Early start

I woke up knowing we had a possible buyer coming to view our caravan, so was feeling rather stressed. They were expected at 9am, which was a bit early for me, but I allowed plenty of time to wake up slowly and then got ready without rushing. I was too nervous for breakfast, but felt much better once they arrived and loved the caravan.

I had mixed feelings when they drove off, part of me was sad to see it go, but the other half knew I just don't feel well enough to use it enough. You need to be able to plan a trip away, you need to book a site etc, but that's not easy when you never know how you will feel when you wake up.

We had an amazing trip last year to New York, which for weeks before I was really worried how I would cope and not spoilt it for my family. The flight is about eight hours, which if you are in pain sat in the cramped space, makes it much worse. So whenever possible I went for a walk to the back of the plane, just to stretch my legs which helped. We also chose an airline with a decent seat pitch to give us plenty of leg room. (Well not exactly first class, but better than some previous planes we've flown on!)
 I knew I wouldn't be able to walk for miles every day, but with lots of planning, using the bus and trains I coped really well. The most important thing was having plenty of rests, so stopping for a drink or snack often through the day, helped pace ourselves. The weather also helped, as it was warm ( I've always used heat to help with the pain) but not humid, then the air conditioning in the hotel room stopped it getting too warm to sleep. I also worried the hard mattresses would hurt my back muscles, but using a spare quilt folded up to lay on really worked. ( I even left the maid a note to leave the bed alone!)

We saw so much more than I ever expected to, so didn't feel guilty for spoiling everyones holiday. I did have quite a bit of pain, mainly in my elbow, but one day it was in my foot which was frustrating, as I couldn't walk so we caught the bus back to our hotel where I rested it for a few hours. It also gave me time to catch up with our daughter Laura who had been working at summer camp out there. While my husband Paul and son Tom went to a aircraft museum to see Concorde, which they both enjoyed.

I was quite surprised you can't buy ibruprofen gel in America, but did find a substitute which helped ease my foot and elbow pain for a bit.

So after such a brilliant time it helped me believe that with lots of planning and a bit of luck you can have a good trip, despite having this awful condition. I know next time I might not be as lucky, as I've had a few bad flare ups which prevent me from leaving the house for weeks,  but I realise getting stressed doesn't help, and probably makes things worse.