I went camping in Wyoming the summer before last, and the thought that consumed me for days beforehand was "How will I keep up my looks?" By "looks" I mean a covered head, eyebrows and eyeliner. My husband and I are half-heartedly thinking about anniversary trips for this summer, and every time a possible location is brought up, I can only think about how the pictures will look with "bald me" in them. I don't want to see "bald me" waking up from a night in a tent to go on a sunrise hike, doing water sports, dancing in a Paris square, or any other activity that I have seen in poster ads or Instagram pics.
Because the pictures look like this:
No matter how comfortable I am with my baldness in my daily life, I may always have a problem with these images of women doing exciting and lovely things...with hair. They look feminine, natural, healthy...and I don't. Can you imagine any of these images with a bald woman in them?
Let's see if I can find any:
Here's a cute one in Rome-
(http://romethesecondtime.blogspot.com/2010/07/who-was-that-bald-woman-in-monti.html)
And that's about all I can find. I'm sure a more thorough search would produce more, but a quick Google Images search didn't turn up many pictures of bald woman being adventurous, sporty, sexy, or romantic.
I don't want my alopecia to stop me from enjoying life. I don't want a vacation to go undocumented because I hate how I look on camera with no hair and no makeup. I don't want to decide where I go based on how appropriate or inappropriate my scarves would look.
But, that's where I am right now. Travel is different when I have to think about whether to pack a wig and how I would keep it from getting misshapen.
What is your biggest travel worry?
Tattoo time!!!
ReplyDeleteI think you would feel completely different if you woke up with at least eyebrows and eyeliner. Something that wouldn't wash off while playing in the ocean. :)
This will be my first summer with alopecia universalis and I am very afraid. I am afraid of what to do with my bald head when it is so warm out. I am afraid of my eyebrows coming off and no eyelashes to make me look alive. I am secretly dreading my most favorite season of the year and feel so sad.
ReplyDeleteUgh, it's a horrible feeling. I know. I recommend a visor scarf: http://www.headcovers.com/10802/brooke-scarf-visor/
DeleteThese are cool and shade the face and look cute! I like mine.
Have you tried eyebrows from http://www.beauti-full-brows.com/ ? They are temporary tattoos and make me feel more secure than just pencil.