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How to Travel When Eczema Comes Along · Skinquiries

0:07
Speaker 1: When we went to Petra, my eczema was flaring up
0:10
Speaker 1: very badly during that time. You have like the 800
0:12
Speaker 1: steps up to the monastery and my knees were hurting
0:14
Speaker 1: the whole time. I was saying ow on every step
0:16
Speaker 1: and I just felt like an old person. I was
0:19
Speaker 1: so sore the day after, I couldn't believe it. And
0:21
Speaker 1: I was just like, I'm so sore, like I can
0:23
Speaker 1: hardly move. What's wrong with me?
0:27
Speaker 2: Let's be real. Eczema is a terrible travel companion. It
0:32
Speaker 2: can't pack your bags, it can't find the closest gas station,
0:36
Speaker 2: and it definitely cannot make an itinerary. And that sucks,
0:41
Speaker 2: because traveling with eczema means thinking about more than just
0:44
Speaker 2: where you're going and what you're going to do when
0:47
Speaker 2: you get there. Even the simple act of packing can
0:51
Speaker 2: irritate your hands. Airplane cabins can dry out your skin.
0:56
Speaker 2: And to add insult to injury, all of your trusted
1:00
Speaker 2: products have to adhere to really annoying security guidelines. Now,
1:06
Speaker 2: none of this means that travel is off the table,
1:09
Speaker 2: of course, but it can turn spontaneity into a balancing act.
1:14
Speaker 2: So how do you leave room for adventure while giving
1:16
Speaker 2: your body the care it needs? And when your body
1:19
Speaker 2: tells you that it needs a break, how do you
1:22
Speaker 2: listen without feeling like you're missing out? Hello, friends, and welcome,
1:28
Speaker 2: or welcome back to Skin Queries. This is a show
1:32
Speaker 2: about skin, but really, we know it's a show about people,
1:36
Speaker 2: because skin health doesn't exist in a vacuum. It shapes everything.
1:40
Speaker 2: It shapes how we're seen, how we see ourselves, and
1:43
Speaker 2: our experiences of confidence, identity, community, and care. I'm your host,
1:49
Speaker 2: Dylan Marron. Today, we are figuring out how to travel
1:59
Speaker 2: solo when eczema insists on coming along as your uninvited
2:04
Speaker 2: plus one. And honey, it will. My guest today is
2:09
Speaker 2: Sarah Simon, a writer and experienced solo traveler who has
2:13
Speaker 2: lived with eczema since childhood. The more Sarah traveled, the
2:17
Speaker 2: more managing her skin became part of the journey. For
2:20
Speaker 2: a long time, Sarah pushed through the discomfort because she
2:23
Speaker 2: didn't want eczema or anything else to limit where she
2:27
Speaker 2: could go. But after her health forced her to cut
2:30
Speaker 2: short one of her trips and later take a prolonged
2:33
Speaker 2: break from traveling, she began to reconsider what freedom looked
2:37
Speaker 2: like and whether caring for herself could be part of it.
2:41
Speaker 2: But before we get into the eczema of it all,
2:44
Speaker 2: I want us to go back to 2016 when a
2:47
Speaker 2: mishap on a trip through Sweden and Copenhagen helped Sarah
2:51
Speaker 2: fall in love with traveling alone.
2:56
Speaker 1: So, like, I was in a train station and I
2:58
Speaker 1: got stuck overnight because I thought it was supposed to
3:01
Speaker 1: leave from one train station. It turned out it was
3:03
Speaker 1: supposed to leave from the airport. And I, like, started
3:06
Speaker 1: to tear up. And then suddenly I was like, wait
3:08
Speaker 1: a second, who's here to get mad at me? Like,
3:11
Speaker 1: who's here to care? Like, I'm okay. This is part
3:13
Speaker 1: of the adventure. And so I think that was the moment.
3:15
Speaker 2: I mean, Sarah, those are words to live by. Who's
3:18
Speaker 2: here to get mad at me is, I think, a
3:20
Speaker 2: mantra we all need to adopt. This is great.
3:22
Speaker 1: So I started talking to my family because of different
3:24
Speaker 1: time zone. I was like, okay, I can talk to
3:26
Speaker 1: them on FaceTime. And this is how I can, you know,
3:28
Speaker 1: kind of feel okay about this. So there was that
3:30
Speaker 1: little moment of like insecurity. But then I just, you know,
3:34
Speaker 1: there was like a 5 a.m. train. So I pretty
3:35
Speaker 1: much you know, talked on the phone so I didn't
3:37
Speaker 1: fall asleep and just went off on the 5 a.m.
3:40
Speaker 1: train and slept on the train.
3:42
Speaker 2: Got it. And that's what trains are for. That's true.
3:44
Speaker 2: It's to give you sleep. Yeah. What did that teach
3:47
Speaker 2: you about solo travel? What did that whole experience leave
3:50
Speaker 2: you with?
3:51
Speaker 1: Um, Just like I, you know, a lot of times
3:53
Speaker 1: I think I had traveled a lot with my family
3:55
Speaker 1: or with groups. And a lot of times I found
3:58
Speaker 1: myself relying on everybody else to not just make the plans,
4:01
Speaker 1: but navigate and like figure, you know, you know, people
4:04
Speaker 1: are like handing me a ticket and saying, this is
4:06
Speaker 1: the time we have to go and this is where
4:07
Speaker 1: we need to be. But it was like up to
4:09
Speaker 1: me to actually figure that stuff out. And I think
4:12
Speaker 1: it never really occurs to you until you do it.
4:14
Speaker 1: You know, like, oh yeah, I can do this. And
4:16
Speaker 1: it's fun because now I get the independence and the freedom.
4:19
Speaker 1: And I mean, honestly, now, even if I'm with people,
4:21
Speaker 1: I'm going to be a lot more chill and not
4:22
Speaker 1: so worried about something going wrong. There was actually one
4:25
Speaker 1: time I was with a friend and we were traveling
4:27
Speaker 1: and she got really anxious and I like talked her
4:29
Speaker 1: down from it because I was like, really, tomorrow you're
4:31
Speaker 1: going to feel fine. And the next day she was like,
4:33
Speaker 1: you were right. I feel fine.
4:34
Speaker 2: Right. That's cool. We'll come back to travel. And I
4:37
Speaker 2: want to hear more. I also personally want to hear more.
4:40
Speaker 2: As someone who actually is like kind of scared to travel,
4:43
Speaker 2: we won't be getting into me. This is about you.
4:46
Speaker 2: Let's go to eczema. So I'm curious, when did eczema
4:51
Speaker 2: first show up in your life?
4:53
Speaker 1: I mean, the first time I remember it, I think
4:54
Speaker 1: I was four years old and my family had moved
4:56
Speaker 1: and I was starting kindergarten and I remember having it.
4:59
Speaker 1: And I would always usually get it when I was younger,
5:01
Speaker 1: kind of on the inside of my elbows and knees,
5:03
Speaker 1: I think. But then... My senior year of college is
5:05
Speaker 1: when it started showing up on my hands. And then
5:07
Speaker 1: it just progressively, like the hand eczema has progressively gotten
5:10
Speaker 1: worse throughout the years. And sometimes it would show up
5:12
Speaker 1: in other places as well.
5:13
Speaker 2: Did you kind of know what was aggravating the eczema
5:18
Speaker 2: or was it just a mystery?
5:19
Speaker 1: It was a mix. I mean, overall, I would say
5:21
Speaker 1: a mystery, but I did get like skin testing done.
5:23
Speaker 1: So I found out that I'm allergic to chemicals that
5:25
Speaker 1: are in almost every skincare product. So that made it
5:27
Speaker 1: really hard to find skincare products. And then, yeah, like
5:30
Speaker 1: some food allergies or intolerances. So, but still like, I
5:34
Speaker 1: never felt like I had it under control. Like it
5:36
Speaker 1: just kind of would progressively get worse. At some point,
5:39
Speaker 1: obviously I had steroid cream or I would put, you know,
5:42
Speaker 1: some other kind of moisturizer on it usually. But a
5:44
Speaker 1: lot of times I would just scratch. Like it's terrible,
5:48
Speaker 1: but that's what I would do.
5:49
Speaker 2: No, I totally get it. I also think like, especially
5:53
Speaker 2: when you get it when you're a kid, you're just like,
5:57
Speaker 2: I'm just going to instinctively respond to this and I'm
6:00
Speaker 2: going to scratch it. So that makes sense. And now
6:03
Speaker 2: to merge our two topics, travel and eczema, when did
6:08
Speaker 2: you start realizing that your eczema could be affected by
6:13
Speaker 2: travel and vice versa, that your travel could be affected
6:16
Speaker 2: by eczema?
6:17
Speaker 1: So I always knew on some level that whenever I
6:20
Speaker 1: would go on a trip, I would be packing. And
6:23
Speaker 1: I would have my hands and everything packing. And there
6:26
Speaker 1: was the stress of the travel. So I knew that
6:28
Speaker 1: those things usually were going to cause a flare-up. But
6:30
Speaker 1: it really was when I started doing kind of like
6:34
Speaker 1: longer trips. I would go for like a month or more.
6:36
Speaker 1: And that's when I really started to feel like it
6:39
Speaker 1: was really affecting me to the point where it was
6:40
Speaker 1: affecting my trip and affecting how much I could enjoy
6:43
Speaker 1: the trip because... I would get the flare up as
6:46
Speaker 1: I was preparing for the trip and leaving. And then
6:48
Speaker 1: I would go on these trips and people would be like,
6:50
Speaker 1: are you okay? Your hands look so bad. I'd be
6:51
Speaker 1: slathering on cream, of course, missing sleep because you're waking
6:54
Speaker 1: up at night with pitch attacks. And so that's when
6:57
Speaker 1: I really realized I don't want to keep living like this.
7:00
Speaker 1: So I started to kind of look a little bit
7:01
Speaker 1: more for answers at that point.
7:04
Speaker 2: You said, you know, it's a trigger because you're using
7:07
Speaker 2: your hands a lot when you pack. What's the relationship
7:10
Speaker 2: between using your hands a lot, packing, and eczema?
7:14
Speaker 1: I think because everything is, you know, your skin barrier
7:16
Speaker 1: is so weak and it's so easy for anything that's
7:19
Speaker 1: rubbing on your skin to irritate it and start that
7:22
Speaker 1: flare up cycle, I think. Yeah. So like things are
7:25
Speaker 1: constantly kind of rubbing on my hands. I'm putting things
7:28
Speaker 1: in a backpack or, you know, touching things or going
7:30
Speaker 1: through things, you know, in a drawer to find clothing
7:32
Speaker 1: to pack and folding it.
7:33
Speaker 2: Yeah. All that friction.
7:34
Speaker 1: It's more than you normally do. Yeah. Yeah.
7:40
Speaker 2: So in 2021, you take this big trip to Egypt, Romania, Italy, and...
7:47
Speaker 2: And Greece. Greece, yeah. First of all, tell me about
7:51
Speaker 2: that trip. Tell me about planning that trip. And then
7:54
Speaker 2: tell me about eczema rearing its head on that trip.
7:58
Speaker 1: Okay, so the pandemic had happened. And of course, we
8:01
Speaker 1: were all in lockdown. And I ended up moving. And
8:04
Speaker 1: I really just could tell that I needed to get away.
8:07
Speaker 2: Yeah.
8:07
Speaker 1: It was one of those things like I had lived
8:08
Speaker 1: abroad before and I was just like, it's time. I
8:11
Speaker 1: have to go somewhere. I have to do something. But
8:12
Speaker 1: I didn't really know how it was going to happen
8:15
Speaker 1: because I was kind of trying to work on like
8:17
Speaker 1: things like making more money and taking care of some
8:19
Speaker 1: other health issues I had. Right. And one day I
8:21
Speaker 1: was on social media and I found this Egypt retreat
8:24
Speaker 1: that looked amazing. And I was like, I'm kind of interested.
8:26
Speaker 1: I'm going to look into this. There was a waitlist.
8:27
Speaker 1: I was like, oh, you know, it's not going to
8:29
Speaker 1: cost me anything to join the waitlist.
8:30
Speaker 2: Yeah.
8:31
Speaker 1: And I joined it. And like the next few days,
8:33
Speaker 1: as I thought about it, I told myself, if I
8:34
Speaker 1: get in, I'm going. Like, you know, I don't know
8:36
Speaker 1: if I'm going to get in, but if I get in,
8:37
Speaker 1: I'm going to go. And then I got in. So
8:39
Speaker 1: I was like, okay, I told myself I have to go.
8:42
Speaker 1: So I'm going to go. Yeah. And so then I
8:44
Speaker 1: was like, OK, well, if I'm already going to pay
8:46
Speaker 1: the money and go out to Egypt, I have to,
8:49
Speaker 1: you know, I'm going to make more of this trip.
8:50
Speaker 2: You've got to make it work.
8:51
Speaker 1: Come on. And this had kind of been my dream
8:53
Speaker 1: because I had been building up like freelance work and
8:56
Speaker 1: being like, I'm going to go and travel and work.
8:58
Speaker 1: This was kind of my goal was like, I'm going
8:59
Speaker 1: to be in the airport working.
9:01
Speaker 2: And it happened.
9:01
Speaker 1: I did it.
9:02
Speaker 2: So I love that your dream was I'll be in
9:05
Speaker 2: the airport working. This is good.
9:07
Speaker 1: This is because it's what's allowing me to go.
9:09
Speaker 2: I know. I love it. But I just I'm obsessed.
9:11
Speaker 1: Yeah. So at the time, because of the pandemic, you
9:16
Speaker 1: couldn't just go anywhere from Egypt. And the only place
9:19
Speaker 1: that I could go was Romania. And I just so
9:20
Speaker 1: happened to have these good friends at the time. And
9:22
Speaker 1: they were from Romania. So I stayed with their parents.
9:25
Speaker 1: And that's where like her mom was the one who
9:27
Speaker 1: noticed my eczema and made me the cream, which is
9:29
Speaker 1: another story. But then I went on to Italy on
9:33
Speaker 1: my own and Greece on my own. Yeah.
9:35
Speaker 2: When you left for the trip, were you having an
9:38
Speaker 2: eczema flare up? Did it start before the trip? Was
9:41
Speaker 2: it after you arrived?
9:43
Speaker 1: I think it started with all the packing. You know,
9:45
Speaker 1: you're preparing for this trip and that's a little bit stressful.
9:47
Speaker 1: Then you're packing and you have all this friction on
9:49
Speaker 1: your hands and then you go on the plane. It
9:50
Speaker 1: makes it worse because it's dry air and all of
9:53
Speaker 1: that stuff. And so I know like by the time
9:55
Speaker 1: I got there, it was a full blown situation.
9:57
Speaker 2: Gotcha. Gotcha. You landed with full. blown eczema.
10:01
Speaker 1: So I went on my retreat and I don't think
10:02
Speaker 1: a lot of people said anything. And that's one thing
10:04
Speaker 1: I think we were all just, you know, so busy.
10:07
Speaker 1: But there were times where I was up during the
10:09
Speaker 1: night because it was so hot and maybe there wasn't
10:11
Speaker 1: air conditioning and I was having to take care of
10:13
Speaker 1: it and not sleeping well. And then I went on
10:15
Speaker 1: from the retreat to a hostel and And like, you know,
10:18
Speaker 1: Egypt is really good with hospitality.
10:20
Speaker 2: Yeah.
10:21
Speaker 1: And they would be asking me at the hospitals of like,
10:23
Speaker 1: are you okay? Like, you know, with your head, like
10:26
Speaker 1: they would notice and ask me and I would just
10:27
Speaker 1: be like, yeah, I'm fine because this is what I'm
10:29
Speaker 1: used to. You know, I'm suffering, but I'm pushing through it.
10:31
Speaker 1: I'm telling everybody I'm fine. And everyone's like, don't scratch.
10:35
Speaker 1: But I felt like I had experienced a little more
10:38
Speaker 1: concern for some reason than I had really experienced before. Right.
10:42
Speaker 2: And it sounds like the people of Egypt are took
10:45
Speaker 2: great notice but also great care um yeah which is
10:48
Speaker 2: very sweet yeah it's really nice yeah yeah okay so
10:51
Speaker 2: then you go to romania um tell me about your
10:54
Speaker 2: friend's mom So.
10:55
Speaker 1: Yeah, so I met up with my friends. Her dad
10:58
Speaker 1: picked me up at the airport, and then we left
11:00
Speaker 1: for our mountain trip, and we stopped at our first hotel,
11:02
Speaker 1: and we were sitting there, and her mom noticed, and
11:04
Speaker 1: she was really worried about me, and she pulled out
11:05
Speaker 1: this homemade cream, and I used it, and it helped. Oh.
11:08
Speaker 1: And so then as we were, you know, driving along
11:11
Speaker 1: the mountains and back to their house, our whole, you know,
11:13
Speaker 1: the castles and everything, she would tell my friend's dad
11:15
Speaker 1: to stop, and she would get out and pick herbs.
11:19
Speaker 2: To stop the car.
11:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, like just on the side of highways or whatever
11:22
Speaker 1: when she saw an herb.
11:23
Speaker 2: On the side of a highway? That is an herb professor.
11:27
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're like, you know, she like knew what to do.
11:29
Speaker 1: And we got back to their house and she had
11:32
Speaker 1: this big pot on the stove and boiled it and
11:34
Speaker 1: like made this cream. And so she sent me home
11:35
Speaker 1: with it and it helped me for a while. So
11:37
Speaker 1: that was really nice.
11:38
Speaker 2: Oh my God, pharmaceuticals by nature.
11:40
Speaker 1: Yeah.
11:43
Speaker 2: So you're talking about how even packing is a trigger
11:48
Speaker 2: for eczema. So walk me through the steps you take
11:52
Speaker 2: simply to pack for a trip. And by that, I
11:54
Speaker 2: also mean, how do you prepare for a trip emotionally, physically?
11:58
Speaker 2: What are you bringing? Walk me through it.
12:00
Speaker 1: So now I try not to pack last minute because
12:03
Speaker 1: then I don't have my hands in so many things
12:05
Speaker 1: right before I leave. I start packing a little bit before. And,
12:08
Speaker 1: you know, packing is always, I feel like, a challenge
12:11
Speaker 1: and If it's not for somebody, then kudos to them.
12:15
Speaker 1: I'm always so indecisive about what I'm going to bring.
12:17
Speaker 1: But I mean, I have narrowed it down to like, okay,
12:19
Speaker 1: I'm only going to take the bare minimum of things
12:20
Speaker 1: that I need. And if I don't normally wear it,
12:22
Speaker 1: I'm not going to wear it on the trip. So
12:23
Speaker 1: I'm not going to take it. And, you know, I've
12:26
Speaker 1: been trying to do more and more like natural materials
12:29
Speaker 1: like linen or cotton. So choosing that, like the most breathable,
12:34
Speaker 1: most natural clothing that I own. And then one of
12:37
Speaker 1: the biggest things for me that's been like a game
12:39
Speaker 1: changer is eczema gloves. And they're made with zinc tinsel
12:42
Speaker 1: fabric because zinc is really good for your skin. And
12:44
Speaker 1: so at night, I do this when I sleep, but
12:46
Speaker 1: I also started doing it on the airplane. And I've
12:48
Speaker 1: noticed when I don't do it, my hands get worse.
12:52
Speaker 1: And so that kind of helps the moisture stay in
12:54
Speaker 1: there when it's really dry.
12:55
Speaker 2: Love that.
12:56
Speaker 1: That's the most basic thing, obviously, steroid cream or anything
12:59
Speaker 1: else like that. And then a sleep mask, my gloves,
13:03
Speaker 1: everything I need for my whole oral care, like everything
13:07
Speaker 1: that I need to kind of make sure that I
13:09
Speaker 1: can wind down and have darkness and sleep as well
13:12
Speaker 1: as I possibly can is probably the second most important thing.
13:15
Speaker 2: Because it's like whole body care for eczema.
13:18
Speaker 1: Right. Yeah. Yeah.
13:20
Speaker 2: That's the packing. That's the preparation. Let's say you've successfully packed.
13:25
Speaker 2: You've packed everything that you've just laid out. It's perfect.
13:29
Speaker 2: You have your gloves on. You touch down. You arrive
13:32
Speaker 2: at your place. And you get a flare maybe day
13:36
Speaker 2: one or day two. What do you do when you're
13:39
Speaker 2: away from home?
13:40
Speaker 1: So the last time this happened, because this is the
13:43
Speaker 1: last time I can remember what I did, I went
13:44
Speaker 1: to Arizona for my birthday last year. And I didn't
13:48
Speaker 1: wear my gloves on the plane because it was a
13:49
Speaker 1: short flight and that was a mistake. But after I
13:51
Speaker 1: got there, I didn't realize like, oh, I would have
13:53
Speaker 1: a little altitude sickness and my eczema would flare up.
13:56
Speaker 1: And so the first night, instead of, you know, going
13:58
Speaker 1: out and doing anything, I ate dinner and I just
14:00
Speaker 1: went back to my room early. I put on, you know,
14:02
Speaker 1: what I needed with my steroid cream and my gloves
14:04
Speaker 1: and I just relaxed and didn't do much and made
14:06
Speaker 1: sure I got a really good night's sleep. So that
14:08
Speaker 1: helped a lot. And I obviously like hydrating, drinking water,
14:11
Speaker 1: making sure I'm eating what I need to just look
14:14
Speaker 1: at the nutrients and see what I'm getting, if I'm
14:15
Speaker 1: getting enough protein, et cetera. And then, um, The most
14:19
Speaker 1: surprising thing on that Arizona trip that I learned, I
14:21
Speaker 1: had started getting this sunscreen that is zinc-based. And the
14:24
Speaker 1: zinc actually helped clear out my skin as well as
14:26
Speaker 1: being sunscreen. So that was a big deal.
14:30
Speaker 2: It feels like you have to become this unofficial expert
14:35
Speaker 2: in like all of these fields that you don't even
14:38
Speaker 2: work in. You know, it's like now suddenly, you know,
14:41
Speaker 2: the ingredients of everything. And that is maybe not a
14:44
Speaker 2: superpower you dreamt of having as a kid, but who knows?
14:48
Speaker 1: I do think it's useful. I used to hate it.
14:50
Speaker 1: Like I have to look at the ingredient list on
14:52
Speaker 1: everything now. But when I went to get like a
14:55
Speaker 1: master's degree, I felt like this has prepared me.
14:57
Speaker 2: Yeah. To study more. Of course. Like it makes you
15:01
Speaker 2: an expert in everything. So, I'm curious, did you ever
15:06
Speaker 2: have to cut a trip short because of eczema?
15:10
Speaker 1: So with eczema being kind of sometimes there's more going
15:13
Speaker 1: on than meets the eye. And a big thing is,
15:15
Speaker 1: you know, the gut issues. But sometimes you may have
15:18
Speaker 1: another health issue going on. And this is probably the
15:20
Speaker 1: biggest lesson of my life. I had this fibroid that
15:22
Speaker 1: was unknowingly giving me low iron. I was having like
15:25
Speaker 1: joint pain, fatigue, low energy, all of this stuff. And
15:29
Speaker 1: so I already knew I had all that. But I
15:31
Speaker 1: had really been so set on traveling a lot that
15:33
Speaker 1: I was like, I don't care. Like, I don't know
15:35
Speaker 1: what's going on, but I'm going to travel anyway. So
15:37
Speaker 1: I planned this, you know, I planned like a month
15:39
Speaker 1: in Turkey and then I went on a tour in
15:41
Speaker 1: Jordan and then I did a month in Cyprus. And
15:43
Speaker 1: so once I found out I needed a procedure for
15:45
Speaker 1: the fibroid, I cut the month in Turkey short. But
15:47
Speaker 1: my eczema was flaring up also very badly during that time.
15:51
Speaker 1: I do remember that on the flight, on the way
15:53
Speaker 1: to Jordan, I was just like slathering cream on the
15:55
Speaker 1: whole time, like super miserable. And in Cyprus, I just didn't.
16:01
Speaker 1: didn't do much besides hanging out at the beach. I
16:02
Speaker 1: had a few different outings that I did. But yeah,
16:04
Speaker 1: it kind of became like a break before my procedure
16:08
Speaker 1: more than adventurous travel at that point.
16:11
Speaker 2: How did it feel to cut it short?
16:13
Speaker 1: I was upset. I thought it would be worth it
16:15
Speaker 1: because I thought I would get the procedure before the
16:17
Speaker 1: trip and then I didn't. But, you know, I did
16:18
Speaker 1: like the biopsy and stuff like that. But it was
16:21
Speaker 1: also kind of a relief. Yeah. Like, I'm not going
16:23
Speaker 1: to lie, because there was this big part of me
16:25
Speaker 1: before that trip that my low iron, even though I
16:27
Speaker 1: was taking iron pills, I think it was so bad.
16:29
Speaker 1: And my eczema was so bad that I was like,
16:31
Speaker 1: I don't know how I'm going to do this. But
16:32
Speaker 1: before every trip, I have a little bit of this trepidation.
16:35
Speaker 1: And then once I go, I'm fine. So I've kind
16:37
Speaker 1: of gotten used to that a little bit. But I
16:39
Speaker 1: really was like, how am I going to have energy
16:41
Speaker 1: for this trip? Yeah. With the tour, that being the
16:44
Speaker 1: first thing that I went on, I was able to
16:46
Speaker 1: have enough adrenaline because there were other people on the
16:48
Speaker 1: tour and planned activities that it was okay. When we
16:50
Speaker 1: went to Petra and I have, you have like the
16:52
Speaker 1: 800 steps up to the monastery and my knees were
16:55
Speaker 1: hurting the whole time. I was saying ow on every
16:56
Speaker 1: step and I just felt like an old person. But
16:59
Speaker 1: I was so sore the day after, I couldn't believe
17:01
Speaker 1: it because I've always been pretty active. And I was
17:03
Speaker 1: just like, I'm so sore, like I can hardly move.
17:05
Speaker 1: What's wrong with me? And it was all of these
17:08
Speaker 1: underlying issues that I needed to take care of.
17:10
Speaker 2: And was eczema part of the pain of climbing those steps?
17:15
Speaker 1: Yeah, because eczema is inflammatory and so is like everything
17:17
Speaker 1: else that I had going on. And so I feel
17:20
Speaker 1: like a huge part of managing eczema is managing inflammation,
17:22
Speaker 1: which is diet, but it's also more than that. Gotcha.
17:25
Speaker 1: So I had gotten my procedure for my fibroid and
17:28
Speaker 1: I really thought that would fix everything. You know, I
17:30
Speaker 1: was like, once I get this, everything's going to be great.
17:33
Speaker 1: I'm going to go become like, you know, a full-time
17:34
Speaker 1: traveler or whatever I want to do. And then I
17:36
Speaker 1: had to stay and, you know, a few months for
17:38
Speaker 1: them to do a checkup and stuff. And at some
17:39
Speaker 1: point I got this full blown allergic reaction where my
17:42
Speaker 1: eyes were swollen. Um, I had rashes like all over
17:44
Speaker 1: my face and ears and like new rashes, new places
17:47
Speaker 1: on my hands and my arms. And it was so
17:49
Speaker 1: bad that I went to the ER and got like
17:51
Speaker 1: a steroid shot, but that took a year. So I
17:54
Speaker 1: took that year and like, you know, really did everything
17:56
Speaker 1: they said.
17:57
Speaker 2: How did that feel to take such a prolonged and
18:01
Speaker 2: probably in the moment, indefinite pause from travel?
18:04
Speaker 1: Um, I didn't like not being able to travel, but
18:07
Speaker 1: I knew I didn't have a choice. Like, I think
18:09
Speaker 1: I was more upset that I was in the position to,
18:12
Speaker 1: you know, be in such bad shape.
18:17
Speaker 2: Okay, so you recently did return to traveling abroad. Where
18:23
Speaker 2: did you go? What was that like?
18:25
Speaker 1: So I went to England on a pilgrimage. Okay.
18:29
Speaker 2: Brag. Love.
18:31
Speaker 1: Yes. It was like it was with a group my
18:33
Speaker 1: dad went with and he wanted me to go. And
18:35
Speaker 1: I was like, I mean, I'm not going to say
18:36
Speaker 1: no because I haven't traveled abroad in way too long.
18:39
Speaker 1: It was honestly a break that I needed after like
18:41
Speaker 1: it's been a kind of a crazy year with my
18:43
Speaker 1: mother's health as well as like I ended up having
18:45
Speaker 1: to have another surgery because of the fibroid. And so
18:47
Speaker 1: it was, I feel like travel is just always what
18:49
Speaker 1: I need, especially I feel like if you're intentional about it,
18:52
Speaker 1: which is a lot of what I write about. So
18:54
Speaker 1: I was at a point in my recovery that helped
18:57
Speaker 1: me start walking more again and just in a way
19:00
Speaker 1: where I wasn't thinking about oh, I need to be
19:03
Speaker 1: walking more. So I'm going to try to go to
19:04
Speaker 1: the gym or, you know, whatever. I'm like experiencing beauty,
19:09
Speaker 1: learning about spirituality and history, experiencing, you know, being in
19:13
Speaker 1: another country outside of my normal daily routine. And so
19:16
Speaker 1: it's like just naturally happening, not just that I'm getting steps,
19:18
Speaker 1: but I'm not stressing because I'm for once, you know,
19:22
Speaker 1: not thinking about everything that I've been thinking about in
19:24
Speaker 1: my daily life for however long it's been since I
19:26
Speaker 1: took a really good trip abroad. And I was just refreshed. So.
19:31
Speaker 2: I love that. Yeah. I'm curious, did you prepare for
19:35
Speaker 2: that trip differently?
19:36
Speaker 1: I mean, the main things are like, I packed, you know,
19:39
Speaker 1: I started packing early, but I think it used to
19:41
Speaker 1: feel like such an inconvenience to take care of my health. Like,
19:44
Speaker 1: I would be like, I know I should wear gloves
19:46
Speaker 1: at night, but I don't want to. Like, it's such a,
19:48
Speaker 1: you know, and I've done so much from health in
19:50
Speaker 1: the last number of years that now everything is such
19:52
Speaker 1: a habit or like a normal thing that it doesn't
19:55
Speaker 1: feel like it's that much of a stretch for me
19:57
Speaker 1: to prepare for travel. So I'll research kind of like, okay,
20:00
Speaker 1: if we're going to England, we weren't in London mostly.
20:02
Speaker 1: We were in like, you know, York and Salisbury and Canterbury. So,
20:06
Speaker 1: you know, it's like kind of looking at the itinerary,
20:09
Speaker 1: looking at the activities and knowing in advance what I
20:12
Speaker 1: might need to be prepared for. And I even, I
20:14
Speaker 1: took a break on that trip. I got really tired
20:16
Speaker 1: and there was one place they went that I didn't
20:18
Speaker 1: care as much about. And I was like, I'm just
20:20
Speaker 1: taking off of this one and I'm not going. And
20:22
Speaker 1: I knew I needed the rest and I was really
20:24
Speaker 1: glad that I did it. So that's kind of like
20:26
Speaker 1: knowing what you're doing and what you can skip or
20:28
Speaker 1: what are definite things that like, I'm going to be
20:30
Speaker 1: upset at myself if I miss this and making sure
20:33
Speaker 1: you know, I'm prepared for those things and having snacks
20:35
Speaker 1: with me and everything else that I need.
20:37
Speaker 2: I mean, and that is something we can all take away.
20:42
Speaker 2: We got to have snacks with us. This sounds like
20:45
Speaker 2: an amazing trip and it sounds like you're aware of
20:47
Speaker 2: your limits. You're advocating for yourself, even to yourself. You know,
20:51
Speaker 2: it sounds it doesn't sound like you're getting opposition externally.
20:55
Speaker 2: You know what you need and you are setting yourself
20:58
Speaker 2: up for success. How has your what you expect from
21:04
Speaker 2: travel changed with your understanding of your skin?
21:08
Speaker 1: To me, I've always loved the adventure of travel. So
21:10
Speaker 1: I've loved it. And I love freedom. It's like part
21:13
Speaker 1: of my personality type, I think. And so part of
21:15
Speaker 1: that for me in the past was always, I don't
21:17
Speaker 1: want to have to worry about cooking. I don't want
21:19
Speaker 1: to have to think about, you know, taking care of myself.
21:22
Speaker 1: And over the last number of years, like that has
21:24
Speaker 1: completely done a 180. Like, Right. Taking care of myself
21:28
Speaker 1: is what allows me to enjoy life and to, you know,
21:31
Speaker 1: not feel so out of control because freedom doesn't mean
21:33
Speaker 1: being out of control. It also, you know, you don't
21:35
Speaker 1: want to be a control freak. So sometimes, you know,
21:37
Speaker 1: I go through phases where I track my food more,
21:39
Speaker 1: like I'm doing right now for different reasons, but then
21:42
Speaker 1: I'm going to stop and I'm going to be like,
21:43
Speaker 1: I'm good. I feel confident again. Like I know I'm
21:45
Speaker 1: getting enough of the things I need. I don't want
21:47
Speaker 1: to get to the point where I'm obsessing all the
21:49
Speaker 1: time and I'm not enjoying my life. So it's like practicing, okay,
21:51
Speaker 1: what do I want to do for my routines? But
21:52
Speaker 1: what actually helps me not just because somebody else said
21:55
Speaker 1: to do it or because, I'm trying to check off
21:57
Speaker 1: a list. And it's the same thing with travel. I
21:59
Speaker 1: don't want to go travel and check off a list
22:00
Speaker 1: of sites and not be there for the right reasons.
22:03
Speaker 1: So with this trip in particular, I think it was
22:06
Speaker 1: a reminder that travel can really help you get out
22:09
Speaker 1: of a rut in life. You don't even realize in
22:11
Speaker 1: daily life that you can be in such kind of
22:14
Speaker 1: a tunnel of your own perceptions, your own experiences. There's
22:18
Speaker 1: stress that doesn't even need to be stress, but it's
22:20
Speaker 1: because you need a break. And so on this trip,
22:23
Speaker 1: because we were going to these places of pilgrimage that
22:27
Speaker 1: have been used for like thousands of years, it's like, okay,
22:32
Speaker 1: like I'm not alone in the world. And there are
22:34
Speaker 1: things throughout history where like humans have created ways of
22:39
Speaker 1: dealing with difficult things. They've created ways of like connecting
22:43
Speaker 1: with something that's, you know, greater than us or than
22:46
Speaker 1: what you might be going through in this moment, whether
22:48
Speaker 1: that's eczema or another health issue or like stress from
22:51
Speaker 1: other things in life. And there's a reason for that.
22:53
Speaker 1: Like we need that as humans. One of my biggest
22:56
Speaker 1: things that I talk about on my blog is that
22:58
Speaker 1: travel has always been a spiritual act because when you
23:00
Speaker 1: look through history, it has. And like, you know, you
23:02
Speaker 1: can think deeper about what do I want to get
23:04
Speaker 1: out of travel? What do I want this to do
23:05
Speaker 1: for my wellness? What do I want this to do
23:07
Speaker 1: for my perspective on history or spirituality or anything, you know,
23:11
Speaker 1: that I'm wanting to connect more with? And so it's
23:14
Speaker 1: like always thinking of things in a deeper way than
23:17
Speaker 1: I used to and thinking, you know, I have a body.
23:19
Speaker 1: I need to take care of it so that I
23:21
Speaker 1: can do the things that I enjoy. Yeah.
23:22
Speaker 2: Yeah. It sounds like it's made you more present.
23:26
Speaker 1: Yes. Yeah, definitely.
23:27
Speaker 2: That's amazing.
23:28
Speaker 1: I think the thing with eczema, like there's a lot
23:30
Speaker 1: of stuff that has to do with physical health where
23:32
Speaker 1: you're like, you know, doing your diet or doing, you know,
23:34
Speaker 1: testing and taking supplements. But then there's the side of
23:37
Speaker 1: it that's emotional and you start connecting it more with
23:41
Speaker 1: nervous system regulation or, you know, maybe past trauma, whatever
23:44
Speaker 1: you want to call it, where you start journaling or like,
23:46
Speaker 1: like for me, this is what I've done. And I
23:47
Speaker 1: think a lot of other people, at least when I
23:49
Speaker 1: look online, I think a lot of other people have
23:51
Speaker 1: been through this as well. Like, you start digging into
23:54
Speaker 1: your own, you know, first you may look at patterns
23:57
Speaker 1: or things that have affected you that are outside of yourself,
23:59
Speaker 1: whether that's from family or other experiences in life that
24:02
Speaker 1: have been difficult. I think the key is really when
24:05
Speaker 1: you progress and to looking at yourself, like how have
24:08
Speaker 1: these things affected me and what do I need to
24:11
Speaker 1: notice in myself that I want to change because now
24:13
Speaker 1: I actually do have the ability to change those things.
24:15
Speaker 1: So like if I don't, If I realize that the
24:17
Speaker 1: reason I have certain attitudes towards health, maybe that came
24:20
Speaker 1: from the way I was raised or maybe that came
24:22
Speaker 1: from something in society that influenced me. But I don't
24:26
Speaker 1: want to be that way anymore. So I have the
24:29
Speaker 1: ability now to find people to help me if needed,
24:32
Speaker 1: to figure out what works for me and to actually,
24:35
Speaker 1: you know, take control of this a little bit, you know,
24:38
Speaker 1: as much as I can and have the freedom to
24:40
Speaker 1: figure out what I want.
24:43
Speaker 2: That's really cool. As you're describing your travel, when you travel,
24:47
Speaker 2: you have to be so aware of your body. How
24:50
Speaker 2: has travel informed, changed your relationship to your body, to
24:55
Speaker 2: caring for your body?
24:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think when you travel, because you really are
24:58
Speaker 1: wanting to, at least for me, like I'm really wanting
24:59
Speaker 1: to enjoy the experience and I'm wanting to be able
25:02
Speaker 1: to do everything I can do. Of course, sometimes I've
25:04
Speaker 1: learned I can't do everything. So it's kind of a
25:06
Speaker 1: dual thing of like, I need to take care of
25:08
Speaker 1: myself so that I can actually do the fun things
25:11
Speaker 1: that I want to do or like not be so like,
25:13
Speaker 1: you know, sometimes you can't control what happens with your body.
25:16
Speaker 1: But for example, with eczema, if I'm taking care of
25:17
Speaker 1: my eczema and I know that I'm able to know
25:20
Speaker 1: what to do if I have a flare up or
25:21
Speaker 1: like I'm not having as many flare ups, then I
25:24
Speaker 1: know I can be more present because if you have
25:25
Speaker 1: an eczema flare up, like all you can think about
25:27
Speaker 1: is scratching sometimes and it just totally takes away. And
25:30
Speaker 1: then the other thing is just like having the respect
25:33
Speaker 1: for myself to know my limits and know when I
25:36
Speaker 1: need a break or know when I need to not
25:37
Speaker 1: do something.
25:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's great. A lesson I think we can all use, honestly. Well, Sarah,
25:43
Speaker 2: thank you so much. I also just have to say
25:46
Speaker 2: there is so much wisdom in what you shared because
25:50
Speaker 2: I think a lot of it is so universal. Even
25:53
Speaker 2: for people who aren't dealing with eczema, there is something
25:56
Speaker 2: about knowing yourself, becoming aware of your body, calling yourself
26:02
Speaker 2: into presence. And also, there's something very meditative about how
26:07
Speaker 2: you're thinking about this. And I really appreciate it.
26:09
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm like, I'm proud of everything I've been able
26:11
Speaker 1: to do. Yeah. I feel like you have to also
26:13
Speaker 1: celebrate yourself.
26:15
Speaker 2: Love. Accomplishments. Love.
26:16
Speaker 1: Yeah.
26:17
Speaker 2: Well, that's a perfect place to end. Thanks so much, Sarah.
26:20
Speaker 1: Yeah, thank you.
26:24
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for being with us for Sarah's story.
26:27
Speaker 2: There is more to come this season, but until then,
26:31
Speaker 2: may we take all the breaks we need and remember
26:34
Speaker 2: that listening to our bodies doesn't make the adventure smaller.
26:38
Speaker 2: Sometimes it's what allows us to keep going. Skin Quarries
26:44
Speaker 2: is a production of Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia. Our producer
26:48
Speaker 2: is Reem El-Meghabi, project lead is Maria St. Alban, and
26:52
Speaker 2: sound designer is Sam Seguet. I'm Dylan Maron. We will
26:56
Speaker 2: see you next time.