More Manageable Than It Sounds
Travelling post-surgery is one of those things that feels more daunting in advance than it usually turns out to be in practice. But it does require more thought than it used to – particularly around food, hydration, and having the right things available when you need them. We have done a fair amount of travelling in the two years since surgery, including the trip to Riga for the operation itself, and have settled into an approach that works reliably.
Airports and Long Journeys
Airport food is famously limited and expensive. For sleeve patients it is doubly frustrating – most options are either carb-heavy, oversized, or both. Our approach is to eat properly before arriving and to pack snacks for the journey: Peperamis, Babybels, a small container of cooked chicken. These travel well, do not require refrigeration for a few hours, and mean you are not dependent on whatever the terminal cafe has on offer.
Staying hydrated on long journeys is genuinely important and genuinely difficult when you cannot drink large quantities quickly. Small, frequent sips throughout the journey – starting well before you board – make a bigger difference than trying to catch up once you land.
Eating on Holiday
Most restaurant meals work fine post-sleeve if you are comfortable asking for smaller portions or ordering from the starter menu. We have found that being straightforward about having had stomach surgery tends to get a more helpful response than vague requests – most restaurant staff would rather plate something correctly than have food sent back.
The bigger challenge on holiday is the all-inclusive or buffet format, where there is social pressure to load a plate and where food is constantly available. The sleeve’s restriction helps here – you genuinely cannot eat much – but the visual cues of a buffet can trigger head hunger in ways that a normal meal does not. Having a clear idea of what you are going to eat before you approach the buffet is a strategy that has worked for us.
Supplements on the Road
This is the one that catches people out. It is easy to let supplementation slip on holiday – the routine is different, the pills are in a different bag, there is a lot else going on. We use a weekly pill organiser that travels with hand luggage so there is no risk of losing supplements in checked baggage and no excuse for missing days. Three weeks without bariatric supplements is not a disaster; three months of patchy supplementation while travelling frequently can produce noticeable deficiencies.
What We Have Learned
The holiday where you relax the rules entirely and see what happens tends to produce an uncomfortable few days and a difficult return to habits. The holiday where you broadly maintain the structure – protein first, supplements taken, hydration managed – tends to feel like a genuine break rather than something you have to recover from.
Sources
NHS – Travel health: staying healthy abroad
BOMSS – Post-operative lifestyle guidance for bariatric patients
NHS – Eating well after bariatric surgery
About this content
This blog is written by James and Kirsten, a couple from the UK who had gastric sleeve surgery together in March 2024.
We started this blog because we couldn't find any sources of content that details before surgery, the surgery and then life post surgery - so we decided to write one ourselves.
Everything on this site is based on our own experience and the research we have done along the way. It is not medical advice. Gastric sleeve surgery is a serious procedure and every patient's journey is different. Please always consult your own bariatric team or GP before making any decisions about your health or treatment.
Some posts on this site may contain featured or sponsored content, or affiliate links. Where this is the case, it will always be clearly stated at the top of the article. Our opinions are always our own.
Publish Date: 31 January 2026 | Last Reviewed: 27 June 2026 | Next Planned Review: 27 December 2027