For my third trip of 2012, I went to Myrtle Beach, SC. If you’re like me, traveling, airports, and sweating are not a good combination (see my post about Hyperhidrosis and Traveling). My family and I went to the beach to celebrate my grandma. She went through chemotherapy and radiation earlier this year for cancer. She kicked cancer’s ass, so we took her to the beach for a family reunion and vacation.
I feel at home near water.
We flew into Charlotte, NC and stayed overnight with my cousin Jim and his family. Jim was the man of honor in my wedding. I like to call him my personal bitch. 
As soon as we got off the plane and began walking toward the rental car area of the airport, I could feel the humidity. We weren’t even near the beach yet, but I can feel extra moisture in the air way before most people can. I am not a fan of humidity, with the exception being that I can wear my hair curly and not have to deal with my hair dryer and flattening iron.
Since my grandma did not know my husband and I were going to be coming to the beach, I decided to make a giant sign that I could hide behind in order to surprise her. My cousin’s wife picked up a piece of poster board for me so I didn’t have to roll one up and carry it with me on the plane. Can you imagine trying to lug around a piece of poster board through the airport? I’d have it soaked and shredded before even making it to the plane, I’m sure.
My second cousins helped me make my grandma’s sign.
Speaking of paper and airports, what is up with the boarding passes they give you if you opt to do self check-in at the airport? I hate printing my own boarding passes as it is, but the ones you get at the airport are even worse. They are made out of paper that’s like receipt tape. Super flimsy and not sturdy at all. I had to have my husband hold mine until we got to the security checkpoint and the TSA agent asked for my ID and boarding pass. Maybe I should carry a giant paper clip or chip clip with me and use that to grip my boarding documents. Because that would make me look super cool. Maybe next time I will go old school and request paper delivery of my tickets to my house. Those boarding passes are much thicker and hold up to my sweaty hands all over them.
The next morning before we left to drive to Myrtle Beach, my second cousins who are 4 and 2 helped me to decorate my grandma’s sign. We used some foam stickers that were self stick, and I had printed some text beforehand at my house and brought it with me. The foam stickers had a backing that had to be peeled off, and thankfully my hands stayed mostly dry when I was applying the stickers. I did, however, use a paper towel to help me stick the text on the poster board. I can’t just glue things down and then smooth them down with my hands. A paper towel is required for that so I don’t smear the ink.
Shhhh. I’m about to surprise my grandma by hiding behind this sign.
We made it to the beach and had a few hours before we had to go to the airport to pick up my grandma. I put on my new flip flops I told you about in my post Hyperhidrosis and Summer, and we walked on the beach for a little while. I didn’t stay out there too long that afternoon since I had already showered and done my hair and makeup. It’s brutal enough getting ready in the summer time when you sweat excessively, so I was trying to minimize my sweating to avoid having to take another shower. The flip flops worked pretty well and were easy enough to rinse off. They also dried pretty quickly, too, but they accumulated so much more sand than everyone else’s sandals did.
This is how much sand I accumulated in my flip flops after a short walk from the parking lot onto the beach.
One of my cousins brought a friend with her on vacation. Her name is Jess. She and I got to talking, and I discovered she was a cheerleader in high school. My cousin had told Jess about my blog and that she thought Jess might have hyperhidrosis. Well, turns out Jess does have hyperhidrosis! Major bonding occurred here, folks. This is only the third time in my life I’ve met someone in person who has the same condition I do.
On our last night there, we hired a photographer to do a professional photo shoot of our family. It was a lot of fun, but I was worried about my sweating showing up in the pictures. I don’t think it did, since my hands were posed in a way that didn’t really show my glistening. Besides, I was trying to be in the moment and enjoy the photo shoot with my grandma. I wasn’t going to allow my stupid sweating to interfere with quality family time, so I did my best to ignore it.
Me and my grandma during our beach photo shoot
We had a really good time at the beach, and it was such a blessing to be able to get our entire family together in one place to celebrate my grandma. She is such a strong woman. Family is the most important thing in my life, and when I felt my sweating getting out of control, I tried to focus on that and just be in the moment.
