Traveling With Diabetes: How to Plan and Stay on Track

Travel breaks your routine: delayed meals, unfamiliar foods, time zones and changes in activity can all affect blood sugar. But managing diabetes doesn't have to take a vacation when you do.

Before you go

• See your doctor: keep up with regular visits to be sure you're fit to travel, and learn how to adjust medicines for new time zones and meal times — and how to get refills.
• Pack smart: keep diabetes supplies (medicine, blood sugar monitor and so on) and healthy snacks within easy reach — in your carry-on if you fly — and pack twice as much medicine as you think you'll need.
• Airport security: people with diabetes may bring more than 3.4 ounces of liquids in carry-ons — liquid medicines, fast-acting sugar such as juice, or gel packs to keep insulin cool. Insulin pumps and CGMs could be damaged by X-ray machines; ask for a hand inspection instead of disconnecting.

Eating on the move

Driving? Bring a cooler with healthy food and plenty of water. Flying? Pack fruit or nuts. At airports or roadside restaurants, look for:

• fresh fruit with nuts;
• sandwiches on whole wheat with grilled chicken or fish;
• salad with grilled chicken or fish, easy on cheese and creamy dressings;
• scrambled or hard-boiled eggs;
• burgers in a lettuce wrap instead of a bun;
• fajitas without tortillas and rice.

More: eating out.

Protect medicine and supplies

Don't let them get too hot or too cold: no hot cars, direct sun, or storing insulin directly on ice. Heat also damages monitors, pumps and test strips. Use a cooler with a gel pack, and never put insulin in a checked bag, where it can get too cold.

On the trip

• Move: stretch and walk on road-trip breaks; on planes and trains, walk the aisle every hour or two to prevent blood clots.
• Stay on schedule: set a phone alarm for medicines.
• Check often: catch highs and lows early; if you're more active or eating more or less, adjust insulin as your doctor advised.
• Enjoy local food in moderation — cruise buffets make overeating easy.
• Watch the heat: high temperatures, dehydration and even sunburn affect blood sugar.
• Mind your feet: check them every day for blisters and cuts, and don't go barefoot, even on the beach.

Sources

Based on "Tips for Traveling With Diabetes," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain. A stock photograph is left out.