The Hypermobile Traveller

21/12/2025

🎶 Sing it: Baby, allll I want for Christmaaaaassssss issssss…

somewhere to sit down 🪑

The Christmas lights in London are special but I really was in awe of so many benches.

Benches or lights? Which is your fave?

📍 Berkeley Square, London

📆 From Christmas Eve last year. I travelled to London by train, popped my luggage in storage at the House of Spells shop on Charing Cross Road and explored the lights before heading to the airport for my flight to Mexico

Sorry for the jumpy video quality, I did a Timelapse of the benches, because there was so many but it was too quick 🤦🏻‍♀️

👋 Join the fun of travelling with a chronic illness at — tips, tricks, honesty & sarcasm for navigating travel with Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder

16/12/2025

& how to cope travelling with a chronic illness (hypermobility spectrum disorder) in one of the most densely populated cities in the world:

Most people skip Male but the tourist/traveller in me couldn’t go to the Maldives and not explore the capital city. I also knew I’d be over sand by my last day and this was absolutely the case 😅

However, I knew it would also come with its challenges:
☀️ The heat - it was much more humid with less breeze
💨 Pollution and smog - Asia loves a moped but I don’t think I’ve seen as many as I did in Male!
🌆 Busy & crowded

Some tips:
🥵 don’t explore in the midday heat (like I did!)
🗺️ Set off with a rough plan of where you want to go and include indoor stops: restaurants, cafes, museum, art galleries
👣 Don’t do a walking tour if you know you’ll struggle - I couldn’t find one that was less than 3 hours and I knew I wouldn’t cope for that long 😔
💧 carry plenty of water
🪭 carry your fan
👣 Pace and rest in the shade, seek benches/walls
🚶 Follow the lead of others to cross the road if you’re unsure and don’t feel pressured to rush.
🕹️walking the pavements is an adventure trying to find a gap to exit them with all the parked bikes
📆 Fridays will be much busier with locals
⏰ Fridays also mean different/reduced opening hours so plan accordingly
🛌 Ensure your hotel has air con and use it when needed.
⛴️ Take a free ferry to a resort island (I’ll share more on this)

Is Male worth exploring? Yes, I’d say so but I don’t think you need to factor lots of time into your itinerary. I stayed 1 night here before my return flight.
🧳 You could also store your luggage at the airport and take a ferry or taxi across before/after your flight if you have a few hours to spare

Have you/would you visit Male on your Maldives trip?

14/12/2025

Doing any Amazon shopping for gifts or Christmas essentials? If you use my link, I’ll earn a small commission (no extra cost to you), and all of it will be donated to the Ehlers-Danlos Society 🦓

Thank you for supporting a cause close to my heart 💛

My storefront also contains all of my travelling essentials (which would make great gifts for other travellers in your life 😉)
https://www.amazon.com/shop/thehypermobiletraveller

Thank you 🤶

Shop recommended products from Katy on www.amazon.com. Learn more about Katy's favorite products.

07/12/2025

I love the magic, the decorations and the festive feeling they bring but the reality is they’re cold, usually wet, busy, over-priced and over hyped.

If you plan a city break and it happens to be whilst the Christmas markets are on then I think that’s a nice bonus but I’m to old and knackered to be planning trips to look at some wooden stalls in the freezing cold 🥶

My alternative:
🏡 Create the Christmas vibes at home and invite friends round.
🍷 Popped some mulled wine in the slow cooker
🧑‍🍳 Cook something hearty and warm or a good old buffet
🎶 put on a Christmas playlist
🎲 Play Christmas themed party games
🤶 dress up, I always do a Christmas pyjama night with my friends
🎁 with a secret Santa present swap

🎄 + 🥂 + 🛌 + 👯‍♀️ = a chronic illness dream. It’s always one of my favourite nights of the year.

Are you a Christmas market lover? Or would you prefer a cosy night in?

05/12/2025

✈️ Return flights from London Heathrow to the Maldives = 15,000 Virgin points (November 2025):

I used:
🏆 5000 bonus points for turning on Clubcard auto conversion +
🛒 Converted 1650 Clubcard points accrued (1 Clubcard point = 2 Virgin points) +
💵 £38 in Clubcard vouchers = 7500 points

I’m really not exaggerating when I say eating crisp sandwiches got me flights to the Maldives.

💰 I paid £300 in taxes and charges with Virgin Atlantic.

🤕 this is a good way to fund travels and save money for all the additional costs that come with a chronic illness.

🍇 I buy fruit and veg too, because that’s better for my hypermobile, chronically ill body but sometimes, my more than likely neurodiverse brain can’t do cooking so crisp sandwiches win. This post is absolutely, definitely not to be used as nutritional advice.

Do you already convert your points, or will you be signing up?

25/11/2025

Relatable?

Why do we sit diagonally, when there is perfectly good back support? ⬇️

If your hips, pelvis, or spine have extra mobility, sitting perfectly straight can feel like your body isn’t “held” in place.
Diagonal sitting can create:
A slight twist that “locks” joints
More tension in the right places
A feeling of being braced
Something to lean an arm on

This can feel safer and more controlled for the hypermobile body.

Finding comfy seats whilst travelling for our hypermobile bodies is hard, so we’ve got to sit the best we way we can on the seats we are given 😅 except for stools with no back, they are torture 😭

👋 follow for more on travelling with hypermobility spectrum disorder

23/11/2025

Postcards from Thulusdhoo, Maldives 🇲🇻

1&2. Paint me. Featuring a hypermobile elbow 👀
3-5. Pretty island things 🌺
6. The best pineapple ice lolly courtesy of .thulusdhoo
7. The sun very much had its halo on ☀️ 🌈
8. Surf vibes
9. Home of Coke in the Maldives 🥤
10. Espresso & coconut water with a side of fan 🪭
11. Riding my bicycle into the sunset 🚲
12. When it’s snowing at home ☃️
13 & 14. Slow mornings on the beach 🏝️

Have I convinced you visit? I’d go solely for the pineapple ice lolly to be honest 🍍🧊 🍭

18/11/2025

Postcards from Dhiffushi, Maldives.

Dear lovely followers,

As predicted I can’t multi-task and think about useful or interesting captions whilst on holiday, so I hope these photos will suffice.

I don’t think it needs words.

I hope it’s not too cold at home 😬 be back soon.

Love Katy x