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.

We are here when you need us! Patient First is able to evaluate and treat a wide range of illnesses and injuries. You can visit any Patient First center from 8am to 8pm, every day of the year – no appointment is needed.

Related Articles

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

Articles by tag

2020 2021-top-workplace 4th-of-July 5-star-physician ACLS AED air-purification allentown Allergies Announcement Antibiotics anxiety Aspen Hill coming soon Asthma award awards Back-to-school baltimore baltimore-child baltimore's-child baltimore-sun beach bedside-manner bel-air Best of Best urgent care Best urgent care VA beach best-for-families Bestof best-of best-of-2019 Best-of-2020 best-of-award best-of-awards bestofcountytimes Best-of-Jewish-times-winner Best-Urgent-Care Best-urgent-Care-Bowie-Blade-News best-workplace bethlehem Biking Black-Friday blog Blood-Donation BLS Blueberries Camping capital-gazette careers CDC Cholesterol Circadian-Rhythm Cold 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-Disorder employees employment Ergonomics E-Scooter exercise eye-health face-mask Fall fall-sports Farmer's-Market First-Aid Fitness Flu flu-season flu-shots food-storage food-swaps football For Men For Parents For Women for-moms for-parents fredericksburg Gastrointestinal General Generation-X-Health Gift-Ideas Goals Halloween hand-foot-and-mouth Hand-Washing Hanukkah harrisburg headache Head-Lice Health Healthcare health-history health-symptoms Healthy Living healthy-eating healthy-living healthy-swaps Heart Heart-Disease Heart-Health Heat heat-exhaustion heat-safety hiking Holiday Holidays horizonBCBS horizon-blue-shield Hydration Illness Inclusivity Inclusivity & Accessibility inclusivity-&-accessability injury-prevention Insect-Stings insurance jetlag jobs Kidney Kwanzaa Laughter lehigh-valley life-support-class Lightning maryland Mask meal-prep mechanicsburg medical-records melanoma memory-retention Men's-Health mental-health Migrane millennial Millennials montco montco-pa montgomery-county montgomery-county-pa Mood Improvement Movember MRSA new jersey new-center new-jersey new-year New-Year's northern-va northern-virginia nova Nutrition Occupational Health ocean-safety osteoporosis outdoors Paddle-Sports PALS parenting Parenting-Tips parent-tips patient-first pennsylvania pets philadelphia philly physicals poison-ivy poison-prevention Power-Outage Pregnancy probiotics Productivity Protein recipe recipes registration Resolutions richmond River running safety Safety Tips safety-tips Seasonal-Affective-Disorder shin-splings Sickness-Prevention simply-the-best skin sleep Smoke-Detector Smoking Snow soccer sore-throat south-jersey Sports Sports-Physicals spotsylvania spring-cleaning St.-Patrick's-Day stafford Stitches strep Strep-Throat stress stress-managment Stroke summer summer-sports Sunburn Sunglasses Sun-Safety sunscreen Swimmer's-Ear swimming TBI Teal-Pumpkin Teething Thyroid tick tips-for-parents top-physicians top-workplace Travel traveling-tips travel-tips Travel-Vaccines urgent-care Urinary-health vacation vaccinations vaccines Valentine's-Day Valentines-Day Video Vitamin-D volunteering Walking washington-dc washington-post washington-post-2019 Water-Sports Weight-Lifting wellness winter Workouts Yard-Work Yearly-Physical