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Five Things You Must
Do when Traveling with Older Parents
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Traveling with your older parents or senior adults can be a wonderful experience.
Good advance planning is very important.
Here are five tips on things you must do to ensure that you and your
parents will have a great vacation. |
1. Plan an itinerary that is not
too fast paced.
Older folks tend to get tired easily and thus it is not advisable to
include activities that are too strenuous. It is also not advisable
to
pack too many activities in the itinerary such that you and your
parents have to rush from one place to another.
2. Have ample supply of their medication
 If your parents are suffering from diabetes, asthma, hypertension,
high cholesterol or any other illness, make sure you obtain ample
supply of medication from their doctors to last for the whole trip.
To ensure that you remember to bring the medication, create a
checklist of things to bring and put their medication among the top
five items on that list. As a safety precaution, ask them to carry a
medical record of their illness and contact details in case you are
not around when they need medical attention.
3. Ensure that everyone has enough sleep
Plan to have at least six to eight hours of sleep for you and your
parents for each day of your vacation. Try to avoid having any more
activities after 11 p.m. Prepare some hot water for your parents to
soak their legs before bed time if there is a fair amount of walking
in the day.
4. Healthy diet
Most old people do not take heavy meals and thus you need to plan
for multiple light and healthy meals that are low on salts, oil and
sugars but high in fiber. Always have a sandwich or high fiber
biscuits in your bag in case they get hungry and there isn't a snack
bar in the vicinity.
Also make sure that you and your parents drink a lot of water to
prevent dehydration.
5. Take along a first aid travel pack.
Your first aid travel pack should contain medication for fever and
diarrhea, cold symptoms and giddiness. It should also include a
thermometer, tweezers, sharp scissors, safety pins, adhesive
bandages, sterile gauze, adhesive tape and antiseptic wipes.
While this list is not exhaustive, the stocks in the travel pack
should be enough to handle most conditions that require general
first aid assistance. Do check the expiry date for those medications
that you pack to ensure that they are safe for consumption.
Traveling with your older parents need not be a hassle as long as
you plan ahead and take care of their needs.
Involve them in all the
activities along the way. Good planning is sure to make it a fun
filled family experience!
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