Note: Originally Posted July 14, 2010. Revised slightly and updated for the Chronic Babe Blog Carnival of June, 2011 which asks about summer plans.
We returned from a three week RV vacation almost a week ago. I had more pain then usual when I am on holiday, but “pain doesn’t go on vacation”, it goes where I go and participates in what I do. Some observations that may help with pain on RV road trips I’ve found are:
- Bless my irritable bladder– bathroom breaks every couple of hours force us to get out and walk around, stretching muscles that have been in the “lock and load” position for a while.
- Being thankful –File this one under “things I need to work on” — feeling thankful, rather than annoyed, at how wireless internet at most of the campgrounds we stayed at sucked. So my computer time was greatly reduced. While it was somewhat difficult emotionally to stay unconnected from those at home, my body appreciated it..a bit less pain in my neck and shoulders. The Netbook we’d brought along only has a 10″ screen which caused me to experience difficulties in reading content on it so I rarely did.
- Keep it small–I appreciated the ease of clean up in a 22′ RV, even if the small space made me a bit stir crazy at times.
- Use the force–assisted mobility devices that is (if you don’t have your own.) At the outlet mall, I used one of their wheelchairs (hubby helped push). Swallowing some pride helped me conserve my energy for something important I wanted to do later.
- Drinking’s good–drinking more (water) is better. It’s possible dehydrated muscles are more painful muscles but I’m no doc. This is the point where I curse, rather than bless, my irritable bladder.
Here’s a few pictures of our trip to the West Coast in 2010. (My web host limits me to 2 MB per picture and I lack the knowledge and energy to re-size the bigger ones.) Hope you enjoy these.
Lighthouse at Whidbey Island, Washington
Sunset at Cannon Beach, Oregon
4th of July Parade on Whidbey Island
A woman and her dog, Cannon Beach, Oregon
The summer of 2011 will see us again in our RV for about 3 weeks. I’ve recently been diagnosed with low Vitamin D levels so, at home and on the road, I plan to soak up the sun as much as possible.
Beautiful pictures! Good travel hints for all of us to think about. I hate traveling in the car because I get so car sick. Depending on how far we are going I will take something, or use Sea Bands. I hope this years vacation is great!
mo
Thanks Mo.
Congratulations – you are in Fibro Bloggers Directory. http://fibrobloggerdirectory.blogspot.com/p/fibro-blogger-directory.html
Would you like a badge or could you add us to your Fibromyalgia Resources page?
Also what country and state are you in ? (if you want that added) and how long have you had this fibro blog?
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Bye for now. Lee Good.
Thanks Lee I have grabbed a badge.
I am dying to try an RV trip. I will be driving 10 hours in one day to New Buffalo from Toronto – but driving is better than flying. I can guage when I need to pee- walk – get the hell out of the car. At least when you have a bad bladder you can see almost every truck site on the Highway.
If you are looking for an easy Vitamin D trick – once your Dr. tells you the dosage you need – you can get the chewable chocolate forms – not bad and/or the liquid form that you can pour into a smoothie or drink straight. It comes flavoured so sort of takes like pepto bismol but not as chalky. Have a great summer!
Thanks Kathleen, I will look into the chewables/liquid.