Unpacking the Suitcase

Hello everyone. My name is David, and I am a Travel Health Nurse who just so happens to be living with HIV. Weather you have recently been diagnosed with HIV or have been living with HIV for many years, this website is all about travelling with our pre-existing condition and to help normalise HIV so we can eradicate the stigma. And what better way to normalise HIV than to travel the world as our authentic selves.

This website introduces you to a friendly, non-judgmental space with a fathom of knowledge and tips to make travel easy and more compatible for people living with HIV. From learning how to travel with your antiretroviral medications to keeping both mentally and physically healthy on your journey, this website will help give you that little push you may need to travel further and explore deeper.

I have vast amounts of travel experience, backpacking the world since 2015. From cycling on a ninety-nine-dollar K-Mart bike through the Australian Outback to skydiving over the Grand Canyon, it’s been one hell of a ride.

However during the first year of my backpacking journey, I was diagnosed with HIV and from that moment on, travel became more than getting from one place to the other. It became a fight to survive and a challenge to carry on with my travel dream.

Time was running out, I was stuck in Sydney, unable to leave as I fell ill pretty quick. While the ordinary backpacker had modern day worries such as applying for visas, finding a job and making money to travel to their next destination, I had bigger eggs to fry. I lost my job, ran out of money, became homeless and had no food, all the while dealing with a disease that had completely took over my body. My travel dream was literally crumbling down around me. And if I didn’t start antiretroviral medication soon, I was going to die.

And like a new born baby, I began a journey of self-discovery to keep my travel dream a reality and for that, I had to stay alive . This now meant getting to know my body all over again, both physically and mentally and learning the fundamental aspects of life as a human being.

I hope Miniaturetravels inspires you to travel more freely and uplifts you into an open-minded space surrounding your HIV status, to sit back, relax and most of all enjoy your life, while exploring our extraordinary planet.

Please don’t hesitate to leave comments and be sure to follow me on social media.

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