Being Obese Makes Travel - and Everything Else I Enjoy - Difficult

April 8, 2008 @ 10:24 am

I love to travel. I love to be in Europe, sitting on a random plaza in Amsterdam sipping espresso (espresso, i swear!), or exploring ancient history in Bath (England), or just relaxing on a green hillside along the banks of Lake Zurichsee - I love to travel. A major reason for taking my last job was that HQ was in Frankfurt, and off to Europe I'd go a couple times a year. I've been to Romania and Hungary three times, Cameroon, and eventually I'll live in England (lost count as to how many times I've been there already). Even within the US I love business trips just for the sake of going places. I've driven cross-country through the desert more times than I can remember.

I love to travel. I love to get on a plane and go places. But being obese does rob me of some of that joy.

Take the airplane, for example. Airplane seats are notoriously narrow. Flying Delta is downright painful. And even if I do get my giant ass wedged in between the armrests, there's the matter of the seat belt. Older planes were clearly designed before the age of American obesity - where the seat belts are a good 6-10 inches shorter than more modern planes. Virgin Atlantic I thought I would pop trying to strap myself in. Even my favorite airline Continental has older planes with this problem. Thank God I've yet to be in a situation where I have to ask for a seatbelt extender. I promised myself I never would - and that means losing weight.

But even apart from the plane, traveling while obese is not easy. For several years I essentially backpacked through Europe leading a group of 20-30 teenagers and young adults. I made it (I was a lighter then than I am now), but I wow did I sweat in the dead of European summer. I've loved to walk all over London or Amsterdam, but my ankles can only support my weight for so long before its time for a break. And that's not even considering chub rub - walking and sweating and chafing can really limit one's enjoyment of the essential European walking tour.

There's other practical limitations, too. Being obese means my clothes are bigger and take up more room, no matter how many compression tricks I use. Being obese and sweating more means I need even more clothes just to stay fresh. So I have to have more clothes that take up more room, which is more to schlep, which just tires me out more. Thus obesity's endless downward spiral strikes again.

Moreover, knowing the difficulties and limiting realities of obesity and travel, I limit the kinds of vacations I want to take. My partner is craving a trip to Disney World. I would love to oblige him, but five days of walking in the Orlando sun frightens me. Having to squeeze into a roller coaster car or sit at the pool paralyzes me with anticipated embarrassment. He also wants to go on a cruise (and specifically, probably a gay cruise). But I can't even stomach that idea - and I've been on a cruise (and was halfway miserable the whole time - just because I couldn't fully enjoy it comfortably).

I love to travel; I love being places and experiencing things - even as simple as going to Central Park and laying in the sun or walking about. Such things are robbed of their joy by my being obese - and I hate that. Unlike other things where all my problems would not be fixed just by being thin, in this case travel would instantly be simpler and more enjoyable just by losing pounds. And my partner would love to finally go to Disney World.