The Traveling Diabetic

I just returned from a trip to Tokyo for work and am finally over my jet-lag and settling back into my old routine.  It was a crazy week: not much sleep, constantly walking, and encountering carb-laden foods wherever I turned. Soba noodles for breakfast, tempura with rice for lunch, dough-covered sweetened chestnuts for a snack — it was a recipe for disaster. And indeed that’s what I thought I’d be writing about for my first post upon my return. (I ate more noodles last week than I have in years.)

But here’s the thing: despite the carbohydrates, the jet lag, and my massive consumption of a Japanese snack food called Takoyaki — octopus dumplings — my blood sugar last week was stellar. I was low one time and, far more impressively, barely went over 200. (Emboldened by my well-behaved glucose levels, I even started acting out — I ate a fish-shaped pastry filled with vanilla cream. Talk about rebellion!)

The conclusion I’ve drawn is that when you’re actively traveling — and by active, I mean walking around or biking for nearly the entire day, which is what I’m doing — you give yourself a hell of a lot of flexibility when it comes to food. It was a great feeling. Not only was I seeing tons of new things in a new city but I also had the ability to give up some of my food anxiety and eat on the fly. I mean, seriously — soba noodles for breakfast. Twice. Who does that?

I’m an active traveler to begin with, unable to sit still for more than 30 minutes at a time without delving into my guidebook to figure out what else I possibly could be doing, so I particularly like this new diabetic rationalization for my travel habits. Forget beach vacations. Head to a city, buy yourself a metro card, pack some glucose tablets, and GO.

Several post scripts:

First, when I travel, some part of my diabetes gear inevitably breaks. My glucometer shut down when I was on the top of a Chinese mountain. My pump failed in Costa Rica. My CGM screen exploded in Yosemite. So I was wondering what could possibly happen this time.  Turns out, it was my lancet: on my last day of the trip, its spring broke and it stopped pricking my finger — requiring me to manually stab myself every time I needed a drop of blood. Why does this happen, this Murphy’s Law of diabetes supplies?

Second, I should also note that this excellent blood sugar control was definitely a travel-related phenomenon. I’m back home and more sedentary now, and am suffering high blood sugars as a result.  I had carrots, peanut butter and strawberries for breakfast this morning and my blood sugar still hasn’t come back down.

Lastly, I just looked at a calendar and noticed that today’s February 17th . . . my 9-year anniversary of living with Type 1! Perhaps not as romantic an anniversary as, say, my wedding date. But I still think my pancreas should buy me flowers.

Catherine Price

Catherine Price (www.catherine-price.com) was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. She has written for publications including The Best American Science Catherine Price is a professional journalist who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. Her work has been featured in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Health Magazine, The Oprah Magazine, and Outside, among others. A graduate of Yale and UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism

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Catherine Price

Catherine Price was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. She has written for publications including The Best American Science Catherine Price is a professional journalist who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 22 years old. Her work has been featured in publications including The Best American Science Writing, The New York Times, Popular Science, The Los Angeles Times, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Washington Post Magazine, Salon, Slate, Men’s Journal, Health Magazine, The Oprah Magazine, and Outside, among others. A graduate of Yale and UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism