Ready, set, jet: the Canberra-designed bags making chronic illness travel oh-so-easy
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“Oh god, my carry-on luggage is too heavy.”
It’s a sentence that’s been uttered by millions of travellers, but at the exact moment the words escaped my lips, I felt the first stirrings of panic in my stomach.
I was preparing for a five-week trip to Europe, and I was in the middle of a practice pack – and after much wrestling, shoving, and swearing, I had finally finished packing my carry-on luggage.
But there was one problem; it was too bulky and too heavy. However, unlike other travellers my bag wasn’t filled with toiletries, travel adapters, and clothing – it was seven kilos of life-saving medical supplies stuffed into a bulky and ugly black cooler bag to keep my medication cold. Not exactly things I could cull or leave behind. Hence the panic.
Travelling as a type one diabetic (or anyone with a chronic illness) always adds an extra layer of anxiety. Not only do we need to pack the bare minimum of what we need to stay alive (for example – I change the site of my insulin pump on average two times a week, so I need at least 10 infusion sets, 10 reservoirs, and 10 vials of insulin), but you ALWAYS need to take extra, because you never know what will go wrong.
So double it all, add blood sugar monitors, ketone test kits, spare needles, a needle bin, doctors’ letters, scripts, snacks for hypos…the list goes on. And you have to keep it on you at all times while flying, so the thought of sneaking in a spare pair of undies (let alone some deodorant) into your carry-on quickly becomes laughable. And, yes, those are the things I had to take out.
So, you can only imagine my excitement when about a week into my trip I saw a post on a Facebook group about a new customisable travel bag that’s tailored to people with diabetes. It turns out that the founder is based in Canberra – and Leah Healey created One2One Diabetes because, for years, she’s experienced the same problems packing as I did.
There’s no vacation for diabetes.
Born in and raised in the United States, Leah was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of seven. An experienced traveller from a young age, she’s spent years using zip-lock bags, cooler bags, and makeup bags (usually all at once) to keep her supplies together.
Feeling frustrated with needles constantly bending and things breaking on her journeys, it was after moving to Australia with her husband that she finally decided to find a solution that provided the protection and organisation she wanted.
“I was sick of always lugging around bulky medical supplies in zip-lock bags anytime I went on a longer trip. I thought there had to be a better way,” says Leah.
“There are hundreds of gorgeous purses, makeup bags, and toiletry bags on the market. Why isn’t there something that works well and looks good that I can carry all my diabetes medical supplies in?”
Designing two travel bags – The Weekender and The Traveller – along with all the different medical equipment diabetics carry, Leah also wanted products that would fit her toiletries and makeup.
Her solution? To make the bags completely customisable, so that they can be tailored to everyone’s individual needs and wants. Using hand-sewn vegan leather to make the bags feel more upscale, Leah says that ultimately, she wanted to create a product that people would happily use every day.
“I have to carry this stuff 24/7, so why shouldn’t it look really nice too?” says Leah.
“Everyone travels with diabetes differently. I see every single person utilising the bags differently, so I wanted it to be customisable…that’s why they have Velcro removable dividers,”
“You can play Tetris and make whatever shapes you need to keep everything separate, organised, and secure.”
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It’s worth noting here that Leah has no background in textiles or manufacturing, just a passion for providing people with a tool to empower them with the confidence to travel – and it only helps that the bags are also beautiful to look at.
And while they are designed specifically with diabetics in mind, anyone can use them.
You can’t plan to be spontaneous…or can you?
“We have to pack so much because we have to prepare for the worst-case scenario. My worst-case scenario is my plane crashes and I get stranded on an island and I have to survive. That’s my mindset when I’m packing supplies for a trip!” Leah says with a laugh.
“That’s why I want to make it easier so people can travel with confidence, because there’s a lot of stress that comes with having diabetes in general but add travelling onto that, and it maximises it even more.”
Leah and I might be laughing, but deep down all I feel is relief that someone else will admit to having the plane crash/island/survival nightmare. It might sound a little overdramatic, but it was something that did cross my mind while packing – and it’s a fear I’m sure anyone travelling with chronic illness has experienced.
“When I started all of this, I was like ‘Well, wait someone who travels with MS have a lot of supplies and medication – basically anyone with a chronic illness has things they have to travel with!’ Because I personally have diabetes, I decided to target our market first,” says Leah.
“Our slogan is ‘From one person with diabetes to another’ but you could change that to ‘From one person with chronic illness to another’.”
In its simplest form, One2One Diabetes is a business that sells stylish travel bags, but Leah also hopes to create a safe space for type one diabetics to connect, talk and be heard by people who understand exactly what they’re feeling. And if she sparks conversations about chronic illness and travel in the meantime, well, that can only be a good thing.
“This is a niche product for a niche community…but I can guarantee you that almost everyone would know someone with diabetes. I think it affects a lot more people than we realise. Even if you’re not in the community, you are by proxy,” she says.
“Having diabetes can be such a lonely condition because as much as our family and friends support us and love us if you don’t have it, you don’t truly understand. Their support and love are everything – we all need that – but they don’t get it like another person with diabetes gets it. So, starting to form that online community is great.”
“It’s nice knowing there are other people out there that get it and understand you.”
The moment I saw them on Instagram, I pre-ordered both The Weekender and The Traveller but it was well before I realised Leah is a Canberra girl.
However, the fact I’m supporting a local woman who is also living with the same chronic illness as me makes the fact I can travel without fuss in the future so much sweeter (pardon the pun)…
For more information visit one2onediabetes.com
Images supplied.
