Traveling with an Injury: What I Learned Traveling Rajasthan with an Injured Ankle

It was the winters of 2018 when I was on a trip to Rajasthan with my boyfriend who is now my ex. We were on a romantic trip but unlike all the romantic things that everybody often does, I broke my ankle while crossing a narrow lane in Udaipur Pichola Lake Area.  At first we thought it’s the end of our journey, I was in the hospital for almost half the day and got my Ankle plastered. We were ready to cancel the trip further and head back home when I suggested to travel in this difficult situation too while holding a chilled beer in my already frozen hands.  SOOOO lets go for it, said my boyfriend. We took this wonderful trip from Udaipur to Jodhpur to Jaisalmer to Jaipur to Ramthambor. Here is what we learned from this amazing yet difficult trip

1. Expect everything to take more time than you think.

Plan on extra time to get to the airport, to get to your plane, to get on and off the plane or even being in and out of the car. Being injured doesn’t mean you can’t do things, but it does mean you have to take your time. Don’t stress out about it, everything will still be there when you get there. I had a hard time coming to terms with this because I am usually up and going all the time.

2. Get the right gear, aka walking assistants.

Everyone who has ever used crutches knows that they are evil. Instead a foldable cane can be carried with you everywhere and can fit under your seat on planes. Going through airport security with it was simple. They traded my cane for a wooden cane so they could send mine though the x-ray machine and I could still walk through the metal detector. Everyone was really understanding about the whole process.

3. Ask for help.

Being injured is hard enough. Don’t make things harder on yourself by insisting you can do everything on your own. There are people all over the place that are open and willing to be your support, if they know you need it. Have you always wanted to ride in one of those railway platform golf carts? This is the perfect excuse to take advantage of it.

4. Pack differently.

I am going to suggest something that goes against everything this blog has stood for: Check your bag. A backpack is extra weight on your already stressed body; dragging a wheeled bag behind you takes effort but is manageable. When we went to Jodhpur, I was just beginning my minimalist packing methods so I just transferred everything I was planning on putting in my backpack into a small roller bag and checked it. Checking your bag means having to wait for it, but the trade off is that those long walks through the airport or railway don’t feel even longer.

5. Remember to loosen or take off any support devices when you’re on the plane.

Walking boots, air casts, braces of any kind, will all start to feel way too tight when you reach 30,000ft and the air pressure drops. I found out the hard way how painful it is if you forget. The feeling of my air cast expanding and squeezing the life out of my ankle had me in tears before I realized what was happening. Be smarter than I was.

6. Compression socks.

I cannot express how important compression socks are for traveling if you have a lower leg injury. The way extremities swell on planes becomes much worse if that extremity is recently injured. Compression socks are the best way to combat that. Do yourself a favor and get at least one pair for your trip.

7. Make peace with the idea that you won’t be able to do everything.

There are going to be “must do” items on your list that your injury will not allow you to do. I that I couldn’t ride a camel in Jaisalmer and could also not walk and run on the dunes. But instead we went to Ghadisagar lake and enjoyed being on the forts, which ended up being one of my favorite days of the trip.

8. Remember to enjoy things!

It’s easy to focus on the suck, all the things you can’t do, or all the things you’re missing out on. But you’re still on vacation! Have fun and enjoy the things you can do.  

I finished the trip with equal fun that what I had expected, only the mode had differed. I carry forwarded my ‘missed out things to do’ to my next visit which I planning to do fair recently. Though I don’t want anyone to get injured before or during the trip but we should accept the uncertainty and move ahead with confidence. I don’t believe in too much of motivational lectures. You can find those unnecessary wisdom everywhere. Enjoy your trip, love yourself.