We leave tomorrow! I can’t believe it…

And as if to still any residual fears I had about travelling with diabetes, I’ve just made contact with Lara Mckane – another young diabetic who’s travelled through South-East Asia and has some words of wisdom to share with us… What great timing!

1. Hello! Please could you introduce yourself – name, age, how long you’ve been diabetic?

Hi, my name is Lara Mckane. I’ve just turned 29. I was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when I was 21 – so I’ve had it for roughly 9 years.

2. Where have you traveled?

Well, after studying I went overseas to work in the UK. While over there I was diagnosed with diabetes. After living in the UK for 3 years I went backpacking around Australia with a friend for a year. From there I raised enough money to travel South-East Asia (Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos for a further 8 months.)

3. What was the most difficult thing about traveling with diabetes?

I love hiking… While in Cambodia we did a few hikes over numerous days, and although this wasn’t difficult it took some planning – making sure I had enough food and glucose in case of emergencies. Also making sure my insulin was kept cool in 3^rd world countries where not having fridges is common practice.

4. How prepared were you before you left?

I did alot of research and preparing before going to Auz – making sure I could get the correct insulin while over there and that I had adequate medical cover in case of emergency. Asia, however, was a different story – I didn’t prepare at all other than taking adequate supplies of medicine and snacks.

5. Do you have any hints or tips for diabetics who want to travel?

I think it’s important to do research into the country before leaving – things like can you purchase a similar insulin, similar glucose strips etc over there. Also take a cooler bag or ice bags with you, to keep your insulin cool at all times – because you never know if you may break down for a few hours at a time.

Don’t let something like diabetes hinder your dreams – as long as you look after yourself and prepare yourself adequately there is no reason why you can’t do anything you set your mind to.  I’ve dived the barrier reef, hiked through the jungle, sky-dived and still dream of climbing Kiliminjaro.

A lot of people have been asking me, in the past few days, if I’m feeling nervous about the trip.

Surprisingly, the answer is no.

This is surprising because I’m a homebody who is most comfortable in her little nest, because I’m something of a worrier and because, as we all know by now, I have some control issues. So you would think, now that I’m leaving my nest into a world of unknown with very little control, I’d be feeling a tad anxious. Not so. Here’s why:

* Mainly, because I’m going with Mark. He’s the perfect travel companion, not only because we know each other inside out, but because he’s so familiar with diabetes, and particularly with my diabetes. He’s also not easily flustered, has a great sense of geography and direction (which I most certainly do not!) and makes me feel like I’m home. What a winning combination!

* Also, because we’re not going to be rushing. Thank goodness we’re not doing a new country every two weeks! With a month to explore each country, there’s really no need to be rushing anywhere, and I have a theory that as long as you’re not in a rush, things are less likely to get overwhelming. Being lost turns from being a panic situation to being an adventure. A three-day journey is just that – three days of journeying. Take out the stress and everything is an adventure.

* And finally, because I have enough books to read. This might sound silly, but reading is one of my all-time-favourite things to do, and if I run out of books I get panicky. True! So I am hugely relieved that I bought a Kindle when I went to America, and that I’ve stocked it with 19 books – two a month and one extra. I can add more to it as we go along, but this is enough reading material to keep me from having to ration words. And as long as I have a book to curl up with, I know I’ll be happy. And feel safe…

What makes you feel safe? Do you know?

So we’re now a mere week-and-a-day away from our Big Adventure, and it’s time to call in the big guns… AKA everyone we know.

Do you have any travel tips for us? Please?

What’s the one thing we mustn’t leave behind?
What’s the best tip you got about travelling?
What do you wish you’d known last time you set off into the great blue yonder?

We’re going to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil.

Have you been to any of these countries?
Where should we go?
What should we do?
What shouldn’t we do?

We’re away for 9 months, in mostly autumn weather. And we’re packing this week.

What should we pack?
What should we leave behind?

Any and all advice greatly appreciated!

I said that last week was our most exciting week (so far), but I might have to correct myself.

While this week didn’t include any wild animals, trains, or luxury hotels, it did include a 10 year US visa for Mark (hooray!), a terrible dentist visit for me (not hooray) and the best news of all – a truly inspiring sponsor.

We found out on Monday that Travelstart – who just so happen to be my first point of call whenever I’m booking a flight online – want to partner with us on our Travelling with Diabetes journey. What great news!
Travelstart South Africa has only been around for about 2 years, but the company itself (started in Sweden) is celebrating their 10th birthday this year – next month, in fact. They’re going to be running some crazy cool competitions, but I’ll keep you posted about those when they happen.

What I love about Travelstart is that they’re unlike any other flight booking website (you can read my ode to them on my personal blog here). For starters, they’re easy to navigate, and even easier to change the details of your booking (date, departure city, arrival city etc) to see when would be cheapest. They also consistently have the best deals, and they give you the whole price (including tax) so they’re not just making it look like it’s a good deal – it actually is a good deal! Best of all, though, they’re human. If you have any problems with your booking, you can call them and speak to a real live human being. And we all know how rare that is these days…

All of this adds up to a one in a million company, with heart. We’re so excited to be working with them! They totally get what we’re trying to do with this journey – to spread positive diabetes awareness around the world. And they’ve made it possible for us to do it…

Find out more about them by reading their very diverse (and fascinating) blog at http://blog.travelstart.co.za/

Or book yourself a holiday at www.travelstart.co.za!

Check out the September issue of Shape magazine to read my article (entitled ‘My Leap of Faith’) all about our upcoming trip, and how Mark and I are feeling about it… Juicy stuff, I promise!

You can also check out their website, www.shapemag.co.za, as they’ll be posting links to all our info.

Get it now! It’s a great read (the magazine, that is… I’m not quite cheeky enough to toot my own horn about the article!)

… on our Mini Trip (2 weeks instead of 9 months!)

1. You don’t always have to eat everything that’s put in front of you. Diabetically speaking, it’s much kinder to yourself (and your diabetes) if you just taste everything when you’re being served three course meals twice a day!

2. When you’re moving around a lot, you have to make a concerted effort to do some exercise. Or you’ll feel stressed and tired (who knew?)

3. Never pack a suitcase more than half full, because mysteriously, in the night, all your stuff will expand. And trying to close an over-full suitcase when you’re running late is no fun. I promise!

4. Any time you have to fly out of Joburg (not my favourite place) to a local destination – fly from Lanseria (Kulula’s ‘new’ airport). It’s a slightly longer drive, but SO worth it once you get there. Not only are the surroundings more pleasant (almost country-like), but the check-in and boarding are a treat. It’s a small, personal airport without any of that frenetic energy that Joburg International has.

5. Something to consider if you’re diabetic and holidaying at a game farm: Sitting on game drives for 6 to 8 hours a day might feel tiring, but it’s actually just sitting – bear it in mind when you’re deciding how much insulin to take for your next meal. (Another thing to bear in mind is that championship eating is not a sport!)

Who knows how many lessons I’ll learn on the real adventure?!

So Mark and I have just had the most wonderfully exciting week… Well, week and a bit. It really gave us a taste for the adventures ahead, and let me tell you – we’re ready! Totally and completely ready. We quite happily lived out of a suitcase for 2 weeks, quite happily didn’t know exactly where we were going to be sleeping the next night, and quite happily lived in each other’s pockets without getting tired of one another.

I am all of a sudden SO SO SO excited to be going!!!

So our Thrilling Week and a Half began with a ride on the Blue Train… oh my goodness, how to describe the Blue Train? I’ll post a real review of it on Just the Planet, but let me just tell you it was 27 hours of heaven. We boarded the train tired and stressed out (we were really busy before we left) and disembarked calm and happy. Magical, indeed.

It wasn’t just the train ride – although that was amazing, watching the world go by through large panoramic windows. And it wasn’t just the food – although that was delicious, and plentiful (3 course lunch, afternoon tea, snacks and sundowners, 3 course dinner and breakfast). It was partly the service, which was incredibly friendly and totally on-the-ball. But it was mainly the experience of it… To be on a train rumbling through the wild open spaces of South Africa, perfectly comfortable but simultaneously out in the open. We loved it.

And were actually really sad to step off the train. I felt quite down.

Lucky, then, that our next port of call was the beautiful Illyria House. Totally over-the-top, completely bedecked in antiques, but with an extremely comfortable white-linen-bed and a delicious garden pagoda jacuzzi. Who knew Pretoria could be exotic? We headed off after a silver service breakfast to the Mexican Embassy to get our visas (easy as pie), and shortly afterwards made our way to the bustling heart of Joburg.

I’ve never been a fan of Joburg. It’s one of my least favourite places in South Africa, in fact. But if I could stay at AtholPlace all the time, I might even consider moving there. It was that beautiful. Every segment of the house fit into each other so perfectly that it looked like the pages of an interior design magazine… Only it was deeply comfortable at the same time. I had to do some work while we were there, and my desk was set up in front of white wooden shutters looking out over the garden… Heaven, I tell you!

After AtholPlace we spent a night with Mark’s sister-in-law and nephew (what a cute baby!) and then flew home (to Durban, the city I’m still in love with) for a few days with my family, before heading off to Phinda Private Game Reserve. Mark had only seen a rhino in the wild before we arrived at Phinda. When we left he’d seen a herd of elephant, a journey of giraffe (isn’t that a great collective noun?), a white rhino and her baby, a black rhino marking his territory, a rather shy leopard, a cheetah mother with her three teenagers, hundreds of zebra, nyala and impala, and a chilled-out herd of buffalo. Throw in a bush pig, two crocs (up close!), and a monitor lizard and you can tell we had a busy two days!

Phinda was such a great experience in itself, though, apart from all the game. The staff were wonderfully friendly and really went the extra-mile for us, and their community work projects are truly inspiring. I’m writing it all up for Just the Planet – I’ll let you know when you can read them.

Till then, time to settle back into home for our last 2 weeks before The Big Adventure begins!

So one of the most important things (diabetically speaking) for me on this trip has got to be equipment…

Which was why I was very excited to get my new blood glucose meter – the Accu-Chek Performa Nano. I’ve been really happy with my old blood glucose meter, the Accu-Check Performa, but it had a couple of traits I didn’t love. Just little things, but little things that if they were improved would make a big difference to my life.

Enter the new generation Performa Nano. Not only is it much smaller and waaay cooler looking, but it has a large, backlit display. What does this mean? It means that if I need to test my blood sugar in a movie (which I somehow often do) or in the middle of the night, I can do it without having to switch on a light or use my cell phone as a torch. Because it’s backlit, the numbers are easy to see but not so bright that they’ll cause a disturbance. It also has nifty pre- and post-meal markers, which makes it a lot easier to interpret my numbers at the end of the day or week, because I can see if a certain reading was before or after a meal. And it’s the same family as my old meter, so I don’t have to learn any new tricks, really, it’s still just as easy and quick to use.

All in all, one happy diabetic!

(Here’s the old meter – on the left – and the new one – on the right. Which one would YOU choose?)