Big test of stamina coming up! I haven't been on holiday for 18 years (due to cost not the RA). Today I embark on a trip to the West Country

[benjijen]

with my 14 year old granddaughter. I am driving (from East Sussex) and am staying at various Travelodges/Premier Inns to minimize the driving each day with various stop offs in between. I'm looking forward to it but there is a good amount of trepidation due mainly to the fatigue, I can usually manage the pain and stiffness ok. It will be a leisurely trip and I hope Hannah won't get bored (She will have her ipod and 'phone which she lives for.) I am just concerned that I may get down there and get stuck due to this rotten disease. This worry is spoiling this precious trip for me (she'll soon be too old to want to go away with her Nan!) and it's difficult to overcome this feeling. Oh well here goes!!!!

[Titchyj]

Hi, I am sure you will both have a great time, don't forget to pace yourself and have sometime to relax and recharge your batteries. Wishing you a good stress free holiday.

Jan

[hatshepsut]

I'm sure that you will be fine, it always amazes me how understanding my grandchildren are, and I sometimes think that they are so much better at coping with my restrictions than their parents!!! Your granddaughter wouldn't be coming with you if she was going to be bored.! It's such a lovely relationship, isn't it?

I do hope that you have a great time, and the weather is good! Wish it was me! M x

[DrWhoFan]

I am like you in that sometimes I am really worried that I will be able to cope. Fortunately it has always been ok, and i have worried for nothing! Stop and rest when your body says so, lots of cups of tea and I am sure you will be OK and have a lovely time. Anne xx

[Paulineg]

Well done you!! I really admire you for doing this trip. It is so easy just to sit down and become a cabbage with this disease, but not you. You are going for it and I think you are great. If I could come with you ( just to carry your bags of course) I would. Unfortunately I cannot even think about going away because my husband is blind and disabled but I like to think that if I could follow your example I would. Good on you, go for it and enjoy yourself just be careful not to overdo it, just relax now and again and remember 14 year old young ladies only do what they want to do and your granddaughter would not be coming with you if she didn't love you and want to be with you.

[oldtimer]

I had a great journey with my grand- daughter when she was 12. I picked her up from Somerset and took her to Surrey She read the map(I did know the way!) with a big AA atlas and only went wrong once - I followed her instructions and then stopped! She was charged with reading out road names especially when they were amusing or odd when we were going slowly. She said she had never known the journey go so fast and never looked at her i-phone once she was so busy, until we arrived near her home, when she phoned her mum to say where we were.