bus that takes us to the airport . And then you know you have to go through the whole process and you know we've got our TSA preapproval .

That makes everything faster , but still you want to prepare for anything that could go wrong and if you limit yourself on time , that's going to bring out those nerves , that anxiety , and and then you're getting on an airplane feeling all gross . Nobody wants that , right , exactly . And so , like you said , I want to get there early .

I want to go peruse a magazine and a little shop or whatever and just sit down and relax , take a deep breath , have a ginger chew , tell myself it's going to be okay , and then get on the plane and relax .

You know passport chargers , you know laptop , whatever , and you have all your major documents and everything that's really important . It's like anything else like you know brush or hair dryer or whatever . You can always buy that on the other side if you really need it . It's like everything else that can be .

You know you can get that on the other side , but if you forget anything . But I think that making a checklist is really helpful and I love , I like writing things out anyway , I like making lists , I'm a list person , so so I love my checklist and it's , you know , it does help a lot .

It's already with what I need Exactly . I keep my my little travel cubes inside my suitcase . There's just a few different things that I keep in there . I think I might even have a spare charger in there , and and so it's easier not to forget those things because it's already there .

I keep that in my carry on too , depending how long I'm going to be gone for . But yeah , I've learned to to mix and match . I used to bring all kinds of clothes the half I never even wear when I get to the other side , right . So over the years I've learned to like , okay , you know what , the less the better .

I just want to get on a carry on and that's it .

I want to deal with a check in , and so , yeah , I've learned to mix and match clothing and making things last a little bit longer , you know , and usually when we travel we have we go with Arabian bees because we really want to immerse ourselves in the culture and live with the locals and and usually they have washer and dryer .

So I know that I can , you know , always wash my laundry , you know do laundry there . So that's really helpful as well . But that's a good idea .

Right , right , exactly , I think it's great , especially if you're doing like , if you're doing neutrals or something like that . You know you have , you know , three shirts , two different jackets and four different pants or a skirt or whatever , but they're , they all mix and match really well and so that's a great idea , and think about that .

I can leave my I can leave my summer clothes in San Diego , but until recently , though , this summer , london was pretty hot , so there's only a couple of things I needed to get , but that was okay . You know no big deal . I had most of my clothes there already , so that helps in terms of packing life .

You know you don't want to take a whole bunch of things that you really don't need and just be mindful of your movement during your flights or road trips or whatever you're you're traveling on saying hydrated for sure , saying tried hydrated , having your protein snacks , making sure you're getting plenty of protein and maybe breathwork .

You know if you're having some anxiety , you know focusing on those breathworks . You know have listen to your meditations or a podcast around breathwork and that can be very helpful in calming the nerves as well while traveling .

I was like that's my friend .

There's so many things you can get recipes , which I've tried a couple of them already , and nutrition facts and community support and connections . Everything is there and I absolutely enjoying it as well . Thank you so much for that . It's been fun . They wanted me to do a little bit , a few more .

It's funny while I was in London , but where we live , I tried recording . I did like three of them but it took me forever because where we live in East London it's so loud , it's always something .

It's either a car honking outside or someone slamming or shutting their door in the building , or the overground train going by , and there was always something and there was no safe room in our flat that where I could record . So it was a quite a challenge .

I actually debated because it's a little walking closet . I debated making one tiny little corner of it my desk and everything for the podcast .

Unfortunately , in our London flat we don't have walking closets , we have just the wardrobes that you know yeah yeah , most flats in London don't have walking closets .

So his guest room has our original bedrooms , that from way back when our kids were little , and he uses that closet and he even has his dresser full of clothes in there , and so that's his guest room and the guests can sleep in there , but he better get his clothes out first .

And then there's my guest room , which has , you know , a bed also and it has my desk in there and that's like my little , that's my little office , oh nice . But now it also has grandson's toys in there as well , and so it's quite interesting . But I am , I'm spoiled .

I think sometimes we don't recognize how spoiled we are by the little crazy things a person , a spouse , can say or do for us , and when they are willing to give you an entire closet to yourself . That is so kind .

So I do get to do that . You know , I get a little urge to just start letting go and taking things over to the good will .