Traveling with your more elderly loved ones can be a bit of a hassle, but that’s no reason to exclude them from the fun! They’re rounding the end of their life and anything you can do to make the most of their golden years will be well appreciated. That, and it’ll give you lasting memories to cherish. However, nothing ruins fun vacation memories than something going awry and risking stress, burden, and potentially even injury. Follow some simple guidelines, though, and watch your worries ease up through your vacation or holiday season.
Top Tips for Travelling With Seniors
Request Assistance from Staff Whenever Possible
If you’re traveling on a plane or through a cruise ship, it’s a lot of hassle involved to get through the red tape. Frequently, seniors will have difficulty being able to stand and comply for that long, especially standing up. Reaching out to staff and requesting accommodations to make the journey easier will go a long way! Typical means of assistance they can provide include reduced security times, wheelchair or cart travel, or even help to board. It’s loads safer and quicker than trying to face it alone.
Check for Discounts
Often, you won’t need to look too far to find reduced fares for the elderly. Having that extra money around to keep in case of emergencies goes a long way, too! They’ll often be included with the senior ticket price, but sometimes it’s worth your while to look around for it. Contacting the company over the phone will help immensely as well.
Travel During the Right Time of Day
Keeping you and your loved one’s energy up enough to deal with the journey is crucial. Your elderly relatives may not have the strength or the energy to deal with taking a flight early on in the day or rather late at night. With less energy and more labored movement comes a lot more opportunity to hurt themselves doing even minor tasks. Talk to them, and ask them when they’re the most comfortable being up and about and spending their energy for the day.
Designate Someone to Make Reservations
When trying to coordinate these accommodations as a group, it can get confusing quickly what got done or who did what. Getting rid of all the confusion can be as easy as making sure one person’s in charge of making them happen. Entrust that responsibility to someone you trust, and work together as a team to keep everything straight. Another valid option is to coordinate a checklist or spreadsheet to make sure nothing’s fallen to the wayside while making it all happen.
Make Safety Your Number One Priority
Above everything else, keeping everyone safe and sane should be the absolute most crucial part of the trip. Accidents and missteps can happen, but with the elderly, those mistakes can take a much more dangerous turn. As always, you won’t be able to guarantee anything, but taking preventative steps will still go a long way.
It’s several things you need to watch out for. Make sure you have medication stocked for the trip and more for emergencies, travel cautiously, plan activities sparingly, and wear your seatbelts. We often sacrifice dotting our i’s and crossing our t’s about safety in the interest of keeping things moving, but that’s not a risk you want to take with your elderly family.
Relax and Experience Peace of Mind
The number one goal of a vacation should always be to enjoy yourself and have a good time of it all. For the rest of the time you’re back home, we try and give that same quality of life and comfort for seniors and their families! We provide many types of senior services and elderly care programs to put everyone’s mind at ease.
