I had just turned 63 when the doctor said it straight: “Starting next week, you’re on hemodialysis - three times a week, four hours each session.” For many people my age, that would have felt like a life sentence, the end of any dream of long-distance travel. For me, it became the beginning of a new life. For the first few months, I drove 6 km to the dialysis center like clockwork- regularly, punctually, without complaint. But in my head, one thought kept circling: “I’ve always wanted to drive to Rome in my own car… Is that really over forever?” One day I stumbled upon Bookdialysis.com- a site specializing in so-called “dialysis holidays”- and saw they had a center right in Rome. I booked a slot for July 2022. My wife shook her head: “You’ve lost your mind- 1,800 km one way, alone?” I just smiled: “If not now, when?” I haven’t stopped since. Today I’m 66, and I say with a smile: “You know what’s the funniest part? People my age complain they can’t travel anymore- because of health, age, kidneys… And yet, precisely because of dialysis, in the last few years I’ve seen more of the world than in the previous three decades. So easy, with only a few clicks, you can choose a city all over the world, communicate with a clinic through email or phone and book your holidays! I immediately booked mine so easy in... Dubai! I couldn’t believe it but it was true! The site overall, is well designed and easy to use. I just hope and wish in the near future, more cities and countries will be included! Of course, I have already recommend it to my clinic here in Greece, and to forums with other patients in social media.

I used to travel extensively after retirement until the fateful day I was told that I would need dialysis due to kidney failure. My world came crashing down when I received the diagnosis. Over time, however, I gradually came to accept my condition through faith, as well as the support of my family, friends, and doctors. After settling into HDF dialysis (three times a week) for the first nine months, I began exploring travel again. I started with short trips of four to five days to nearby countries. However, each trip required extensive advance planning and coordination to ensure I could continue receiving dialysis treatments while overseas. It was certainly a daunting and time-consuming process. Since discovering Bookdialysis.com, I have expanded my travels to Japan, Hong Kong, and China, with a few more destinations on my bucket list for next year. The support provided by Bookdialysis’ team of friendly coordinators has been invaluable. Their assistance in locating suitable and reputable dialysis clinics overseas has made travel planning much more convenient and stress-free. Although I spend four to five hours at a dialysis clinic three times a week while travelling, I am grateful that I can still enjoy the rest of my trip with family and friends. Whether it is shopping, dining, sightseeing, trekking, or even mountain climbing, travelling remains very much possible. As the saying goes, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Every trip reminds me that life is still full of possibilities. Let’s continue exploring and living our dreams to the fullest. Travelling on dialysis is definitely achievable with proper planning and coordination of dialysis treatments.

I have been dialysis carer for around 4 years. My father was dialysis patient based in India and had three haemodialysis session per week. We never travelled far after dialysis as we thought of health risk and there is huge dependency on dialysis. After covid, travel slowly started picking up and I wondered if I could take my father abroad for tourism. I shortlisted Singapore for tourism and searched in internet if its possible for foreigner to do dialysis in Singapore. I came across bookdialysis which supported holiday dialysis in many countries. I downloaded their app in mobile and booked three session for Singapore holiday dialysis and planned to stay in Singapore for a week. After booking via bookdialysis app, I got confirmation email from the clinic. Bookdialysis and the clinic's team answered all my queries. EXCITED ! I planned and worked out rest of the things passport, visa, travel insurance, forex card, Singapore currency and designed travel itinerary in a way where my father (senior citizen) can do dialysis, rest and still travel to enjoy the best attractions in Singapore. Dialysis may shape a person's routine but it should never shrink dreams. My only regret is I could have done it earlier and visited multiple countries. Even if travelling within your country it makes sense to travel as it brings change, fresh perspectives. Dialysis makes life boring for patient. Travel makes it exciting. I realised even with dialysis, dreams can take flight. Thanks to bookdialysis team for their support in dialysis. I will recommend Bookdialysis website & app based on previous experience. After Singapore trip we travelled Munnar, Kumarakom etc, just because of confidence we had in our travel experience, thanks to Bookdialysis for making dream come true.

Four years ago as I was approaching my 66th birthday, my physician started monitoring my kidney function. I was told to follow a strict renal diet. Things were going okay , but 2 years later I contracted listeria, a serious food borne disease, which during a 2 week stay in the hospital damaged my kidneys further to the extent that I was immediately placed on dialysis and I continue taking it today. My whole world fell apart because as an avid world traveler since my teens, I was shell-shocked. I was in total disbelief because of the fact that I believed my traveling days were over. I continued like this for a year. I suffered depressive episodes and my friends who were also world travelers didn't know how to console me. They also thought that dialysis patients could not take vacations, They continued traveling the world and I sat home.Until one day during my routine visit my nephrologist asked me..." So when are you going to go on vacation?" I looked at him as if he were crazy and he continued speaking. He told me quite a few of his patients on dialysis traveled quite often. It should be noted that dialysis is not a killer. It is not the end of the world. Many people believe incorrectly that a dialysis patient cannot go anywhere and must be locked into their dialysis site. I have disproved that common belief. I hope my experience has given dialysis patients inspiration to go forward and not remain at home and pity themselves. Always keep in mind that there is a wonderful world of travel out there just waiting for you. Go for it!

My kidneys failed when I was 3yrs old, as a child, I knew I was slightly different from my peers but I was able to run around and play, attend school and was given extra tuition so I did not fall behind and I was never academically or socially stunted. My first transplant in 1995 was from a deceased donor, this started to fail when I was 18 and completely failed when I was 20. This transplant saved me in so many ways, I was able to go to college then university where I got my nursing degree, I had my daughter Ramona and eventually met my husband Mark. As I am back on dialysis after 12 years with a wonderful 3rd transplant, I am aware that getting another kidney may never happen for me as I am sitting around 99% antibody level. I am looking forward to watching my daughter grow and thrive but I take each day at a time and try to make small plans to look forward to. I am also looking forward to making plans with my family to go on a nice well earned holiday abroad once I find a dialysis centre that suits! We are going to Crete this year as it was the last holiday we went on when my transplant was failing as it was a beautiful holiday, the unit in Kalesa has a great reputation and they use the same dialysis machines as I use here at home so I can have some control over my treatment. If I can try to make plans to go on holidays and feel confident in dialysing abroad it will be great for not only me but my family.