Pain-free tip: Move to a warm climate...?

I can sympathize with this mammut. Living with RA + having about half a pound of steel in my spine makes winter a challenging time to say the least. I'm visiting my native Norway this week and there are still several feet of snow here, while in Gothenburg 3 hours south all the snow and ice melted several weeks ago - but it's still cold as #&%. Sometimes I wish I could live in a warm climate, without having to leave my home, family and friends.

Maybe I'm a bit slow, but it actually took me several years living with RA before I realized that generally, every year, winter was tough with a lot of pain and stiffness and summer was better.  Now I've been even slower in realizing that maybe, perhaps, I should take this into account when making plans! It's not particularly smart to plan intense periods of activity (like launching a book and moving house) during the part of year when I have more pain. Basically it's a great way of wasting spoons.

Ok, so theoretically, living further south would be good for my pain, but I don't want to be a "climate refugee". But this year I can plan smarter, by doing fun and active stuff during summer to build my strength, and planning for a calmer less active winter season with at least 2 weeks holiday in a warm climate somewhere in the darkest months.

Doesn't actually sound so difficult, so maybe I won't have to end up like poor Uncle Hector and get caught in the ice.

Either way, I find the pain isn't half as frustrating when I understand why it's there. Then it's easier to accept the ups and downs and choose a strategy.