Uncategorized – Mama Zebra Travels

Disney Tip #1 (&2)

I was advised to break these tips up into sections as I was getting a little long winded with each one. Probably some decent advice considering I was close to writing an entire novel on the topic.

I already discussed resting while on vacation and its importance. Just to recap the days: travel, rest, 2 park days, rest, 2 park days, rest…repeat as needed and don’t forget to rest each and every day for at least two to three hours in the room.

Next up, #2: Mobile Order

Did you know that Walt Disney World has an app that you can download on your phone? It is full of information. It has a map of each area that you can track your location to the area you need to be at; has lightning lane info and ability to adapt…It also has the ability to mobile order.

Which is something I wish I had known more about BEFORE we went. I can tell you it would’ve saved me sweat, tears and a mental breakdown (which isn’t something you want to have happen on vacation). So, in our little corner of the world, my family doesn’t really have the opportunity to “mobile order”. Therefore, we aren’t that familiar with it. Or rather, we weren’t. That is, until we came back from Disney. Let me tell you this, had we known about it prior to our trip in an adequate way, I believe it would have made our stay WAY more enjoyable.

By the time we got used to the mobile order, our trip was almost over. By then I had already broken down into sheer tears and was beginning to hate the trip because I had been on the go too much, I couldn’t stop and just enjoy the decorations…half our group would have already put in an order while we were standing in line, or worse yet, trying to figure out how to order on the app. One day it was really bad and that’s when I about had my breakdown. Scratch that, I did have it, and I got sent back to lay down and rest afterwards. It had been a hectic day, and I was feeling the effects of being literally on the run and everyone was irritating me. I was simply too worn out and too stressed and it isn’t a good look or combo for me. We were going to have lunch at Pinocchio’s. By then I had somewhat experimented with the app.

Not enough. I didn’t realize there were time slots that if one wasn’t available, you had to choose the next best time. Well, a half an hour after my cousin had gotten their food, we were still waiting for ours. I was getting even more irritated than I already was, which caused the others stress. Come to find out, I had to back out of the app and refresh the page. THEN, I had to order because I had failed to see we needed to click the time. I think my saving grace was some unknown man came up and asked if he could hug me because he felt I needed it. Then he started telling me how much God loved me and to always remember that. I call him an angel because I think he seriously was. I was so tired, so frustrated with everything, and everyone, in our group by then-that I had been close to tears and the issues with the app about pushed me over the edge.

It was all problems that could have been avoided had I known about them prior to the trip. So #1: check into mobile ordering. When in the parks, look at what places offer mobile ordering and where they are located. #2: Decide what time you think everyone might be hungry and start planning around that time frame. by the time we got our food at Pinocchio’s, my cousin’s family had already finished, mine was starving and I was too mentally and physically tired to even eat, let alone finish or enjoy my food. I was pretty much ordered to go back to the room and rest until supper that afternoon. And I was willing. In fact, I probably would’ve been willing to take the first flight home after that if given the opportunity.

THANKFULLY, things got better. I don’t know if it was the next day, or a few days later, but the next experience with the mobile order was far better than the one at Magic Kingdom. By then, I had gotten the rest I needed, and I now knew how to work the app better. I also decided to not keep up with the rest of the group. Which was probably a good thing, or I would have been stressed (again). This particular day we were at Hollywood Studios and we were making our way to a lighting lane to meet up with our other half of the group. My son spotted his childhood hero, Woody and shoved me into the meet and greet line. This made my oldest daughter mad and she stormed off to find my cousin and make the coveted lightning lane. I stressed for all of two minutes till I looked at the time slot and said “the heck with it, we have an hour”. We were there to have fun. Racing to a lighting lane was not fun, it just added stress. By then we all needed to de-escalate. We let her go and the four of us took our sweet time. My son and I still made our lighting lane on time.

Fast forward to the lunch time. We still had not met up with the rest of the group but had made a few of our lighting lanes. Seeing that it was close to the lunch hour, I got on the app and started looking at places that mobile ordered. Ah- thank goodness for the app. I was able to take a quick look on the map to see the best spot for lunch. We headed over to the spot we decided on, which was in Toy Story Land next to Star Wars. I had gotten a phone call from my cousin and she had said where they were going, but I told her our plans because our goal was to stay close to where the next lightning lane was. I was able to put our order in. We sat down and relaxed and watched the toy soldiers do their formation and then we got our food.

WOW!! It went 10x better than our last experience with the mobile order. I was relaxed, things went smoothly, we didn’t rush and we got our food at a decent time frame and my mom and son still made their Star Wars ride lightning lane time frame. It helped that we know knew what to do. I also was smart enough to see where we were on the map and find the mobile order locations to see what peaked our interests. With ranging ages, we all have different tastes. The food was delicious, nobody was stressed or rushed…It was probably the best time we had that day.

Mobile order came in handy too, on separate occasions. Both on our rest day, and later on our check-out day. We strolled over to our food court at our resort, found a spot to sit and opened up the app to see what everyone wanted. No waiting in lines, no strolling through the crowded area to see what there was. We simply just took our time and had a pleasant conversation with one another while we waited for the food to cook. All we had to do was pick it up when it was done.

I love trips that are peaceful and relaxing. While Disney can be anything but at times, it doesn’t always need to be rushed and stressful. So get to know the mobile ordering on the app. Look at the locations, get to know what foods there are at each spot prior. (Trust me, there’s a few in Star Wars that sound and look kind of iffy). Overall, I highly recommend the mobile order. So make sure you have enough money on your credit or debit card so you can utilize it as much as possible!

Take Time to Rest

It seems like what I wanted to write next was elusive and I have also been busy. Too busy, in fact, and when I finally took time to decide I was going to get on here and put up a post, I was always too tired to do any actual writing. So, Facebook got the majority of my time, and I shared different things that kept popping up. One thing I noticed over several days was a common theme. The theme kept reminding me that it is important to rest.

I get it

After several posts about taking time to rest the body, mind, ect I finally had to say “Ok God, I get the point.” I let my body relax and I lounged and worked on a cross stitch. (Obviously I could have also been thinking of what I wanted to write to share on the blog too, but that required brain power, and I was fresh out of that for a moment.)

But then, I realized, I already had my next topic…Rest. That’s right. Rest. Everyone needs to take time to rest their mind, body and soul a little bit. While it should be each day, how often do any of us really take the time to do so? There’s kids to get to school, household chores to be done, meals to cook, work to go to… the list continues. As for me, I found myself getting too exhausted from my new part time job that I was so wiped out, I couldn’t get anything else done. I would come home and the next day I could barely move. I decided it was time to cut down my days.

Background Info:

Now, I know some of you are probably thinking that a part time job couldn’t be very tiring. I’m here to say the opposite. In fact, many people (I would say the majority) that have an immune deficiency struggle with the body being fatigued on a daily basis. Our bodies struggle to perform like an average person on a daily basis and battling fatigue is just one of them. Then, add the lung issue, TBM, on top of that, I feel like there are days I can’t get enough oxygen even though my O2 stats are “fine”.

Those of us with compromised immune systems are more likely to get fatigued during the “normal” daily activities. It’s frustrating to know that while some people can work the 40+ hours a week, some of us struggle with making it 10-25 hrs a week. As for myself, I need a day in between and force myself to not do anything. If I do, I get even worse. Thankfully, I have my family to remind me to “sit down. Let your body rest.” And also, a dog who I think is actually an unspecified service dog. He will jump in my lap and lay down, forcing me to sit for awhile. Not your average lap dog size either, as he weighs about 50 lbs. In fact, the vet said he is too big to be a lap dog. I beg to differ.

My “support” dog loving up after our trip.

What am I getting at?

The point I am trying to make is that everyone needs to be able to rest. That includes even when you are on vacation. In fact, I would even argue ESPECIALLY on vacation.

Prior to our recent trip to Disney, I had done my research and someone in my support group recommended to take breaks in the afternoon. I did not realize how true that would be. It was early mornings and late nights the entire trip. And while it was fun, it was also very tiring. For everyone. There is so much to see and do that nobody wanted to miss out on any of it. Especially for my family because we had never been there before.

However, I quickly learned that nap times in the afternoon was essential. I would get so wore out and so tired (yes, even with sharing a scooter) that it became a needed break. I would go back to the room shortly after a lunch break and I gladly forfeited whatever lightning lane I had. And I would sleep! I often fell asleep right away and slept until the alarm went off, waking me up to get ready for our family dinner at night.

Enjoying an evening meal after a good rest

I would get up, go to dinner and then found myself ready for bed by the time we got back that night and would sleep hard until the next morning when the alarm went off again. My body did not keep up. In fact, my mom, who thought for sure she would need to go rest during the day when I did, “OUT-RAN” me. Yep, she stayed in the parks all day long while I went to the room and rested.

Able to enjoy a little “night life” after a long nap

Why It’s Needed

The one day I decided not to go at my typical time frame, I guess I got pretty cranky. I think they called me a grizzly bear. To put it nicely. Unfortunately, they were right. I get really cranky and apparently mean when I get overtired and run down. (Yes, I know, much like a toddler to my chagrin). I left shortly after they pretty much demanded I go lay down for a while. I am not sure to this day whether it helped or not.

The point is, take breaks. No matter the activity or type of vacation you are taking, you still need breaks. Your body needs time to rest, and vacation can be more work that if you were at home. So take some self care and take those breaks. Nap, lounge whatever you chose to do. Each individual is different and has different limitations. However, it’s important to take time to rest no matter your the limitation is.

There is always something beautiful to see while taking a break

Take a day to sight see. Then take a day to rest, or sleep in. When I go back to Disney World, I can tell you exactly what I plan on doing. Yes, you will miss things you won’t want to. I know I did. But I also didn’t want my body to give out completely while on vacation.

Take a day to travel and get to the destination. Then take a rest day. Trust me, no matter where you are at for vacation, there will always be something to see by just relaxing and taking a break. Sleep in, enjoy the coffee while it’s still hot… take in the view. No trip is worth self-sabotage by going to beyond the max every day. It doesn’t make for an enjoyable trip, for either you or your loved ones. Instead, think of it as simply a part of the traveling experience.

5 Must Do’s Prior to Your Trip

Ok, so you have an idea of where you want to go. You know what you want to see, where you want to stay… But did you know that there are a few things you NEED to do before leaving for your vacation? I don’t mean the typical “Turn the coffee pot off” or unplug the tv type of thing. Yes, those type of things are a necessary and important part of getting ready to leave for vacation, but I’m referring to some other MUST do’s. Here are 5 things that I highly recommend based on my previous trip.

#1. See your Primary Medical Provider

It’s a good idea to visit with your Primary Medical Provider before taking said vacation. This way, they can be aware of your travel plans and might be able to help with tips and recommendations specific to your needs. You should tell them your destination, how long you’ll be gone and perhaps getting an antibiotic in case of an emergency.

I know it sounds odd. Doctors do not like giving out antibiotics just because. In fact, they are extremely OCD about: “if it’s a virus, antibiotics won’t work.” I am not disagreeing. But one thing us zebras know is: how our own bodies tend to work. For example, I know exactly what’s wrong when I develop pneumonia. My body tends to do the same things when I get sick with pneumonia as opposed to a common cold. I can even tell when I’m getting a sinus infection and I know when I need to go in and be seen.

My body tends to act swiftly when I get down sick. It has been that way all my life. One example is when I was a kid. My mom, aunt, cousins and I had been swimming in the lake one hot summer day. I had been having a great time swimming and laughing. That same night, around midnight, I was rushed to the ER because I had developed a high fever and my lungs were sounding rough. I was admitted into the hospital for a week with…pneumonia. It hasn’t changed since. I can be feeling fine all day and by 2 am be sick enough to be admitted into the hospital.

So yes, when I knew my 12+ day vacation was coming up, I scheduled an appointment with my primary care doctor about a week or less from departure date. He gave me a general exam and sent me with a prescription for an antibiotic that was only to be taken on an “ONLY if needed” basis. He knows how quickly things happen and how I need immediate care, so he had no issue with my request. As the saying goes “Better to have it and not need it, then to need it and not have it.” I’d rather not get super sick on vacation thank you! And I am sure you feel the same way.

#2. Vitamin Up

One thing I was advised before our trip was to take vitamin supplements. Especially since our trip was during the cold and flu season, those boosts of daily vitamins was essential. Vitamin C, of course, and Vitamin D3 but also a multivitamin that has magnesium and zinc. All the good stuff.

Here again, this is a good idea to chat with your primary care physician. Mine had no problem and highly encouraged it. Each individual is different and might need different treatment, vitamins, ect. It’s always a good idea to chat with your doctor about taking added supplements.

So, we loaded up on the vitamins. I made sure the kids were taking their daily multi vitamin and my older children an added vitamin C for the immune boost. I began taking an adult multivitamin. However, I quickly discovered that my body did not like that particular type of vitamin.

No matter how I took it, with food, without food. After I ate… you name it, and my stomach just did not like it. I began to do more research on different vitamins and just stuck to the vitamin c. But then I discovered the Emergen-C drink packets. I decided to take a chance and I bought some to give it a try. This time, my body seemed to be okay with the vitamins.

Now, I am not here to give an Emergen-C review, but I can say that it helped me. I started taking it months before the trip and even packed enough of a supply to get me through our vacation. It is packed with all the good things to give my body a needed boost. I even switched it up to the Immune Support one (the blue boxes) because it has a higher level of zinc, which is perfect addition during the cold and flu season.

Find the type of multivitamin that works for you and make sure to pack it for vacation. Like any of your regular prescribed medication, make sure you pack it in your carry-on if flying. It’s also a good idea to visit with your doctor as stated above as your doctor might have advice on which brands might be the best for you.

#3. Talk the Pharmacy

If you take any type of prescription on a daily or weekly basis, make sure to talk to your pharmacist about possible prescription refills you may need. Mine was coming due while we were to be gone, and I knew it was medications I did not want to be without. I went in and had a friendly visit with my pharmacist.

There are options depending on the type of vacation and where you are headed. You just need to chat with them and see what the options are. Now if you stay in state, it sounds like you can have them mailed to you from your local pharmacy. However, different types of vacations naturally have different options. Sometimes the only option will be to pay out of pocket for however many or days ect. The only way to know for sure is to… ask the pharmacy.

#4. Hydration Packets (Get those electrolytes!)

This one is especially important for those with POTS or even immune deficiencies. As stated in another page, those with POTS need to stay hydrated, more importantly, with electrolytes. We need the sodium… For those with immune deficiencies, we need to stay hydrated especially the day of and the day after an infusion.

After you figure out how many days you plan on being gone, you need to figure out how many packets of electrolytes you’ll need a day. Now this one is kind of tricky, as I was never good at math. It was hard to figure out exactly how many I would need, but I went with at least two a day. Then I upped it by one or two extra packets.

I think in the end, I packed about 6 to 8 boxes of electrolyte packages, so I probably had more than enough. In fact, I did have more than enough. I had enough to last me till we got home and then some. I bought a variety of flavors so I wouldn’t get bored with just one flavor.

Like your regular prescription medications and multivitamins, pack them in your carry-on or personal bag for the airport. I separated them up between the two so I could have easy access on the plane. Once we reached our destination, I opened up another package and prepared a box of different flavors and my Emergen-C drink packet for each day. I tried to remember to do that at the beginning of each day.

It didn’t always work though, and I learned a hard lesson. There was a day when I thought I had packed some in my purse and son’s backpack. It turns out I had not and I paid the price dearly. By noon I was getting wiped out and I needed to find a shaded area and sit. My family had to find me a drink with electrolytes and brought me some heavily salted fries. I ended up sitting for an hour at least before I regained enough strength to get up and head for the bus area so I could go back to our room and rest a bit.

Obviously, after that experience, I double checked my purse and the backpack every day. I think I even told my family “If I forget where I stashed it, I’m putting them here so remind me.” So make sure to double check your purse each day and keep a small stash where you have easy access. Always.

#5. Research! Research! Research!

Image by StartupStockPhotos from Pixabay

ALWAYS, always!! research the area you are going to. Find out every small and tiny detail up to the big “important” ones. Such as: how big is the area; what is the weather for the time of year; what are the crowds like; what are the wait times like…ect. the list goes on.

I did all of that. I even joined a few FB groups for tips and tricks ect for our trip to Walt Disney World. It still did not get me adequately prepared for EVERYTHING. I knew it was going to be a large area. I did NOT realize just how ginormous it actually is. I knew to pack my refillable water bottle (which was extremely handy!) I did NOT know about mobile order or how it worked exactly. Like-refreshing the page if you select a different pickup time. That’s just one of the examples on that particular learning experience…I still shudder at the memory.

My family and I would have saved so much stress had we been properly prepared on how the mobile order worked and in the different ways then how we figured it out. And I would not have gotten as irritated as I did that particular day. It would have been a bit more enjoyable had we known all these smaller, piddly details in advance. I knew OF mobile order, but not really HOW it worked.

So research! Do as much research as you would for a final college paper in which the grade says whether or not you will graduate. Because no matter how much you THINK you’ve researched, it’s still not going to be enough. I was recently once told: “The only stupid question is the one you don’t ask.” So, ask others who have gone to those places and get details. Write it down if you have to. Save yourself headaches and huge amounts of stress in the end by asking down to the smallest, ant sized detail. That ant might become a giant issue on vacation.

There you have it. The top 5 Must Do’s prior to your Trip. Do you have any other tips or suggestions? I’d love to hear them! Leave a comment below and let me know what they are or what you think of these tips.