In an effort to bring you more body positive travel content, I’ve invited some guest bloggers to share their fat travel adventures. First up is Amanda McCullough of While Fat sharing that yes, you can !
Sweat on my arms despite the overcast skies in Thailand, I took a moment to look out over the vista in front of me hundreds of feet above on a wooden platform as trees swayed back and forth. I thought to myself, you almost missed this because you were scared that you were too fat to zip line. Why?
My whole life I have almost always been the biggest one. I was confident but also careful of what situations I exposed myself to. If I had any doubt that I couldnât do it, I didnât. It was self-preservation but also I didnât want people to think it was because I was fat I couldnât do it. Yet at the very same time, I pushed myself for that exact reason. I was great at sports despite often having more weight to run around with. It made me strong and when the world was cruel to me, I learned to surround myself with kindness. When I started to travel full-time, I also began to fully embrace myself at any size. That is how I found myself one April day zip-lining The Flight of The Gibbon experience in Thailand.
Zip-lining while fat was and remains one of the highlights of my time traveling but I almost didnât do it. Why? Because I didnât know if the harness would fit over my hips. I knew I met the weight limit but I let myself get into my own head. The night before the experience, I found myself online trying to find pictures of other bigger people zip lining. Paranoia had set in and I needed to reassure myself that everything would be okay the next day. After researching a few hours, I couldnât really find any useful information for me about the harness dimensions. When I woke up the next morning, I found myself a ball of nerves but I got dressed and boarded the bus.
When we walked up these makeshift stairs to the hut and I saw them. Those harnesses. And well, they fit. The guys at the experience were so lovely and didnât make me feel anything about being a bigger girl. If anything, I was the one who was making a big deal about it. I had been so focused on my anxiety of not fitting that I kinda forgot about the actual activity itself. Which was zip lining in the jungle and it was incredible.
Flight of The Gibbons is considered one of the best zip lining companies in Southeast Asia and safety is their priority. Itâs a popular day trip for those staying in Pattaya and in Bangkok.
Before we even started the ten-minute trek to the first base, the guides gave us a safety lecture and tutorial. The ranger guides clearly knew what they were doing and were funny. It definitely helped ease me into it. They could tell I was nervous and as such, I was a target to make jokes at but also they constantly reassured me it would be fine. For the next hour and a half, it was a mixture of being utterly terrified and loving it. As a plus size traveler, I enjoyed myself. If anything having more pounds on you meant at times you went VERY fast. Later that night, I sat on my bed and I said to my fiance, there has to be a better way of finding out information. This is how While Fat was created.
Iâve lost track of the amount of times Iâve had to search the FAQs of various businesses to help answer a seemingly simple question that was completely missed. When I emailed getting more specific, I was often met with stale or ignorant responses but most times, they didnât really understand what I was trying to ask.
There are things that when you travel while fat you just have to know, which is why I would like to introduce you to While Fat. While Fat is the ultimate resource for fat and plus-sized travelers to make informed decisions before booking their travel plans with confidence.
While Fat is a community-driven platform curated by fat, and plus size travelers around the world who have vetted the experiences, places, and transportation for you. No longer will you have to spend hours trying to find out the answers that you have while fat:
Will I need to buy two seats?
Will the harness fit?
What is the pace of the hike?
While Fatâs mission is to empower you to start saying yes. I want to allow every person to feel confident in saying yes, no matter what their size is. I believe the best way to accomplish this is by creating a platform with all this information in one place, written by people who understand and can answer any unique questions that you might have
While Fat is in beta. Have a look at our website and join the community today!
ABOUT AMANDA MCCULLOUGH
Traveling since she was 3-weeks old, Amanda McCullough is now 27 and hasn’t stopped. When she isn’t working at l a Bespoke Digital Marketing Agency that she founded with her fiance, Sean, she can be found drinking Rose, posting pictures over at Arms Wide Open and more recently working on her dream project, While Fat.