I always like to be well prepared when it comes to my stoma for travelling so first off I order my supplies and give enough time to make sure they will be here in time to take away.
I pack double the supplies I would need as you will change your bag more often due to the heat and being in the pool. I put half my supplies in my hand luggage and half in my suitcase just incase a bag happens to go missing. Respond offer a global assistance service so if something does happen to your supplies they can provide access to supplies wherever you are so this is always good to know.
When travelling through the airport I always wear my sunflower lanyard. This shows staff you have an invisible disability. For Spanish airports this has now changed. You need to go online and apply for a disability badge for your flight, 48 hours before you fly and this will be recognised within Spanish airports. I also bring my travel certificate which is signed by my stoma nurse and a copy of my prescription and my radar key for the airports.
I was worried what I would wear around the pool but I packed both swim suits and bikinis and baby powder, I found my bag would sweat against my skin in the swim suit so the baby powder was good for this. But honestly, yes around the pool a few people did look at my bag probably wondering what it was, but it didn’t bother me I still wore my bikini. I packed coverups and sarongs to cover up if I felt self conscious.
As I was having drinks on holidays, and the weather is so warm, I packed extra hydration supplements and took these regularly to control dehydration so this is definitely worth doing. Food choices can affect your output so be careful with these whilst away. I always pack Imodium as sometimes you will find your output can get loose due to all these factors and taking Imodium could be regular on holidays.
The most important thing is to enjoy it. That’s why you go on holidays. As long as you are well prepared all should be ok and if not you will be able to deal with it. Try not to let what you think others are thinking get into your head and wear what you feel comfortable in.