The Advice I Wish I Had Before Traveling Plus Size

BEFORE I get to writing this, please note all pictures are my own personal pictures. If you would like to use any, please contact me at adriana@poorgirlinacorporateworld.com before you copy and paste for permission. I hate to utilize any legal measures... ya catch my drift?

So, I have been MIA on my blog. I have been planning a fantastic 2 weeks off from work with a good friend of mine and working and all that other fun stuff. The trip planning being the fun part.

In a previous post I mentioned how I love to plan, calendar, and to be organized... well this goes into every aspect of my life, including my trip planning. Being a plus size women most of my life I try to prepare for most activities being the size I am. Unfortunately the weight doesn't come off when we want it to, but this is not the blog for that.

When I went to Disneyland last year with some friends, I researched if the rides were "size friendly", turns out they are with some exceptions, but I can write about that later.

So when it came time for this trip I was researching EVERYTHING from the plane ride to the traveling and walking in Boston and New York, the weight limits, everything. I was stressing myself out with reading negative posts and bad experiences. So here is what I want to tell you plus size reader...

1. DON'T STRESS YOURSELF OUT

If you're traveling that means you are most likely healthy and able enough to travel! So close out the negative comments. Will people stare, smirk, make rude comments? Sure! But sadly this is nothing we haven't seen before. Generally Americans have been dubbed as "the most overweight country" so naturally we are used to the negativity. In a perfect world, everyone would be accepting of everyone no matter their size, beliefs, love preferences, pronouns, etc.; however, we aren't quite there yet. We are working on it! Does this make it acceptable? HECK NO! No way is it acceptable for someone to come up to you rudely and say "perhaps you would like to sit over on this side of the booth... there is more room" (happened this weekend to me). But it happens. I mean I also had a taxi driver straight up ask my Native American travel companion "are you Mexican" to which he said back to the drive "no I am Native American".

Which brings me to my second subject:

2: UNDERSTANDING CULTURES ARE DIFFERENT EVEN IN YOUR OWN BACKYARD

The United States of America is a great place because we have so much diversity! So naturally when a white girl from Utah (predominantly Caucasian) ventures to Boston and New York, she sees tons of different ethnicity, cultures, personalities, and it was amazing! I knew going in that there would be people there different to what I was used to where I lived, so I went in with a mindset that it would be different. I was kind of blown away by just how different the other side of my own country could be! Study up on the cultures.

3. THE PLANE RIDE

Ok let me just talk about the plane ride! Planes are uncomfortable. Especially plus sized. I think even small people don't like planes too. So before we went I studied up on the weight and size requirements - most planes are around 14" in width. So I measured my butt! I was fine. I did have to ask for a seat belt extender since most of my weight is in my belly area - which is embarrassing being that it was my first trip with a guy friend. I was also paranoid that I was going to cause him discomfort on the plane taking up too much room. I was afraid of getting stuck in the bathroom, being judged by other flyers... etc. So here is what I learned:

1 - It is okay to ask for a seat belt extender. Safety is key.

2- I wish I would have sprung for the emergency aisle as I have LONG legs (I am plus size and 5' 10" and all leg), but my friend bought the tickets.

3 - IF you have to, buy an extra seat.

Read up on your individual airline's weight policies. Sometimes they may require you to buy an extra seat.

My main thing is - own who you are.

Also - don't prejudge your flying companion, mine was so understanding.

4. DON'T BE AFRAID TO COMMUNICATE YOUR NEEDS

So there were a few times that we had to go up a billion stories (aka: the empire state building) and I also read that to get to the crown of the Statue of Liberty, you had to walk a bunch of steps. I forgot my inhaler so I wasn't going to take stairs if I did not have to. I was fine with a lot of our travels on stairs being that most places had escalators and elevators. When my travel companion said that he wanted to go to the crown I said "you can go, I think it would be best to not go up so many flights, especially being a lot bigger than I thought I would be for this trip". A lot of the time I just communicated if I needed something like that. If I needed a drink, a break, etc. I communicated it. Well the crown takes a year notice to get up there considering they have a background check that you need before hand, and the island is CROWDED! Also being on the East Coast was not as terrible as I thought as it is way lower elevation that Utah is. I was the champion of walking without losing my breath.

5. NEW YORK DOES NOT HAVE A LOT OF PLUS SIZE OPTIONS THAT I FOUND

Okay so if you find there are places to shop plus size other than some of Nordstrom Rack and JC Penny, PLEASE let me know. I went to a Target there and they did not have any plus sizes. It was kind of a soul killer because you wanted to buy all these fancy clothing options. I mean, there may have been some that was not suited for my budget. I ended up buying t-shirts from places we went in men's sizes. Not all plus sizes are created equally.

For the record - we did not actually SHOP at The Plaza, we ate there. We were staying at the Radisson where we were by a lot of shopping places.

CONCLUSION

I had a COMPLETE blast on my trip!

Somethings I learned for myself:

1. I overthink WAY too much

2. I have too much negative self talk

3. I don't view myself in a great positive light when it comes to my body image

4. I am human

5. I caught a traveling bug

I have been back for about two weeks and I cannot get my head out of the clouds. I would love to go back east again and see things again and experience new things.

I know that this post is not really in the "genre" of my blog but I felt it was necessary.

I am a pretty open book, so if you have more questions or want to talk about more personal details regarding being plus size like me, I am here to talk. Shoot me at email at adriana@poorgirlinacorporateworld.com.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT need you to sell me your weight loss programs. I am happy with who I am and working on my body with my own way. If I need something I will seek it out. Thank you for your understanding!