Tips for Safe and Healthy Holiday Travel During Cancer Treatment

With a few sensible precautions and proper planning, people in treatment for cancer can enjoy traveling to visit friends, family, and loved ones for the holidays, and throughout the year.

Consult with your oncologist – Tell your doctor your plans and ask questions about any potential risks or necessary precautions, down to packing enough of any necessary medications to last through the trip, as well as the details about filling prescriptions while on the road, especially for international trips. Your doctor can help you decide the best approach to take when planning a trip, be it while still in treatment, or at some point before or after.

Listen to your body and try not to over-plan – Making plans and having fun activities and engagements to look forward to with loved ones, especially around the holidays as a new year approaches, can be incredibly motivating, and a great morale booster.

However, holiday travel can be draining, exhausting, and unpredictable under the best of circumstances. Cancer treatment can weaken the immune system, making an over-packed schedule burdensome and potentially risky for some patients. Taking the trip one day at a time, and allowing time and space for rest when needed will take any potential stress and anxiety off of both the patient and their loved ones.

Start small, if necessary, and work up to the big trips when ready – A lifelong dream trip to Japan or Morocco need not be abandoned after a cancer diagnosis. But travel after a cancer diagnosis is not an all or nothing experience. It’s perfectly fine – and sometimes necessary – to take smaller and more manageable trips first, and then work up from there as the body adjusts and recovers from treatment.