Just back from Paris- and I felt good during the trip!

[IC SARAH-CPP]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to post a message about my recent trip. My mom and I went to Paris for a mother/daughter trip and it was so fabulous. We saw so much stuff, I could wax on for hours about it but I wanted to post about how much better my health was this trip. My husband and I went to Europe in 2003 and while it was a lovely trip, my bladder was so very bad during that time. It caused a severe strain on us and our activities. The bathroom situation in Europe is a little different than here. Less of them and more people waiting. I had many, many "accidents" and pain that was so bad I nearly blacked out. In major musuems, I was only about to wait about 30 mins, then it was off to find a restroom.
Well this trip was so different. I had to, unfortunately, stick to only water most of them time but it was worth it. I was able to tour Versailles for 5 hours and only go to the bathroom 2 times. I had only one accident and it wasn't even bad. Of course, I couldnt have any lovely French wine or coffee but it was worth feeling better. I DID have some french chocolates and they were so wonderful. The little shop reminded me of the movie Chocolate, they hand made every chocolate and then wrote in gold chocolate what they were on the top. Dont tell anyone but I spent 150 dollars on gifts in that store!! SHHH.
A minor note of advice for anyone travelling out of the country, my bag was stolen with my passport in it! I was saved by the fact that I made a copy of my passport and kept it in a different place from my actual passport. If I wouldnt have had that, I would most likely still be in Paris right now. So if you go anywhere, I would make a copy of your passport and return flight information.
Love and hugs to all of you
Sarah

[ihurttoo]

Wow! It sounds like you had a great trip. I would LOVE to go to Paris!!! I am so glad that your bladder behaved while you were there. :woohoo: Sorry your bag was stolen! I am just so impressed that you actually had a copy. That is great advice and sounds like it really saved you! Glad to have you back. We missed you around here! Hugs, Amy

[IC SARAH-CPP]

Thank you Amy. I really missed all of you too. I was/am going through a really hard transitional period right now and I just had to step back and try to work on getting myself through this. I missed everyone so much though and thought of all of you often. I plan on being on here more in the future.
I only had a copy of my passport b/c someone else told me to do that before I left! That is why I wanted to post it on here, in case anyone else is going out of country. Having my passport stolen was like my worst nightmare but it turned out okay in the end.
Hope all is okay for you
Sarah

[Trishann]

Sarah, wow that is great. I am so happy you were able to enjoy yourself. That is wonderful.

Sending hugs, Trishann

[Sarojini]

Sarah, I am so pleased to hear you did so well and had so much fun in Paris! It's a great city -- I was there when I was 15, at the end of a foreign exchange program, and we had a lot of fun (and of course were naughty teenagers as well) I would love to go back now and see how it, and my perspective on has changed.

Thankfully you had that copy! I have also been told to keep a copy of my passort, as well as a copy of my license and all my credit card phone numbers/account numbers, so I could get the passport back and cancel all of my cards should they be stolen. I'm so glad you had that advice too!!!

Welcome back

[Berkshire Road]

Oh, how I envy you! Ça fait presque vingt ans depuis que j'y suis allée, et je crois que c'est la ville la plus belle du monde entière. (It's been almost twenty years since I've been there, and I think it's the most beautiful city in the whole world.) And oh yeah, the bathroom situation is ... different. At least you were in Paris and not out in the boonies, where the public bathrooms are sometimes, literally, holes in the ground with places marked out for you to plant your feet (but they are generally enclosed).

How wonderful that you felt well for such an amazing trip! C'est merveilleux!

[SharonA]

back, Sarah. I am so glad you had such a wonderful time. And, yes...I was also told to have a copy of my passport when I went out of country a couple of years ago. In fact...I was told to have 2 copies made and to keep them in different locations.

FYI...American Citizens are now required to have passports if we travel out of country. Even to Canada and Mexico. That law came into effect the 1st of the year.

[IC SARAH-CPP]

Carolyn,lol, I have seen those "toilets" that are the holes in the ground. I was like " Oh thank god I am an American!" I am generally NOT like that when I travel but I do appreciate our bathroom thing - Alot!
I absolutely love Paris. I have been to most of the major European/American big cities and there is just nothing like Paris. The one bad thing is that I was with my mom and not my hubby, because Paris is sooooo romantic. There were tons of people umm.....making out on the Eiffel Tower. lol.
I had been told the same thing as you Jen, about my credit cards and my plane tickets and I was so happy I listened. At first I was kinda worrried about taking copies but then I figured the copies were less dangerous than the originals! I was very lucky my credit cards weren't in the bag when it was stolen. The passport was bad enough! And now most people, including me, just bring your ATM card and use it like cash. I would have been in a bad situation if the ATM was stolen.
I can't wait to travel again now. This is the first major trip I have taken since I was diagnosed with IC and my symptoms were bd and I was so relieved that things went so well.
Sarah

[Berkshire Road]

It's actually a good idea to keep your passport on your person at all times. Not necessarily practical if you're, say, going to the beach... but for a city trip it does work, you can get bags that go around your neck, or money belts that go under your clothes. AND you should have a copy! But it is great now to be able to use the ATM's. No more awkward traveler's checks! Although we were a little befuddled by the ATM's in Italy, given that we don't speak Italian, so we were basically guessing about what we were being asked to do LOL Um, withdraw, deposit, transfer? Not among my approximately 50-word vocabulary in Italian. So that's another thing to do before traveling to a country where you don't speak the language -- look up all those banking terms in advance, and bring the list with you!