Going on vacation with your elderly parent? Here are somethings you should keep in mind for your senior vacation checklist.
While you’re planning on going on vacation with a elderly parent, you’re hoping everything goes as smooth as possible. One of the easiest ways to make that happen is to plan ahead. It’s unfortunately not as simple as just booking flights and reservations for everyone. Plan your whole itinerary. Having an itinerary helps you see your vacation better. Plan a good number of activities but also plan a good number of breaks too. After all, vacations can be taxing for everyone if you’re constantly on the go. It’s easier to go back to work if your vacation wasn’t you being constantly on the go.
One of the best things you can do is to familiarize yourself with all the facilities you plan on going to. Whether it’s a museum or botanical garden or cruise, it really helps to check out their website first. Once you got to look around their website, you can call ahead and ask them questions on things that you weren’t clear on. For example, when visiting something like a botanical garden, it helps to know approximately how much time the average person takes to walk through. If it takes 1 hour vs 3 hours, it can make a difference for what your next activity should be. And 3 hours of walking definitely should be followed by a break. Another thing to call about is finding out exactly what services and accommodations they provide for seniors.
Some museums might offer a different kind of tour (like with audio devices) if your parent is hard of hearing and won’t be able to hear a tour guide over a crowd of people. Calling ahead to ask gives you an idea of what’s already there and what you would possibly have to bring to make sure your parent is comfortable.
While we’re on the health note, it also helps to know how far the nearest hospital is from the places you will spend the most time. That helps you during medical emergencies, that way you can quickly make decisions like when to call the ambulance and when to drive your parents to the hospital yourself. It also helps to know how far the nearest hospital is from the places you spend the most time.
For those of you with a parent who regularly receives dialysis, they can still travel. You just have to plan out what facility your parent will be getting dialyzed at and coordinate the care and schedule with that clinic. They likely will be requesting medical information from their home clinic. You can also plan your travel days on the days that they will not be getting dialysis. On the days of the trip that they are receiving dialysis, you can adjust your itinerary to do things that your parent was not going to be able to do or enjoy, to take place when your parent is not available.
The last part of this is the packing list. Our parents can be a bit forgetful. If you’ve gone on a trip with them recently, it’s likely that they forgot to pack something that they really wanted to bring. In the event that you can’t leave all the packing up to them, the packing checklist below can be helpful. You already have to worry about coordinating the trip, packing your belongings, and packing for your children as well. Checklists are very helpful.
The list that I have here is of course not an exhaustive list but it can give you an idea of where to start when you’re overwhelmed with all the chaos that comes with vacationing. We’ll also keep updating it as we remember things and get ideas.
Packing Checklist
- Passport
- Driver’s license
- Health insurance card
- Medications (make sure you’ll have enough for the whole trip)
- Hearing aid
- Reading glasses
- Sunglasses
- Microfiber wipes for glasses
- Books
- Other portable entertaining activities (i.e., crossword puzzles or age-appropriate coloring book)
- Walking assistance devices and equipment
- Comfortable shoes everyday shoes
- Surgical masks (if needed)
- Dentures
- Denture Cleanser
- Denture brush
- Toothpaste
- Toothbrush
- Sunscreen
- Lotion
- Shampoo
- Conditioner
- Makeup
- Bras
- Underwear
- Incontinence underwear (if needed)
- Swimwear
- Hat
- Shirts
- Shorts
- Slacks
- Fold-able backpack
- Socks
- Winter clothes
- Winter boots
- Pajamas
