I am currently “between jobs” - I start my new one on Monday - so decided it was a good time for another week in the Wilds of Wales. Much of our holidays are taken up with walking. Often directly from the door of whichever cottage we are staying in this time.
The other morning, I got up and packed my backpack ready for the day’s hike. I packed food, money, map, phone, diabetes gubbins and water. Unusually, we had a short drive before the walk started so shoved the boots and backpack in the boot of the car and, navigating with “what three words” (because a postcode covered a large area around here) we made it to our very exposed car park.
The first problem we encountered was discovering that the route had not uploaded to our walking sat nav. Nothing a bit of mobile wifi and tethering can’t handle when you have a couple of techies to hand.
Next problem was a soggy backpack. My water bladder had leaked even though I had checked the cap before we set off. Thankfully, we carry a bottle of water in the car so we could cope.
The walk was stunning. It was very very very windy. Climbing a 30% slope with a strong side wind was hard work but we managed it. On the way down, we past a flock of sheep and kept walking but noticed some threatening bleating coming from behind - we were being followed. The sheep “escorted” us from their territory along the foot path. There were sheep behind and to our sides making sure we did not loiter. I think we were shepherded by sheep.
We made it back to our cottage (after stopping of for some cheese on the way) and started to unpack the still soggy backpack. The map was damp. My wallet needed emptying to dry off the cards. The tissues were a write off. My diabetes gubbins? The prickers was fine. The test strips were ok. The spare pump set was alright. The syringe and vial of insulin were unaffected. My meter was not happy.
I tried to pick up a new meter in the local pharmacy but as the visitor’s book in the cottage explained it was. “not the highlight of the High Street.” We could have adventures into the nearest big town but the was not the plan for our break.
Thankfully, I have a CGM and a spare but for the last 3 days, I have been in the unusual position of nit calibrating my CGM each morning and nit being able to double check any highs or lows. Thankfully, I am still sensitive to hypos and my CGM is rarely too far out.
What is it about Wales and diabetes challenges? Last time it was fire (or at least the risk of it when I locked ourselves out from the cooking and bolused croissants) and this time it was water. What havoc can wind make on my diabetes next time?
The other morning, I got up and packed my backpack ready for the day’s hike. I packed food, money, map, phone, diabetes gubbins and water. Unusually, we had a short drive before the walk started so shoved the boots and backpack in the boot of the car and, navigating with “what three words” (because a postcode covered a large area around here) we made it to our very exposed car park.
The first problem we encountered was discovering that the route had not uploaded to our walking sat nav. Nothing a bit of mobile wifi and tethering can’t handle when you have a couple of techies to hand.
Next problem was a soggy backpack. My water bladder had leaked even though I had checked the cap before we set off. Thankfully, we carry a bottle of water in the car so we could cope.
The walk was stunning. It was very very very windy. Climbing a 30% slope with a strong side wind was hard work but we managed it. On the way down, we past a flock of sheep and kept walking but noticed some threatening bleating coming from behind - we were being followed. The sheep “escorted” us from their territory along the foot path. There were sheep behind and to our sides making sure we did not loiter. I think we were shepherded by sheep.
We made it back to our cottage (after stopping of for some cheese on the way) and started to unpack the still soggy backpack. The map was damp. My wallet needed emptying to dry off the cards. The tissues were a write off. My diabetes gubbins? The prickers was fine. The test strips were ok. The spare pump set was alright. The syringe and vial of insulin were unaffected. My meter was not happy.
I tried to pick up a new meter in the local pharmacy but as the visitor’s book in the cottage explained it was. “not the highlight of the High Street.” We could have adventures into the nearest big town but the was not the plan for our break.
Thankfully, I have a CGM and a spare but for the last 3 days, I have been in the unusual position of nit calibrating my CGM each morning and nit being able to double check any highs or lows. Thankfully, I am still sensitive to hypos and my CGM is rarely too far out.
What is it about Wales and diabetes challenges? Last time it was fire (or at least the risk of it when I locked ourselves out from the cooking and bolused croissants) and this time it was water. What havoc can wind make on my diabetes next time?
some of us manage to live in Wales without incident.