dealing when you can't bind

[PucksWaywardSon]

I've got a day of long-haul flights coming up soon, going out to Florida to see my family for the holidays. It's about a 16 hour day of travelling (at least) so binding seems like a bad idea. But I'm at a point now where just taking the thing off at the end of the day is a massive downer even when I'm alone - I'm not sure I like the idea of taking a practice day out of the house without it but I also sort of feel like if I don't that's going to be an unnecessarily upsetting stressor. It's already going to be ->-bleeped-<-ty for the fact I haven't legally changed anything yet so I pretty much *have* to present in some way approximately "honest" to what's on my passport anyway.

Honestly I have no idea what I'm expecting in terms of advice here, but I'm so new to the ever deepening spiral of dysphoria that seems to come with being more and more out (and presenting more male) that I just don't cope with it very well and I don't want to be trapped on a plane for hours in that puddle of emotions.

[Orangaline]

hey man, i hear ya. im stuck without binding until friday-sat, and while this may not make you feel better it does suck, ive been depressed and stuff this whole time and majorly dysphoric.


the way im managing is by distracting myself. wear baggy clothes and sweaters and make sure you have plenty to do on the plane to keep your mind off your chest.

or you could look at it the way i do, you just have abnormally large pecs:D

[FTMax]

+1 to the baggy clothes. Both for comfort and for passing. The more you blur the lines of hips/waist/chest, the more androgynous you become in the eyes of other people. And they're comfy for traveling!

[Thatoneguyyouknow]

I feel your pain. Hang in there. If it helps, maybe wear like a more against the chest sports bra. And yes, baggy clothes like a hoodie/jacket. Don't look down alot and just distract yourself. Atleast you just have to do without it for a few hours only, I wish I could get even an hour with a binder on.

[adrian]

Hey, man, that sucks. Couldn't you bind at least for a leg of the journey and change out of the binder on the way? Have you considered packing to distract you?

[PucksWaywardSon]

It is gonna be more physically comfortable not to on the plane probably, even though it's emotionally horrible. Might see if I can put it on for the 4 hour layover and then back on once I'm home, so it breaks up the day at least.

Thanks for the support, guys, it's appreciated.

[darkblade]

I can't bind over the weekends. It sucks, but oh well. It didn't bother me all that much before I started binding for the first time, but since I have it's become increasingly bothersome not to bind. For me what bothers me the most is when I accidentally touch my chest, I think that annoys me more than looking down on my chest. But yes, I try to wear baggy-ish stuff, a sports bra, and I just avoid looking at or touching my chest. Just the feel of wearing a bra feels really awkward to me now though.

You shall survive though and the uncomfortable experience will come to an end!

[campenella]

It might be too late for this, but in the future underworks has the compression sports bra that I swear by when I am feeling lazy along with baggy clothes. You can wear it for a looooong amount of time, it feels great and I've never gotten misgendered even with clothes that aren't as baggy as I'd have liked. Mine is a year old and I don't treat it super amazing, but when I'm having dysphoria and don't want to struggle into a binder all day it's my go to.

[AdamMLP]

Baggy clothes and patterned things help to distract the eye, as well as layers.  Wear a jacket of some sort if the weather allows, hopefully it should with it being winter in most places now.  When you're on the plane you could try and get some sleep so you're not awake to notice, and you can always put it back on when you're at the layover.

[palexander]

what about a tight sports bra then just put on a sweater or something for the ride?

[campenella]

what about a tight sports bra then just put on a sweater or something for the ride?

This is usually good advice. Trying to find a sports bra that can actually bind is a headache because you don't want to hurt yourself. I usually don't give the advice to wear an ill fitting sports bra like a size or two too small because it causes the same problems as binding for long periods of time or ace bandaging. Hurts you more in the long run. Be extra careful of sweaters too, they tend to show more than hide with sports bras with some people. If you can find a great distracting print I agree with this advice