As mentioned in my previous posts, I have been traveling A LOT lately! First, for Gastroparesis advocacy & then for business. This had me away from home for 8 days. Being away from home this long is difficult for anyone, but it is particularly challenging for someone with Gastroparesis.
If you are able to eat “normally” and are reading this post, THANK YOU LUCKY STARS!! Gastroparesis is difficult enough to manage at home, so you can only imagine how difficult it becomes when you are away from all of your necessities and normal food. However, I was determined to do this. I was determined to travel back to back for both GP advocacy and for business. This led me to start to devise a plan for how I could achieve this and minimize the chance of a flair.
Naturally, the main item on my list was FOOD. I live off 2 smoothies per day, greek yogurt, & 1 solid meal at night usually consisting of some type of chicken dish. I knew that I would be busy so I knew I would need to keep my protein intake high. I also knew that if I strayed from my “normal” eating plan, that I was going to get deathly ill. So the main thing I had to figure out was: how to have my smoothies on the road.
Step 1 to Smoothies on the Road: Pack a Blender.
It was a pretty simple decision to pack a blender. Although, I was hoping it would make it’s way through the 4 airports I was about to travel through. It was also worth every penny of the $25 checked bag fee. So I packed my blender & checked my bag.
Step 2 to Smoothies on the Road: Pack Dry Goods, Measuring Cups, Plastic Spoons, Smoothie Bottles.
Just as important as the blender are all of the other necessary items to make smoothies with. Your measuring cups, your smoothie containers, and dry goods. For me the dry goods are particularly interesting. As mentioned, I knew I would have to keep a large amount of protein intake in order to have enough energy to attempt to burn during the days. This meant that taken my protein powder was an absolute must. Whey protein powder tried to kill me and almost sent me to the ER on a couple of occasions, so at the suggestion of my nutritionist, I use Hemp Protein Powder. It is purchased from the Vitamin Shoppe, but I was not sure how well this would go over with TSA & their hounds. This led me to Step 3.
Step 3 to Smoothies on the Road: Get to the Airport Insanely Early
Considering all of the random items that were in my checked bag, I wanted to make sure I gave TSA plenty of time to ohhh & ahhh over the contents. I doubt they get to see blenders, hemp protein powder, measuring cups, bottles, rolled oats, all wedged into a bag with a business suit, dress slacks, and sweaters. Oddly, my bag was only opened once by TSA. It was on my way home, so I guess the third time through security was the charm.
Step 4 to Smoothies on the Road: Make Sure Your Hotel puts a Fridge in Your Room
Considering, Step 5 is to have groceries delivered to your room, you’ll probably want to make sure you have a refrigerator to store them in.
Step 5 to Smoothies on the Road: Find a Grocery Delivery Service
Grocery Delivery Services are my new favorite thing in the world. They have also been a complete & total life saver for this journey. I did not want to have to rent a car, find a grocery store, shop, return the car, etc. I also did not want to walk for blocks and then carry a ton of groceries back to the hotels. (Shocker: Carrying heavy objects for long periods of time will tank a GPer faster than putting on cement shoes & jumping in a river.) Here is the best part of the grocery delivery service, the fee was only $10! Again, not even a question in my mind that the $10 was worth it.
Step 6 to Smoothies on the Road: Who Cares if You Run a Blender at 6 AM, It Is an Opportunity to Educate
Making these smoothies is a medical necessity, so I did not care one bit about running the blender at 6 AM. Sure, it might have annoyed the people in the rooms next to me, I have no idea if it did or not. However, if I would have received a complaint, I had planned to explain Gastroparesis to the hotel staff and keep running the blender anyway. (I am a rather courteous person, but when it comes to my health I put me first and don’t apologize. I educate on what I have to go through and people usually have a hard time saying no to you needing to do something.)
Step 7 to Smoothies on the Road: Carry Your Smoothie Wherever You Go
Be proud of your smoothie. Sip on it throughout the day, no matter where you are. You will be amazed at how no one seems to notice or care. When I first started carrying smoothies around at work, I was worried that people would ask a lot of questions. I was absolutely amazed at how few questions are asked. In this health conscious world, people don’t find carrying a bottle around all that odd.
Step 8 to Smoothies on the Road: Keep Your Hotel Room Clean and Place Your Smoothie Supply Garbage in Plastic Bags
The hotel staff isn’t expecting a plethora of empty yogurt containers, empty tofu containers, empty ginger ale cans, empty frozen fruit bags. Be polite and place everything neatly in a garbage can so that it is easy for them to dispose of your garbage.
All in all, I would say that my attempt at smoothies on the road was a huge success! Now if I could only find a way to have TSA allow me to take a smoothie through security so that I can sip it on the plane!
~Millie
Adventures with Gastroparesis 
Thanks for all the tips! I plan on taking a trip soon and was having a lot of anxiety about it but knowing it can be done is encouraging. I’m just getting into smoothies as gp management and I’d love to hear about your smoothie recipes,what type of blender you use, and any other pointers you might have in future post. I really enjoy your blog! When no one around me seems to understand what I’m going through its nice to feel somewhat connected to someone who does.
Thanks Simon’e!
I use a full size Ninja blender at home. (Mainly because it was on sale and I had a coupon for the retailer.)
On the road, I used a Magic Bullet and took just one of the cups with me. I rinsed it out in the hotel sink. I make rather large smoothies, so I had to make them in 2 batches and then poor each batch into the Smoothie bottle I carry around.
It sounds like I should add a page to the website with some smoothie recipes. 🙂
Thanks for letting me know that I am doing a good job of representing Gastroparesis. It’s always nice to know others can relate.
Please send me any ideas you would like covered in future posts!
~Millie
Great stuff Millie. And I hope you don’t mind me saying you are AliveAndKickn.
Don’t mind it at all!
I got a Dr note so that I could take a smoothie on the plane. It was my plan to make two and bring them on board with me since my flight was over 5hrs and via the airline website, no food (I use that loosely, as they didn’t serve food, if was snack bags) I could consume. But, with limited carry on items, I could not take a cooler too. And nothing is worse than a yogurt make warm smoothie. So, I decided I would skip the TSA hardship and get a smoothie after it and bring it on the flight. Starbucks has smoothies, so it would be easy. So, I printed the terminal maps at food of the restaurants and marked the ones I could go to. Yep, fate had different plans. No places each time I landed to get what my body needed. By the end of the 9+ hr travel day I was about ready to fall over. Yes, I was lucky to have snacks in my bag for me. But that was not enough nutrition for my body. I had free juice, since I can’t have carbonated beverages. The second reason for my decision big to try to take the smoothies through TSA is based on the fact I would need to tell them up front (since there was no special medical line) that I have liquids, holding up the line and needing to spend way more time than desired there. Per TSA site, you need to notify them directly of such medical attempt and allow time for them to “test” the liquids. All of this and the new fiscal cliff….where they said security would be limited, changes my mind. I am glad I didn’t attempt it. Just because I forgot I had water in my bag going home. TSA tossed it out before confronting me. If that was my meal, I think my husband would be bailing me out of jail. What did I learn? Maybe next time to try harder for the smoothie with me. Or have at least a 2.5hr layover to stand in line of a place I need my liquid meal from. I had less than one hour and no time to grab anything while navigating to the other side of the airport to catch my next flight. Hopefully my ordeal will help you guys too. Good luck with your trip, Simon”e.
Great post! This is exactly how I travel, with my huge Blendtec, Plant Fusion protein powder packs, and fruit purees. Macrobars are also packed along with ginger chews, gluten free crackers, QueseEase and electrolyte tablets. Call it the GP travel toolkit, lol. I do miss my magic bullet, it broke after years of use. The Blendtec is pretty amazing though, hence taking it across the country. When I used the feeding tube we had to pack all of those supplies and pay $50 for weighing over the limit, not really fair but had to be done. What’s your favorite smoothie blend Millie? I’ve been nervous to try hemp protein due to fiber but have heard it settles with some.
Thanks for sharing 🙂
Stephanie
Thanks Stephanie!
Glad to hear I’m not the only one to travel with my trusty blender & supplies.
Oddly enough, I do use hemp protein powder. (Whey protein tried to kill me.) I have been able to tolerate the hemp protein powder. You can get it at the Vitamin Shoppe for about $10, so it isn’t too expensive to test out.
This weekend, I’m going to add a Smoothie page to the blog, because I have been asked for Smoothie recipes from a few people. Maybe we could make it a smoothie recipe swap?
Thanks for the support and following the Adventures with Gastroparesis! (Because you well know, it is QUITE the adventure.)
~Millie
Will give that hemp protein a try sometime 🙂 Smoothie recipe swap sounds like a great idea, have some good ones myself and always enjoy reading what works for others!
Love the word “adventure” like I do my “journey.” Better than using negative ways of thinking such as suffering. We have to make the most of it and learn what we can along the way. Keep up the good work!
Stephanie
Thanks Stephanie!
I agree, it is MUCH better to use positive words like “journey” and “adventure”. There is so much negative with dealing with Gastroparesis that it is easy to fall into a pretty bad depression if you don’t try to put a positive spin on it.
Hopefully, I can get a smoothie swap up soon. I am rather tired today which may delay it a bit more than I would like.
~Millie
I’ve been experimenting with Soylent as an alternative to making smoothies, and have been finding it to be a delightfully low-effort way to get a nutritionally complete meal in liquid form. I find it helps me manage my symptoms, and I don’t really get sick of the flavor (although I do miss the pleasure of eating solid food). It’s also good for travel situations, although it tastes better when it is cold.
http://www.soylent.me/
Thanks Mark!
I’ll have to check that out. I’ve heard that name from some other folks as well.
Hope you have found some relief! Let me know how it is going. 🙂
~Millie
Soylent has become part of my daily routine. I typically have Soylent as my first and last meal of the day, and a normal solid-food meal in the afternoon. For snacks, I can sometimes eat regular food, or sometimes I’ll have more Soylent, depending on how I feel that everything is digesting. But the key is that Soylent allows me to space my solid-food meals far apart allowing plenty of time for digestion, and gives me a nutritious and satisfying fallback plan whenever I need it; I’ve found this is sufficient to make my gastroparesis mostly a non-issue.
Only downside of Soylent is that they keep tweaking the formula; I don’t think the current version tastes quite as good as it used to, but it’s such a huge life changer for me, I’m sticking with it.
Glad to hear that it is working for you!
Finding your key to the puzzle makes all the difference in the world with GP. It’s tough because everyone’s key is different!
Hi Millie!
I’ve just been diagnosed with diabetic GP. One of my greatest passions is travelling (so far many trips backpacking through Asia/indonesia). When I realised my ability to travel (which is already slightly compromised due to diabetes type 1) would be affected by GP, I definitely went through a few days of the downs! This is the first post i’ve read combining GP and travel, and it’s restored my hope around combining the two. I recently had a week overseas for a family wedding, and my partner had to walk up to 30 minutes to find me a smoothie when I didn’t have the energy to leave our hotel room…i felt so terrible about it, but here’s a great solution! Thanks so much for sharing your journey – i’m super excited to follow your blog!
X Skye
Thank you for the kind words Skye!
Yes, travel is indeed possible with GP!
You have to make adjustments but it is doable. I definitely had success with taking my own small blender (in a checked bag) and shopping at a grocery store at my destination.
I’ve also learned that if I have to travel a long distance to give myself a day to sleep and recover from the journey. I don’t make any plans on that first day. Giving my body that rest helps me to have more stamina for the rest of the days. I also find that I need to nap more when I travel. But if a nap is the worst of it, then I’ll take it!
I’ll also try to have other people do all of the driving because driving wipes me out FAST!
Hope all has been well!
~Millie
This website really has all the information I wanted concerning this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
Hi,
I was diagnosed with GP yesterday. I’m a critical care RN and I travel weekly professionally for the company that I work for. Fortunately for me, prior to official diagnosis, I was able to put the pieces together and start preparing for what I knew would likely be an uphill road. I began the liquid diet that I was sure I was going to end up on. And then yesterday, upon diagnosis, that long term diet became a reality. I was hoping above hope that this would not be the way it came out, but it was. I went through the emotions of this diagnosis, and then today, decided to put my big girl panties on (as I always do), put one foot in front of the other, and deal with it.
So, as I said, I travel weekly for a living. My question deals with packing and TSA. I know you mentioned you check a bag with your blender. I typically carry on my general luggage, as checking is a pain and I like to head straight home when I hit the gate. Unfortunately, I know that I am going to have to check at least a bag or container for my blender, accessories, and protein.
Do you have any suggestions for bags, cases, etc.? I had looked at Pelican cases with custom foam forms for the blender. Do you think this is overkill, or a wise investment?
All thoughts appreciated.
Also, thank you for your blog. Answered a lot of my questions around how to maintain my lifestyle and work life with this disorder.
Thanks so much,
Ryan
Hi Ryan,
Thank you for the kind words regarding the blog. I need to start keeping back up with it better.
I had the small magic bullet blender. I did not have it in a special case but wrapped the pieces in t-shirts and pajamas. I usually tried to keep it to the center of the bag and never had any damage to it.
Most major cities have at least one grocery store that you can order from and have delivered to the hotel (if you won’t have a car). I would have Almond Milk, frozen fruit, tofu, etc delivered. The fee was worth saving some energy.
Lately, I have been doing much better with solid foods as long as I stay away from food that I know bother me. I’ve also cut out refined sugar & gluten which has really helped.
I also travel for work and I have found that I can put protein powder in my carry on. Just arrive extra early in case they want to check the powder. This happened to me once at Denver. My favorite protein powder is called “About Time”. They also have individual packets that you can purchase online which have no issues at TSA.
Also, Honey Stinger Fruit chews have been a good way for me to get some energy and carbohydrates in while traveling.
Recently on a trip with our cousins, they dubbed my carryon the “Mary Poppins Bag” because I constantly had snacks coming out of it over the course of our week long trip. The Tupperware of Ritz Crackers is what amazed them.
My carryon bag is a north face backpack that has a laptop sleeve. It really can expand and condense well. My carryon suit case is an Eagle Creek and I am in love with both. The compression packing cubes have really made it easy to condense everything.
Hopefully this helps!
Feel free to ask any questions. I LOVE helping fellow folks with GP.
~Millie