Big & Tall Travel

Although this page is intended to be a resource for the larger-than-average traveler, the impetus for creating it was a bit more mundane…

My wife and I are planning on taking an international vacation later this year. We are very much looking forward to it and spend much of our free time planning all of the details. However, more than a little of our time is spent figuring out how to make our travel comfortable (or at least not uncomfortable) for me.

What does it mean to make traveling “not uncomfortable” for me? Well:

1. Is the flight right for me?
   • Is the seat wide enough?
   • Will I have enough legroom?
   • Is the onboard bathroom large enough to accommodate me?
   • How do I prevent being strangled by fellow passengers when they hear my incessant snoring?
2. Is the hotel right for me?
   • Will the bed comfortably fit both my wife and me?
   • Is the shower large enough that I can wash without hitting my head or stooping?
   • How close is the hotel to the points of interest we’d like to visit?
     • Is the hotel near any mass transit?
     • Are there any decent restaurants nearby?
3. What other things do I need to consider in the locality we’re visiting?
   • What shoes do I need?
   • Will I stick out like a sore thumb, or can I make myself inconspicuous?
   • Will any particular gear help me?
4. What non-giant related things are we planning?

The Flight…

When my wife and I were planning this trip, the flight over to Europe from the Washington, DC area was the very first thing we considered after deciding where we’re going. Since it is a transatlantic flight, we were both more than a bit concerned about how we could make the flight comfortable. After spending a few weeks looking at the various options, we finally decided we’d bit the bullet and book a business class flight from Washington Dulles nonstop to our destination.

The thing about transatlantic business class flights is that they’re not cheap. Neither my wife nor I am wealthy. (I’m a landscaper and she is an accountant for a DC area municipality.) The only way we could reasonably afford this flight in business class is to use credit card points. Fortunately, my wife had quite a few points saved up from spending during the pandemic.

The particular flight we’re taking has significantly wider seats with a very significant amount of legroom too. Plus, the premium food and drink included will help make this trip extra memorable.

There are some lingering questions I have that I won’t quite know until I take the flight, however. For example, I don’t know if the bathroom will be big enough for me to use it, should the need arise. (I know this is kind of gross – and for that I apologize – but it’s a real question.) I am also not sure if the width of the seat will really be enough for me. I’m quite wide and the lie-flat seats seem like they may be a bit too narrow. Still, these seats should be much more comfortable than sitting in economy.

The Hotel…

The city to which we’re traveling is a very old city. I mean really, really old. And my understanding is that most places in this city were created to accommodate people who are generally … well… small. From what I’ve read, the tourist accommodations are generally rather small as well. Except for those hotels that cater to the American tourists. And even then, it doesn’t seem unusual to find hotels that have full beds instead of king or even queen. So when we were looking for hotels, it was very important to me that we find a hotel with an actual king sized bed. Sure, this meant that our choices were relatively limited, but it also meant that we – and especially my wife – will get restful sleep.

The hotel we chose is also close enough to the high traffic tourist areas to be practical but not so close that we won’t be able to see the beauty of the rest of the city. And we’re not right next to the airport either, which is an added plus. There is plenty of well reviewed dining nearby and a bus station about half a block away too.

While we didn’t book this hotel with credit card points, we did use our credit card’s travel portal to book our stay. Booking this way not only netted us a fairly significant number of points but also got us a better than advertised rate versus booking direct or through another aggregate source.

This hotel didn’t check all the boxes though. At least not quite. The area in which we’ll be staying is a bit less commercial than most of the areas in the city. Because of this, there are fewer restaurants in the immediate vicinity. I’m sure it’s no surprise to any of you reading this at this point, but… I like to eat. I guess walking a bit to get my meals isn’t such a bad thing. But it does cut down on the options that are realistically available to us.

Other Considerations…

Traveling while Big and Tall doesn’t just mean looking for the comfortable airplanes and hotels. It also means being prepared to deal with issues that arise when you are Big and Tall. Chief among these issues for me is that I can develop issues with my feet at the most inopportune times. What am I talking about? Well, my feet – and particularly my right foot – has a tendency to displace a bone after a bunch of walking. Walking a normal amount doesn’t affect me, but if I walk more than seven or eight miles in a day, whatever bone moves and the rest of my foot swells until I can push the bone back into place. (I’m sure this is TMI, but I’m sharing anyways.) Blisters, hot feet, and a sore bunion – acquired from wearing boots too narrow for my feet – are other issues that sometimes affect me, especially after a long day of walking. To combat these foot issues, I plan on getting a new pair of comfortable shoes a few weeks before the trip. Unfortunately, my size 15 4E shoes are not easy to come by, but that’s a topic for another post.

I also need to consider the weather. While our trip starts in one country for four or five days, we’ll then visit other areas of Europe with a fast paced itinerary. I need to make sure I pack enough clothes for colder weather and warmer weather. But it all needs to fit in our suitcases. And as I’m sure you’re aware, Big and Tall clothes are generally neither lightweight nor compact. This is, again, another topic for another day and one for which I haven’t quite figured out a solution.

Lastly, is it possible for me to remain fairly inconspicuous? Realistically, probably not. I stand out most places I go whether in the States or elsewhere. So how do I make myself (and more importantly, my wife) a low priority target for anyone with less than great intentions, i.e. pickpockets? My stature is such that it gives many people pause before messing with me. But I have one significant weakness…I’m slow.

I think we’ve figured out the best solution for would be pickpockets. While we’re outside our hotel room, we’ll travel with only the payment means we need to get by. We’ll also keep those means and our phone and other small items in slings across our chests and definitely not in our pockets. I think this should be enough to keep us from being targets, but we’ll see.