Hi all! I was away last week (aside: I climbed Machu Picchu while using a breast pump every 3 hrs to maintain supply for my 6 month old, but that’s another story; and yes, diabetes too…) what do you do to prepare for travel?! I feel like I am always higher, even when on a low carb diet and exercising extra with all the walking around… I also did not personally see any differences in BG due to high altitude, which was originally a concern of mine when traveling to Peru 
I have traveled a bit with diabetes - a year in Spain, the Netherlands, Belize, Costa Rica, couple of trips to Mexico, a cruise around Europe to name a few… not to mention cross-country road trips… always higher BG though (although one can imagine that sitting in a car is quite different than hiking). So, I figure, it must come down to food, right?! Unpredictable carb counting; stress (adrenaline/ cortisol), anything else?! Pic for fun! Yes, that is me (as a blonde I sure stuck
out as the Gringo; or as they say in Peru “flaming papaya” lol)
Awesome Picture, gorgeous. Love the saturation in your photo.
Such a great question!
What we do:
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carry a letter from our endo stating that my son is a diabetic
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carry an extra paper prescription for insulin, just in case
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frio bag for insulin. It evaporates water to keep insulin cool
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special carry sling bag with shock cord for the frio bag, so that the frio bag is carried outside (held by the shock cord), not inside (otherwise it won’t evaporate as much)
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PK2 cooler bag by Packit. It is a small freezable bag which is a perfect size for insulin. You freeze the bag itself, then put insulin in it.
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extra insulin, in two different containers, in case we lose or break one
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one extra Dexcom transmitter, and several extra sensors
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a spare glucose meter, and extra batteries for the glucose meters
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one backpack per person so we can split supplies across
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spare charging cables (usb, lightning etc.)
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extra lithium external batteries to recharge iPhone (we receive the Dexcom on in iPhone) and Dexcom receiver
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multiple types of charging connectors for electronics
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ebook readers for everyone (they carry a lot more charge than phones/ tablets and are lighter than books)
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if we need a computer, most times we take a small Chromebook rather than a windows laptop for lighter weight. But we can do almost anything with a phone these days. We only take the laptop if we need to do a lot of document typing. If we need to review spreadsheets of presentations, then we take a windows laptop.
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lots of alcohol wipes
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lots of Ziploks
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two small first-aid kits, and two bottles of ibuprofen, in two different backpacks
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one bottle of water per backpack
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a few plastic utensils, 2xAA LED flashlights and spare batteries, one extension cord and a multiprong plug
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a few more things I won’t list so I won’t bore you to death.
We experience both more highs and more lows. The food is more unpredictable and produces difficult highs to gauge. But, also, we walk most of the day almost every day, and my son tends to have long, slow lows afterwards, which we try to anticipate by refueling some carbs often during the day.
Looking forward to seeing what others do for travel!
Wow! You guys are so prepared! I think in need to invest in a frio pack because I am quite certain I was having some degree of insulin integrity issues on this trip 
however, you can see I travel light - here is my packing for the 9 days - this is everything
Thank you! I got a new camera for my birthday 
Thank you for this comprehensive list!
I have accidentally left my home without sufficient bolus insulin…that’s a bummer. It meant that no carbs.
What a great pic!!! And you are a complete diabadass taking that trip!!!
Oh no 
Are you traveling, or just away from home for the day?
It was just for the day. It can happen when I change my bag/purse. But I have learned to be much better about it. I also carry an extra test strip vial.
I have purchased a bag from myabetic. While the features are comprehensive and mindful of diabetic needs, I am a little disappointed by the bag not being made from leather, it is vinyl.
At what temperature do you start to put the insulin in Frio pouches when you are out and about?
It really depends… I am a fan of frio, but it seems to be not well understood that they’re essentially nothing more than a wet rag wrapped around your insulin. Their performance depends completely on the relative humidity of the environment they’re in… at 100% humidity, they do absolutely nothing… so it’s just not simply a matter of temperature in determining if they’re worthwhile…
I get out the frio bag when it hits the 70sand up, just in case we are in direct sun.
The main problem us humidity. If humidity is high, as @sam explained, no evaporation so the bag won’t work. That is why we also use the PK2 
That makes a lot of sense about the humidity.
If you are outdoors for 2 to 3 hours, are you concerned about the test strips? They seem to have recommendations about storage and usage between certain temperatures too.
We only put the insulin in the frio bag. We keep the strips in their container, inside the sling bag itself which holds the frio bag with shock cord. I’ll take a pic later today or tomorrow to show the combination.
My understanding is that what the strips are mostly vulnerable to is humidity. So we keep the strip containers always closed, but that’s all we do.
I just noticed we totally hijacked @walkingthedragon88’s travel supplies thread 
How do you all pack for travel?