Tips for vacationing with aging parents
If summer travel is in your plans, it’s time to make reservations, unless, of course, it’s already summer where you are, then, you’ve been there, done that, already, please share your tips.
For many families, summer vacation is a multi-generational affair, and, careful planning may be in order to accommodate older family members.
If you are traveling with aging parents, here are a few tips:
- Consider going to a familiar city - When my mother was ill, but, still able to travel, I found that going to a familiar city was less stressful for me, since we already knew our way around, and, where the grocery, and, restaurants were.
- Familiarize yourself with health care in the area - Especially when we travel (ed) with my parents, I always took time to find out the location of the nearest and best hospitals in the area, and, occasionally planned our destination to coincide with the better hospitals in the area when my mother was sick. It’s not something you have to think about through the entire vacation, but, just have the information handy.
- Find out the exact layout of your accommodations - In addition to considering basic handicapped access issues, we’ve found that a unit or house with one bedroom, preferably with a bathroom, set apart from the others is best for multi-generational housing.
- Consider distance from the elevator - if you are staying somewhere with multiple units, and, are traveling with an ambulatory older person, it’s beneficial to be as close to the elevator as you can.
- Plan for home health care needs at the same level as at home - If your aging family member has home health services, you can still travel, but, you need to consider that vacation is probably not the time to have less help than you are already receiving at home.For example, my mother traveled with oxygen. It took some planning, but, we were able to arrange oxygen delivery at the beach right after a hurricane. Sites such as OxygeNation often have travel tips. Whatever your needs, such as large equipment like a wheelchair, the first thing you should do is talk to your home health agency, they may even have branches in your destination city. Or, you might contact a local hospital for home health recommendations.
- Check and double check medications - make sure there’s enough to last, and, that all medicines are labeled with dosage. Additionally, keep a list of their medications and dosages in your wallet, or, purse in case of emergency.
- Post the address and phone number of your location, and, any local emergency numbers by the phone when you arrive at your destination - Better to have it available and not need it, than to have to produce it in an emergency.
Though it may be different from the travel routine you’re used to, with a little planning, everyone can go along for the fun.
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POSTED IN: Aging Parents, Travel
1 opinion for Tips for vacationing with aging parents
Peter Sampson
Mar 9, 2007 at 11:08 am
It’s also important to remember that when you travel with aging parents, the trip really is about the aging parents. This is not a bad thing if you are prepared for it.
A lot depends upon the exact nature of the support and services your parents need from you, but you probably will not be climbing a mountain or camping above the treeline. You will probably not be rocking the night away in the French Quarter.
Several years ago, my wife and I spent a winter week on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. We met a woman of about 40 who was traveling with her octogenarian father. My guess is that she hadn’t really done her mental homework about what the trip was going to be.
The old man wanted to go to bed early and get up early. He wanted his meals and his meds at the same times he always go them. He wasn’t up to going ashore at ports of call and didn’t want his daughter to leave him alone on those days. In short, for the woman the cruise was about taking care of her father. I like to think she could have had more fun if she had had more realistic expectations and better plans.
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