Backpacking with an Ostomy?

Yes! Backpacking with an ostomy! I didn’t think it could be easily achieved with an ostomy but two of my friends have both gone off into the unknown and I asked them about what it was like for them and did they have to take anything special or take certain precautions. We are seeing more and more younger ostomates who want to go travelling, see the world and test their boundaries; we also have older ostomates who finally feel well enough to do the same. Read on intrepid explorers to find out their top tips!

 First of all we have Mark who talked about his ostomy journey last year. who literally sold his London flat to fund his travels and has been actually living his best life!

I made sure I had a heavy-duty cool bag for my Humira medication, I packed my other medicines in a separate pocket that was easy to access and I made sure I took plenty of supplies. I also took a few different types of bags with me because I knew that some were better than others in certain situations. For example my usual bags weren’t so good in humid, sweaty countries but my other bags tended to leak more easily when doing exercise. I took approximately 30% extra supplies than I thought I would need, just in case

Secondly we have Jasmine of lingerie fame!

If you are mad like me and decide to backpack around India or sail around Croatia on a small boat then obviously you must tailor your bag accordingly. Make sure you take clothes which are comfortable and allow for some bloating/filling in the bag to stop the worry of finding the nearest toilet or corner ASAP. If you are going on a lot of adventures there are products which can help you feel a little more secure when doing activities which are a little more adventurous. A stealth belt is great for high impact sports like coasteering, rock climbing or surfing (yes you can do ALL of these!). There are hernia support wear products which are more supportive if you feel you need the added protection. When on holiday you can get dehydrated very quickly regardless of over-doing it on the alcohol or not. Do not over drink plain water. This does not work if you have an ileostomy. I would recommend following the same advice if you have a colostomy as well. Drink Dioralyte or sports drinks. I would recommend Dioralyte or an equivalent over any sports drinks as the sugars in the sports drinks can help expand the
waist band a little more than needed and usually contain less of the essential salts in a concentrated volume. Just pour the sachets into your bottle of water by the pool or whilst you are backpacking and just sip throughout the day. It is better to sip and stay hydrated throughout the day than to blow out after a session or when you’ve forgotten. 

Hopefully that has given you a bit of confidence if it is something you fancy doing (it isn’t my cup of tea although mainly due to fear of bugs!) Have you been backpacking before? What are your top tips?