Before the band, did you dread cramming into a tight airplane seat? Or did you avoid being seen in a bathing suit? Has all of that changed since losing weight?

I'm researching an article for travelgirl magazine, and I'm hoping you can help me inspire people to consider the surgery to enrich their lives. Maybe you've even celebrated your weight loss success with a dream vacation or running the Paris marathon?

Please share your story. I might like to interview you for my article.

Cheers,

Leslie (aka travelchick)

No, it never stopped me; however,

that's where I felt the FATTEST. Hawaii, Hilton Head, New Orleans, Disney....you name it!

I remember the vacation before my decision to band - Hawaii. I felt like a beached whale.

Although it never stopped me from traveling, it did keep me in my hotel room alot. I didn't socialize like many do on vacation.

I still cruised, but once I outgrew my bathing suit, I stopped getting into the Water.

Now with saggy skin, Im not so hot to get into the water in the pools even now.

My last two cruises, my biggest dressy dress was skin tight and I was dreadfully embarrassed. It was like a 22 or 24 I think and looked awful on me.

I was still travelling, but it was taking a lot from my vacations and being active. I cant wait until Im at goal and can consider plastic surgery. At my age, just losing the weight isnt going to be enough.

Yes, it did stop me from traveling. When I realized I would have to use an extender on my seatbelt I avoided riding on a plane. I would spill over into the seats next to me... It was awful!

I am celebrating my weight loss on 2/5 with a trip to Kauai! Myself and 14 family members have rented a home there for the week. I plan to follow up my travel again in June with a trip to California to ride roller coasters. I want to go back to vegas again too before the end of 2009.

I kept on traveling but had to use a seat belt extender and the whole airline flight attendants group could use some sensitivity about dealing with overweight people. I have discreetly asked for a seat belt extender only to have the flight attendant make a really big deal out of it and wait until the last second to give me one. Other times, God bless them, they were very quick in helping and discreet about giving it to me. So, yes, I kept traveling and just realized that the airplane flight would be the absolute worst part of any vacation but I tried to remember that suffering for a few hours on the flight was getting me time to enjoy other things.

Second, I also took alot of tour buses and in some cases, they have hard fixed seat arms at the end of the seat that don't go up and down to help you get into a row easy and that is a real pain if you are overweight. It is a way to force 2 people into the seat without any hanging over into the aisle. Other buses, these went up and easily gave us more room to breathe.

Forget about amusement park rides. I went with family and ended up babysitting all day for the little boy who was afraid of the roller coasters and I really felt I missed out on alot. Thankfully at Disney, there are plenty of choices where size isn't a restriction too.

I found lots of excuses not to fly over the past 2 years, when I was my heaviest. 3 weeks after my band, I took Amtrack from FL to NY because I knew I wouldn't fit in the airline seat without a problem, so I used my surgery as an excuse. Instead of flying for 2.5 hours each way, it was 23 hours there and 28 back!!!

Now, I have been flying pretty much every month, and on Spirit which has very tight seats. I still leave the seat arms up, but at least I can buckle the seat belt!