This past September, I wrote a blog post (that you can read here) about the emotions surrounding my first plane flight and travel plans since the start of the pandemic. Primarily, I was feeling a lot of anxiety and nerves, but the trip wound up being wonderful and proof to me that I am still a very capable traveler who can adapt to the new travel norms of the last couple of years.

Now, I’m feeling a different level of anxiety and nerves over traveling again – this time, solo, to an entirely new place. I’m traveling for work to a state I’ve never been to before, which is definitely exciting, but also a little scary for me. And that’s kind of funny for me to admit, seeing as I used to travel by myself all the time and it was no big deal.

But it’s been years since I last traveled alone, so now I’m rusty on the old tried-and-true routines I followed back then that helped me feel more prepared before and during a trip. It’s also my first trip post-personal experience with covid, which you would think would decrease my stress levels because I’m likely to be protected by antibodies (in addition to my original vaccinations and boosters). On the contrary, it just makes me more uncertain about the steps that I should take to protect myself and others as much as possible – for example, do I make sure to wear a mask at all times, or can I be a little more lax about it?

As I navigate my shaky self-confidence in my ability to travel solo and how to best take care of myself, I’ve come to at least one conclusion that will assuage both concerns: Prepping ahead of time is key. Two weeks prior to my trip, I started packing my suitcases and making a list of everything I need to bring with me, checking items off as I’ve added them to my luggage. I’ve even started packing as many diabetes supplies as I can (saving something like insulin for last, obviously, because it needs to stay refrigerated) and taking care to double or triple up on everything, such as my pods or vials of extra test strips. It’s a little challenging to try to think ahead on everything I might need on this trip, but as any person with diabetes can tell you, it’s so important to plan for any and every possible scenario that could occur when traveling.

And I know my future self will be thanking me for taking the time now to do so much of this preparation. Goodness knows I would not want to do it all the night before!

Despite the varying levels of worry I have about this trip, I know that doing all of this prep work will keep both me and my diabetes happy and healthy, as well as help ensure that I can even have a little fun while on this business trip.