Take your pain on a trip

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: Image by WritingTravel.com via Flickr

Why stay home in pain when you can be equally miserable—or perhaps less so— in an interesting or beautiful new place? It’s the flip side of the aphorism “Wherever you go, there you are.” Chances are, novel experience will, to some degree, help cancel out your awareness of chronic pain. Distraction is a proven coping mechanism.

That’s not to say the travel experience itself will be free of stress and pain. Traveling is a pain, even for the able-bodied. Packing, getting to the airport at an inconvenient hour, or riding in a moving vehicle for too long without changing position are all occasions for increased pain. Changes in routine, starting with that too-early or too-late departure or arrival, can disrupt sleep, leading to more pain. Unaccustomed activity, like lifting a carry-on suitcase into the overhead bin or navigating long airport corridors, can trigger pain in new places.

Traveling Pains is here to advise travelers with chronic illness on how to cope with the challenges of travel so that they can reap the physical and psychological benefits of exploring the world.

Our series on how to prepare for taking your pain on a trip will begin soon.

For now, in honor of National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week, here is a notable piece called “Invisibility” by Katie of OverflowingBrain.com.