Table 2.

Subthemes and descriptive examples of theme 1—pretravel health preparation

Subtheme	Representative quotations
Early planning of travel arrangements	“…my brother is a last-minute guy. No, I am not….I will know up everything about the air travel options….thinking about it and gathering information well in advance. So I am always prepared.” (P3)
Travel health insurance	“It’s up to yourself to have insurance cover. And I mean, what you need is a cover to bring you home, somebody to bring your body home, you know.” (P1)
Preference for smaller luggage	“The main thing will be to travel light…to have a minimum amount of luggage. Even if, even if it means you don’t, you can’t change your clothes as often as you like, forget about it. It’s a lot easier to travel light and to be holding stuff and walking.” (P6)
Sufficient medications	“I usually bring meds, you know, to do me another two weeks. So if I am going to be traveling, I make sure I have enough meds for two weeks after my travel.” (P3)
Travel partner as pillar of support	“I think the beauty was the wife can know when there’s something wrong. And we were….I think it was the second day, and she said you alright now, I said I was, and then I found myself lying, lying on a bench with a whole lot of people around me.” (P11)
Use of travel agents	“It can be useful, well when it’s your first time, to any particular location, it would be useful to use a travel agent. But once you get to know the handle of it, you set up…should be relatively easy.” (P2)
Travel health information	“Well I like to be told exactly about my condition, and the ins and outs of it, and the dangers of it. And advised as to how to behave in a way that is more beneficial for your condition.” (P1)
Appreciation of cardiovascular health	“I won’t go on travel if I don’t feel well. Because I know people who have gone on travel and died on the plane. So I’m unlikely to go if there’s any hint of the risks of me not being well.” (P3)
Lack of perceived need to visit specialist travel clinic	“For travel? No no. I don’t have to. I don’t have to. I’m not going anywhere where they need it.” (P4)
Convenience of special medication baggage	“…when I travel with my own kind of erm, in cabin case I use to put my meds into, they will always have a look. Whereas this time, I went with a bag that was specifically for medications, and they have some sort of a label on it, and nobody looked at all.” (P9)
Nitrate spray	“I will take that (GTN spray) in my bag...just for safety sake in case on the plane I might get a bit of tightness.” (P7)
Walking stick to aid mobility	“If I was on a holiday or somewhere, I always walk with a stick like you know…because it prevents the fall. If you are going downstairs and you have a stick, well you have less chance like you know.” (P6)
Wearable smartwatch to monitor health	“I always wear it. Yeah. But erm, any facility like that, I think anyone that has a (heart) problem, should have it.” (P8)