Spring Camping trip

[shutterbug]

Hello friends,

I'm planning to go on a 5 day camping trip in May. This will be my first camping since diagnosis. I would like to know your Camping trip experiences as a diabetic.

Things that would help me are:
1. Your Diet
2. Exercise
3. Maintaining blood glucose level during activities
4. Precautions

etc..

We are going with a bunch of my friends and their families with kids (2-7 years olds). We won't be engaging in very strenuous activities. May do some hiking (moderate).

Any and all thoughts are appreciated.

Have a good Monday!

[laikacomehome]

i just got diagnosed and i also just went camping.
the thing about camping is if you mess something up you only have the people with you to help. bring an extra of everything and bring extra food - the one thing bad that did happen to me was on my hike back. halfway through i checked my bg and saw that i was low.. i had no extra food on me! needless to say this was pretty scary. I had some instant glucose in one of those icing-like tubes and that was barely enough to keep me going until we were back in the van and on the way to some fast food. needless to say if I could do it again I would bring more food. Learn from my mistake and you'll have a great time! it was actually my best spring break ever!

[morrisma]

As to food: Clif bars, granola bars, any other carry-along, heat tolerating snacks. Chocolate bars are seriously a mess. Bring baby wipes and lots of zip-lock bags. Everything I pack goes in a zip-lock first then into the pack. Put duplicates of vital items (insulin, syringes, test strips, etc) in separate bags and in separate places. Make sure everyone on the trip knows you are diabetic. If you pump, bring lots of extra infusion sets and some good sticky tape. And a scissors.

Oh, and have FUN!

[shutterbug]

Thanks guys! - I'll make sure I have enough food that I carry around and testing supplies

[pokie]

Double and triple check that you have everything you need with you. We don't "rough it" anymore, we have a little travel trailer and it's stashed with diabetic stuff! When you are out exploring, you can end up walking further than you realize and thus get more exercise and go low, I have a fanny pack that I keep glucose tabs and my cel phone in if I go off for a hike. We are going on a trip at the beginning of June and I have already been grocery shopping for things like granola bars to keep in the cupboard in case I wake up a little low. I also try to pre-plan the meals so I know there will be something healthy for me to eat, and I won't give in to the s'mores that everyone is munching on! Some nice meal ideas are things like grilled steaks with grilled veggies on the side (zucchini, carrots, etc...), shish-kebabs (you can assemble ahead of time and just put them in a zip bag.) We usually do a sausage-egg scramble for breakfast. I have a case of bottled water under the dinette seat and stock the fridge with diet soda!

[Mich]

Hi Shutterbug,

All of the above are great suggestions. I might add a frio cooling bag for your carried insulin if you are in a hot place. While in the desert, I keep my pump in one, hooked to my belt, loose tubing coiled inside too.

I never go anywhere without a tube of glucose tabs in my pocket and a whole jar at camp. On hikes, I always have a few granola bars in my little pack with my tester, bandaids/neosporin and water.

PS: if you are hiking with kids, better throw a few extra treats in your bag or feel like Scrooge.

Mich

[Hikeandbike]

I went camping last year with a few friends. I was hiking with one of them when Pat decided he had to get home. So being helpful he loaded all the coolers and food up and left. So, there I was, no food, little water, had some snacks for hiking but those were gone after the hike. Man I was pissed. Packed up the gear and started heading back when he came driving up. He said, "Sorry dude, bet you need some of this food. Forgot you were diabetic". So, even if you prepare well, something unexpected can always come up so I always have a "stash" handy and not accessible to embiciles.
R

[birdyland]

Bring twice as much water as you think you will need. I also bring baby wipes for easy cleaning before testing. Another hint for clean hands is an old girl scout trick. Buy one of the water jugs with the spout, and a ladies pantyhose sock (the ones that come in the plastic egg)... and place a travel size bar of soap in the sock, and tie it around the spout of the jug... soap on a sock, always there, always handy, makes cleanup easy; the soap will come right through the sheer sock when you wet it.

As far as supplies go, be careful not to freeze insulins in the cooler, don't submerge them in the water/ice either due to bacterial concerns. I too recommend the medicool wallet pouch, it works great!