The holidays are a time for family and thankfulness. Unfortunately, for the almost 29 million Americans with diabetes, holiday travel may bring concerns about meals and diabetic supplies. However, planning ahead and keeping these travel tips in mind can help everyone have an enjoyable, stress-free holiday season!

  1. Keep your routine: Letting go of the daily grind is one of the best parts about the holidays, but don’t leave your care routine behind! Take into consideration time changes and adjust your schedule accordingly to keep your care routine consistent.
  2. Pack extra: Pack twice the amount of diabetic supplies you expect to need, in case of travel delays or other mishaps. Also remember to bring snacks and glucose tablets with you in case your blood glucose drops.
  3. Wear identification: It is important to wear some sort of medical indicator that identifies you as diabetic, especially if you are traveling in an area with a language barrier. If you are going to a country where most people do not speak English, purchase a universal bracelet or necklace.
  4. Bring a cooler: It is often difficult to find healthy snacks on the road. Pack a small cooler with sliced veggies, fresh fruit, and other diabetic-friendly snacks. Also, slide a few bottles of water in the cooler as an alternative to sugar-sweetened beverages. If you need some ideas on what snacks to pack, check out our blog here.
  5. Pack more than your passport: Pack all documentation for your prescriptions as well as your insurance cards and physician’s contact information. It is also a good idea to search and write down the names, phone numbers, and addresses of nearby hospitals and clinics that can provide diabetic care in the event of an emergency, in advance of your travel.
  6. Pack a carry-on: If you are arriving to your destination via plane, pack all your medications and medical information in a carry-on to avoid losing it should your luggage get lost or misplaced. Also, stow away some healthy snacks in the event of delays or a lack of options for your in-flight meal.
    7. To learn more about diabetes and how to manage your diabetes, visit the CDC’s website.

Related Articles

We would love to learn what would be helpful on this page for you.

Articles by tag

2020 4th-of-July aberdeen ACLS AED air-purification allentown Allergies amerigroup announcement Antibiotics anxiety Asthma autumn award awards back-to-school baltimore baltimore-child baltimore's-child baltimore-sun beach bedside-manner bel-air Best-Of best-of-2019 Best-of-2020 best-of-award best-of-awards best-workplace bethlehem Black-Friday blog Blood-Donation BLS blue-cross blue-shield capital-gazette careers children with disabilities Cholesterol Circadian-Rhythm cold-prevention colon-cancer concussion coronavirus covid-19 COVID-19-Test CPR cramp-prevention Dehydration dental-health depression Dermatitis Diabetes drowning drug screening Dry-Skin eastern-pa easton Eating-Disorders employees Ergonomics E-Scooter exercise eye-health face-mask fall fall-sports First-Aid fitness Flu flu-season flu-shots food-storage food-swaps football for moms for-moms for-parents fredericksburg free-play General Generation-X-Health gift-ideas Good-Fats Halloween hand foot and mouth Hand-Washing Hanukkah harrisburg Head-Lice Health-History health-symptoms healthy-eating healthy-living healthy-swaps heart-disease heart-health heat-exhaustion Heat-Safety hiking holiday Holidays horizonBCBS horizon-blue-cross horizon-blue-shield horizon-insurance Humidifier hydration inclusivity inclusivity-&-accessability injury-prevention insurance jetlag Kidney Kwanzaa lehigh-valley life-support-class lyme maryland meal-prep Meatless-Monday mechanicsburg medical-records melanoma memory-retention Men's-Health Mental-Health millennial montco montco-pa montgomery-county montgomery-county-pa Movember new jersey new-center new-jersey new-year new-year's northern-va northern-virginia nova nurtition Nutrition occupational health osteoporosis outdoors PALS parent tips parenting Parenting-Tips patient-first pennsylvania pets philadelphia philly physicals poison-ivy poison-prevention Pregnancy Probiotics pumpkin recipe recipes registration reicpes Resolutions richmond Running safety safety-tips services shin-splings sick kid Sickness-Prevention skin sleep Smoke-Detector smoking soccer sore-throat south-jersey sports sports-physicals spotsylvania Spring spring-cleaning St.-Patrick's-Day stafford Stitches strep Strep-Throat stress stress-managment stroke summer summer-sports Sun-Safety sunscreen Swimmer's-ear swimming TBI Teal-Pumpkin Teething Thyroid tick ticks tips-for-parents top-physicians top-workplace traveling-tips travel-tips unitedhealthcare urgent-care Urinary-health vacation vaccinations vaccines Valentine's-Day Valentines-Day Vitamin-D volunteering walking washington-dc washington-post washington-post-2019 Weight-Lifting wellness Winter yard-work Yearly-Physical