From packing to poutine and everything in between - my Quebec City adventures

If you follow me on Instagram I'm sure you know that I recently got back from a 5-day, 4-night girls' trip to Quebec City. For anyone who's never been, I highly recommend it. The sights were beautiful, the food was amazing, and the shopping was seriously detrimental to my wallet. We stayed right near Place Royal, a quaint little square with a killer breakfast cafe. Everything in the city was walking distance for us. We also took a ten minute drive to Parc de la Chute-Montomorency, a local park where the stunning Montomorency Falls are located. They have zip-lining and cable cars, and the park itself is amazing just to explore on your own.

Place Royal

Montomorency Falls

What I packed

Whenever I travel, I am nutty about packing medical supplies. Being in Quebec 5 days, I was scheduled for one site change. In addition, I brought three extra pump sites and two extra reservoirs. I brought the remainder of my Fiasp vial along with one unopened bottle. The vial of test strips in my kit was full, and I packed an extra vial of these along with about 20 strips for my Libre reader which doubles as a meter. For lows I brought two bottles of juice, three gels and of course the emergency Swedish Fish I keep in my car. I had a backup meter, a backup pump, an extra pump battery, and all the necessary chargers.

Now this may sound like a lot of supplies to most people, but believe it or not I spent a solid amount of time preoccupied about my test strip supply. Would I have enough? What if I ran out? Could you buy Contour test strips at a pharmacy in Canada? I was frustrated that these worries plagued me while I was trying to enjoy myself. I ended up having more than enough supplies, and no emergency trips to Canadian pharmacies needed to be made.

What I ate

Being on vacation calls for indulging. These means a lot of guesswork when it comes to carb counting. Throw drinking into the mix, and it's easy to see why my sugars tend to run high when I'm away. During my trip my blood sugars were primarily in the 200s. I wasn't happy about this, but I also tend to be more cautious to avoid lows when I travel. We were doing a lot of walking, which made me more hesitant to bolus too much. This is something I hope to work on in the future, especially as I grow more comfortable with my sensor. It's been especially tough getting back to work and real life because as my blood sugars level out, I am having hypo symptoms in the 100s.

What I saw - and who saw me

The beautiful views in Quebec City are endless. Whether you climb to the upper part of the city to get a full view of the Chateau Frontenac and the city below, or wander along Quartier Petit Champlain to do some shopping on the colorful cobblestone streets, your eyes are in for a treat. We sat at the Port de Quebec and got a view of the upper part of the city from below, and climbed to the bottom of Montomorency Falls after ziplining over them.

Chateau Frontenac

Petit Champlain

Since I've started wearing my Libre, I've gotten more comfortable overall with my diabetes being "out" and people asking questions. While in QC I decided not to worry about hiding my pump or my Libre. This was partially because I wanted to embrace who I am as a diabetic, and partially a social experiment. Would as many people ask me what the heck was on my arm as I am used to in Jersey?

During our five day stay, I got two asks. One about my Libre, and one about my pump. Obviously I didn't spend enough time in Canada to do a thorough experiment with a random sample and all those things I learned about in stats class. My overall feeling was that people ask more often here. Are Canadian people less nosey? Anyone from the area please feel free to comment your thoughts below.

To sum up, Quebec City was a little slice of European-style heaven nestled within road tripping distance from NJ. I had a wonderful time and would absolutely go back. When it comes to type one and trips, I think it will be a continuous battle. You can't take a vacation from diabetes. But each experience helps me grow and learn how to travel better with type one. One thing I know for sure is that I will never stop exploring. Diabetes will just have to come along for the ride.