u/Ok_Recognition_5960

Hi, my husband and I are doing a 7-8 day trip in Ireland (and another 8 days in Scotland afterwards). We are from the US- we will arrive and depart from Dublin. We will rent a car from dublin to galway. Have not bought plane tickets yet but will in the next few days, trip will be in mid july.

We enjoy more adventurous trips, we are big into hiking & everything outdoorsy, we enjoy finding cool beautiful & unique things/spots/cultural events. We love being outdoors because we love being in nature and exploring its beauty! We both prefer lush, verdant and dense forest type of look (lots of moss, ferns, just lots of plant life, like a fairytale!). We are also kind of crazy and do night hikes and take a bit of risks outdoors, we are in shape so we can do moderate-hard hikes and similar type of activities that requires fitness. We love history and don't mind an opportunity to learn more about irish history but we prefer learning history in a more intimate way (less touristy vibe). We are more doers, we are not the "resort" type of travelers, and we travel hard (6am wake up time and etc etc) but we also want this trip to be a bit more leisure so we can enjoy the beauty of ireland without being in a rush.

I love majestic castles,medieval, gothic buildings - so i'd like to see as many as possible.

We have a friend in Dublin who will meet us to do the wild nephin overnight backpacking but we are unsure where to park the car, since we are mostly interested in Corslieve (friend said its the most scenic part of wild nephin) - it seems LETTERKEEN is the closest parking option from my google search but i am unsure how far that will be from slieve carr(from the east) trailhead, alltrails does not give information on parking.

I appreciate any insights into transportation, food, lodging, and sights/activities, and overall logistics. Thank you!!

🧭 TRIP OVERVIEW

📍 DAY 1 — DUBLIN

·        Trinity College Library + Book of Kells

·       Kilmainham Gaol

·        Guinness Storehouse

·        Teeling Whiskey Distillery

⭐ OPTIONAL ADDITIONS

·        St. Stephen’s Green

·        Temple Bar (Brief Walkthrough)

📍 DAY 2 — WICKLOW (HIKING)

·       GLENDALOUGH

·       SPINC TRAIL + UPPER LAKE LOOP

 

⭐ OPTIONAL ADDITIONS

⭐ Sally Gap Drive

Sally Gap

⭐ Lough Tay (“Guinness Lake”)

 

📍 DAY 3 — DUBLIN → GALWAY

Main Stops Along Route:

• Rock of Cashel
• Rock of Dunamase (Primary optional stop)

🌆 EVENING — TRAD ON THE PROM

Trad on the Prom

Traditional Irish music and dance performance.

 

⭐ OPTIONAL ADDITIONS

·         Sean’s Bar

·        Adare

·         Jerpoint Abbey

📍 DAY 4 — CLIFFS OF MOHER + WEST CLARE + FERRY TO ARAN ISLANDS

 

·        CLIFFS OF MOHER

·         THE BURREN

·         DOOLIN(2 hours exploring prior to taking ferry boat tour at 3pm to aran island via “Doolin Ferry CO”)

⭐ OPTIONAL ADDITIONS

·        Poulnabrone Dolmen

·        Hag’s Head

·        Black Head Coastal Drive

📍 DAY 5 — FULL ARAN ISLANDS DAY

·        DÚN AONGHASA

·         Poll na bPéist (“The Wormhole”)

·         Seven Churches Ruins

Final ferry back to Doolin:

~4:15 PM – drive from doolin back to galway that night

 

📍 DAY 6 — CONNEMARA

·        DIAMOND HILL UPPER LOOP

 

📍 DAY 7 — WILD NEPHIN / LETTERKEEN Overnight Hike

Galway→ Letterkeen → Wild Nephin National Park

·         SLIEVE CARR / CORSLIEVE RIDGE ROUTE

Slieve Carr
Corslieve

 

📍 DAY 8 — RETURN TO DUBLIN

Finish the Wild Nephin backpacking and drive back to Dublin that evening.

 

Early 30s female: Chronic constipation accompanied by bloating my entire life(since I can remember)

Medical diagnosis:

1. GERD/acid reflux diagnosed 2021

**stopped taking omeprazole 1 yr ago, only take as needed with bad reflux now**

2. Thalassemia minor (iron deficiency anemia)

3. Chronic constipation & bloating

Tests:

2017: positive h pylori

Took antibiotics and rested and got a negative

Retested for h pylori few months ago and got negative.

Celiac test last yr = negative.

Gluten or diary elimination or low fodmap doesn't seem to make much difference- even water makes me bloat within 30 mins on a fasted stomach (14+ hr fast). Everything seems to bloat me.

currently on a high protein low fat low carb keto for the last 6 months, not much difference. Intermittent fasting is easy on keto so I typically fast 18 hrs mon-fri, seems to help with motility issues.

Fiber does seem to make bloating worse from 3 months pregnant to 6 months pregnant. Bread, spaghetti, beer, rice, all make me bloat instantly although I rarely eat those on keto and had them in limited amounts leading up to keto.

80% whole foods, no artificial sugar, limited alcohol (1 or 2x a wk on avg). Cardio 3m jog and 1m walk 5 days a wk. I typically dont have excessive or much flatulence but the little I have gets helped by cardio (6+m walk or 3m jog with 1-2m walk). Weight lifting 5 days a wk, my abs definition show the few days I'm not bloated, so I consider myself lean.

I'd go 4 days constipated and when I give in and use high dose magnesium citrate or laxative, or 8 oz of prune juice I get a bowl movement but usually in the form of a diarrhea and that lasts 24 hours usually. After 24 hours I am still left looking pregnant for another 2-3 days.

Most times no severe discomfort or pain accompanies the bloated stomach it just looks big and feeling of fullness for a long period of time, even on a calories deficit.

Last week I was 110.5 lbs, got constipated for 4 days no bm and looked pregnant too(no pain) each day I went up 0.5-1.5lb and gained 3.5lbs although I was in a 500 calorie deficit all those days i ended up at 114 lbs until I took a large dose of milk of magnesia and the next day I had diarrhea and the next morning I came down 1.5lbs.

I've had few GI visits and no real action because the previous haven't taken me seriously. The last dr said maybe I have slow motility and to try magnesium for the constipation and digestive enzymes for the bloating /slow motility issues. He wanted me to do a colonoscopy but I couldn't afford it, now i have medicaid which won't cover any of these tests so I want to see where its best to start since I can only afford certain # of tests out of pocket.

Appreciate any direction, thank you!