My sister warned that you should NEVER check your supplies through because they could freeze, break, or get lost.

I carried our normal Tinkerbell lunchbox with supplies. The craft box (the kind that holds embroidery floss) that we keep on the countertop with supplies. And a plastic Rubbermaid shoebox with extra of everything. I was afraid that we were not going to be able to get to our chain pharmacy in the NE.

Since we were driving, we made so many pit stops. The worst was having to stop at a gas station at 9pm with a disgusting freezing bathroom to change her into jammies and give her Lantus. We tried to stop every two hours to let the kids out and to give her snacks.

It definitely added travel time because we couldn’t really go through a drive through and hand her back food. She’s not old enough to test or inject by herself.

What I think is the toughest is eating at restaurants you aren’t familiar with and having to estimate carbs.

BTW- a 1 pound lobster is one carb and my daughter ate the entire thing.

I packed several reusable shopping bags with foods she eats and that I know carb counts on (Easy mac, instant oatmeal, lots of snacks, bottles of water and instant kool-aid, popcorn, etc.). We were able to eat some of this rather than eat out–sometimes.

And as much as I think it’s not healthy to eat at McDonald’s all the time, at least you know what the carb counts are.

We were also told right before the trip that we don’t have to refrigerate our Novolog pen, so that helped. But we still had a cooler with our extra insulin.

It seemed like I packed for a two-month trip, but I felt like I needed to be prepared for everything.

Except I forgot to pack passports, so we didn’t get the side trip to Niagra Falls. Darn.

If you have a pump, I’d recommend not disconnecting. Use the card it came with, the cards area easier for people to deal with. No explanations required, it says everything they need to know on it. Drag yours out of the box, or get a new one from the manufacturer. The security folks are rushed, I prefer to be an exception and take the hand search, it takes less time. I’m usually waiting for everyone else.

I haven’t been back to the airports since the new gigantic federal bureaucracy has taken over security, so I will happily go bck and read what other insulin-toting posters have suggested for means dealing with it.

I plan to get the reusable Frio cooler packs for toting my insulin on long bike-rides (100 miles and more). I would definitely be interested in hearing from people who have toted their insulin in these cooler packs, as I have no firsthand experience. It is a sobering thought to think you might be away from home for a week and your insulin supply is all stashed in a Frio cooler pack when you haven’t been in such a situation before.