Travels with Diabetes, Part 1: Boston to Vienna

I returned about a week ago from a ten night trip spanning Boston, Vienna, and Innsbruck. See timeline below:

Night 1: Boston > Night 2: The sky > Night 3: Vienna > Night 4 – 8: Innsbruck > Night 9: Vienna > Night 10:Boston

Along the way I was blessed to have the company of my gracious hosts in various cities, my mentors at the ISPAD (International Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes) Conference, and others who are passionate about diabetes care and research just like myself. In fact, the abundance of miracles that transpired during my time has left me in awe. Still, traveling with diabetes, my constant companion, was as always, a little tricky. Diabetes can really be a pain – especially when your body is tired and out of its normal routine. So this post is going to employ grounded idealism – which I find is becoming my default (side effect of aging?) – and will follow a ‘challenge,’ ‘reward,’ ‘strategies’ format.

Challenge: Many legs of travel make for a lot of time on airplanes and lugging around luggage while sort of lost, eating snacky food all day.

Reward: Time with one of my best friends who has recently moved to Cambridge, MA. We explored the city, identified magnificent trees, ate vegan-ish food, and ‘played’ with her turtle Zeke.

Strategies to keep Type 1 diabetes (T1D) happy: I spent about 24 hours in Boston and had plenty of time Monday morning to take a long walk (thankfully the weather was magnificent) across the bridge (in view of the iconic Citgo sign), climbed on some trees, and moved for a solid hour. This brought my blood sugar down, increased my insulin sensitivity, and prepared my body for the long 7+ hour plane ride ahead. If you can’t take a long walk before your flight, some yoga or stretching is definitely better than nothing!

Flight attendant – “What would you like for breakfast?”  Me – “Sleep.”

Challenge: Jet lag! And missed sleep while crossing time zones and traveling

Reward: A full day in Vienna

Strategies: So I guess this is always the case, but at the time the wonderful flight crew (thanks Swiss Air, I mean really, you should fly Swiss Air) brought around breakfast, it was 11:30 pm in my world and body. Still, I pressed on, drank another cup of coffee, ate half a croissant, and tried to prepare myself mentally to begin a new day. I learned that perhaps I approached jet lag all wrong. Having slept 0 minutes, I arrived in Vienna and somehow, although I don’t remember the process, made it to my hosts’ 4^th story flat. I was graciously welcomed and then immediately fell asleep on the lofted guest bed for 3 hours. One of my hosts woke me and warned that if I slept any longer I’d feel even worse tomorrow. I remembered to check my blood sugar and was pleased to find it wasn’t so bad, 145 mg/dl or so. I took half my Lantus dose, because my schedule was all screwed up and I needed to begin working my doses back towards ‘morning’ and ‘night.’ And then I began the remediation process. After showering and drinking more coffee, I followed my hosts’ directions to Stephansplatz – the city center and location of the giant Stephansdom Cathedral, which I just learned from Wikipedia is one of the tallest in the world. I wandered among the young men in period costumes who showered me with flyers for the Mozart theater experience that I just had to see. I walked inside the giant wooden doors of Stephansdom, carved elegantly and polished, to enter the quiet cavern of worship. It was dark, as most giant cathedrals tend to be, but the stained glass scenes were vibrant and prayer candles lined the front iron rails. I added a candle to the bunch, walked slowly around the wooden floors listening to the echo of my footsteps, snapped a no-flash picture, and exited, emerging again into the light.

My next stop, after more meandering, was my host J’s yoga class at Feel Good Studio. This is what really saved me. Huge life tip: when traveling, look up local yoga studios and see if you can stretch out your body and shake off your jet lag. The amazing side benefit is that many studios offer new student deals, which means that often you might even be treated to a free class. J’s teaching style was just perfect for my state of being – a solid flow with individual attention and mindfulness every step of the way. He recommended plow, with heart lifted toward chin, as one of the ultimate anti-jet lag poses. Afterwards, although I fell asleep completely in savasana, I felt somewhat reenergized and ready to meet the next leg of the trip.

I’m going to break this post up, because it’s important to rest and not rush an adventure in its unfolding.