Traveling with Bipolar and Aspergers

Traveling with a mental disability is entirely different than traveling if you don't have any.  Having two of them can be a very annoying (to say the least) obstacle if you are a traveler.  I happen to have bipolar and Aspergers, so I have ways of making travel a lot more enjoyable.


Traveling with Bipolar Disorder 

• Take any prescribed medication with you, make sure you have more than enough for your trip.

• If you take bipolar medication, do not consume uncooked alcohol on your trip.  Being drunk and on bipolar meds is not a good combo, trust me on this.  Cooking with alcohol should be fine.
  

• Going through customs with medication can be nerve-wracking if you don't know what to expect.  Contact your consulate for any other country you visit besides your home country on what to pack to get through smoothly.

•  Meditation can help you calm down in certain situations.  For example, once when I was in the Chicago airport, a disgruntled TSA employee who seemed to hate working with the public (it escapes me why he picked that job) yelled at me when I asked if I should get a boarding pass a bit ahead of time.  I was a bit frantic, as I had just gotten yelled at by an official on my very first international flight that I went by myself on.  I ended up meditating at one of the seats by the gate to keep my head level, and it worked.  Do it for 2 minutes, and you should be fine.
  

 

• If you feel you don't need some of your medication, more power to you, but be sure to ask your psychiatrist to wean off of it gradually, getting the amount of meds you take to the minimum you need before traveling.  More meds equals more side effects, and those suck.  If he or she tries to put you on more medication instead (I've had this happen to me before), get a new psychiatrist who is more competent.

You want less medication?  M'kay, let's see... I'll cut down on the Depakote, but to counteract the side-effects of reducing that, I'll put you on Vicodin, Risperdol, and just for the hell of it, Ritalin.  I'll just have you sign here, m'kay?

Traveling with Aspergers Syndrome

• There is no medication I know of that treats Aspergers.  Therapy is a good option if you have the money.  If not, join a social group (some aspect of the group meetings should be face-to-face) that focuses on a topic of interest that suits you.  When I was growing up, I had a very low-functioning form of Aspergers.  After I started attending social events in my school's Geography Club (yes, I majored in Geography, more on that in the next post), I rapidly got increasingly more high-functioning to the point where I was able to travel without any problems.

• Hostels are also a great way to connect with people, not only to improve social skills, but often to find lifelong friends.

I hope all this was useful to others who have one or both of the diagnoses I have.   If you have additional tips, feel free to mention them in the comments.  Thanks for reading!