About Type 1 Travels

Ciao! Im Kirsty and I’m the face behind Type 1 Travels.

I’ve backpacked solo across the Middle East. I’ve got a tattoo from Apo Whang Od and one from the oldest tattoo shop in the world. I’ve swum with peguins in South Africa. I’ve partied the night away with the Bedouin in the middle of Petra. I’ve gone clubbing with locals in Nairobi, I’ve eaten tiramisu at the world cup in Italy, and I’ve paraded swinging fire, dressed as a pirate in the Eastbourne fireworks parade. I’ve travelled as far as Palestine, South Africa and China.

Growing up family holidays were always to other counties in the United Kingdom – Cornwall, Devon, Carmarthenshire and the lake district. Or simple caravanning holidays to France. Perfectly idyllic to 37 year old me, boring AF to teenage me who felt embarrased travelling with the parents.

With my very first pay cheque I went on my first ever ‘adult’ holiday. A 10 day trip to Romania with a colleague I’d known for 5 whole weeks. Suffice to say I didn’t speak to the guy by the time we landed back in Luton, but the travel bug had bitten me.

In 2010 life went tits up. I went into a coma. I survived 22 days on life support. I went into hospital a perfectly healthy 19 year old and left type 1 diabetic.

The next few years travelling got put on the back burner as I focused on my health. I became my own medical team. I learned all the terminology and got to grips with the technology. Diabetes felt like the elephant in the room that came with me everywhere.

Until 2013 – my second time in Romania. Thanks to DracSoc I ended up doing a 12 day group tour of the north of Romania. I had a blast! The next few years were filled with trips all over Europe as I finally started to find my balls again and fell in love with travel.

In 2015 I went on the trip that changed my life. Italy! There I met the man I would go on to marry – if you want a laugh, I can tell you all about our first ever meeting… Ever misheard and asked a body builder if he can make you a model of St Marks Basilica? No? I have. Had to have your date look at the tag on your hotel keys to work out where you’re staying, so he can walk you home? No? I have.

It worked out though because Mauro asked me to move in with him in 2016 and I obliged. Queue a panicked goodbye party, a van full of stuff and a 3 day roadtrip to get me and my dog to northern Italy. I’ve been here permanently since 2018.

In 2020 I finally had the cahonies to do my first intercontinental trip. And then the world went to shit. Our planned adventure got cancelled and we ended up being stuck for 2 years.

2022 saw me and my now husband take our first long haul flight. Destination: South Africa. It was everything I could have ever hoped it would be. I’ve been adventuring intercontinentally solo or with Mauro ever since.

In 2024 I decided to start an Instagram page for the tips and tricks I learned about travelling with type 1 diabetes. I wanted to show fellow diabetics that travelling with the ‘betes doesn’t have to be scary. But I’m more comfortable behind a camera, taking notes, than I am in front of it. I’m still trying and still learning – old dogs, new tricks and all that. But I’m far more comfy typing my thoughts than expressing them in a video. Thus this blog was born.

Backpacker but make it bougie

I consider myself a mid-range traveler. I always try to travel on a budget, though my definition of “on a budget” has evolved over the years. I’ll still happily stay in a €6 dorm in Jordan, but equally I’ll spend €40 to go on a 3 hour speedboat tour of the bay of Kotor. I’m just as satisfied chowing down on €0.50 fried chicken sticks in the night markets of the Philippines as I am nibbling away at a €120pp 7 course dinner in a fancy restaurant in the Dolomites.

I know every trick and hack there is for finding cheap flights. I don’t gatekeep how to beat the RyanAir baggage fees. And I share tips for packing absolutely everything, without having to face the hell that is checked baggage. And yes I will pack a floaty skirt alongside my trusty Columbia boots – I’ll never shy away from a gorgeous photo op.

Travel is political and so am I

I’ll be honest I never appreciated how lucky I was to backpack freely across Europe. I spent most of 2015 – 2023, when not stuck indoors due to the plague, with my trusty Osprey on my back, country hopping as I felt like it. It wasn’t until I made it to the Middle East and started chatting with the Palestinians and the Syrians that I truly came to see just how privileged I am.

I’m very involved with politics. I volunteer, I protest, I write and I wear my views- literally. While I’ve always been pretty left leaning, my travels have only continued to inform and shape my world view and my utter conviction that healthcare and education are human rights.

My dream is that one day noone will die from something as easily treatable and easily diagnosable as diabetes. I believe in a free Palestine.

Travel tips, honest reviews and real talk.

This blog is here to help as much as it is to entertain. I’m committed to showing you how to find maximum value in your travels — where to splurge, how to save, and what gear is actually worth your hand earned money. Of course there will also be funny travel stories, musings, and cool travel photos.

I’ll bring you along for the highs and the lows. I’ll always share the ugly truth and I’ll never try to sell you something ‘just to make a few pennies’. Community means more than that.

Prioritising travel is life changing. I’m so happy I get to have some small part in helping you do just that.

Want to get in touch with me? Contact me here.