Traveling to the Netherlands with RA

If you can believe it, I was actually in the Netherlands in December 2022. This was a personal vacation that I took, and with free flights. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go since I have been to Europe a few times, but I haven't returned since my time in London in 2018.

Taking advantage of overseas travel opportunities

Part of it was to be more independent in my travels; part of it was a celebration of the end of the semester and a pretty treacherous year; part of it was just a spontaneous thing that doesn't need to be explained.

While I had a wonderful time--eating stroopwafels in city markets, attending Christmas markets in local towns, and staring out at windmills--I had a lot of reflections on how much my body has changed since the last time I was in Europe. It made me think about the consequences that RA is having on my body and how my body interacts with the world around me.

Overcoming RA setbacks during my trip

The first thing I noticed, on a literal level, was the amount of pain I was in. Remember that this was December in the Netherlands, so it was incredibly cold and windy, which always makes my joints hurt. But there is also so much more walking in the Netherlands (and Europe in general) because they are not as car-centric as we in the States are. Transitioning from driving to walking more is also, initially, more harmful to my joints.

Because of this level of pain, I recognized there were items on my trip that I wouldn't be able to complete. This was initially frustrating; I was thinking about other times being in Europe when I could literally do whatever I wanted, but my body in the Netherlands held me back. With fatigue and joint stiffness, I had to methodically plan out my days and what I was going to do. At first, I thought this was going to limit my trip, but it actually allowed me to do more of what I had originally planned in addition to taking time to rest.

Shifting my perspective while on vacation

That's not to say that spontaneity isn't important. For me, vacation is about adventure and learning new things. But the problem is that RA and my body don't approve of spontaneity. Sudden changes to my schedule affect the level of fatigue and other joint pain I'm experiencing, so I've had to shift my perspective on spontaneity.

I basically term it planned spontaneity. For instance, while in the Netherlands, I would give myself a two or three-hour chunk planned out in the day to do whatever I wanted. This was a time to visit a store spontaneously, travel somewhere on the trains (for instance, I went to Den Haag for one of my planned spontaneity), or visit a new cafe for a cappuccino.

All of this to say: I had to shift my perspective on travel, and what I then realized was that my ideas of travel have changed. I used to think that travel meant cramming everything into the time that I had, but I realized that taking time to slow down and really savor my itinerary made me remember the trip more.