Traveling With A Person With Dementia
Choosing The Hotel
Date Modified: 02-08-2018
As a caregiver, I am mindful that my father has limitations. It is my responsibility to ensure his safety. Traveling is a challenge, but rewarding. Here are five suggestions for traveling with a person with dementia:
First: Consider how you can minimize the amount of walking by selecting a hotel with amenities. In most tourist areas, there are restaurants in walking distance. But for Dad, unfamiliar places, uneven sidewalks, and street noise are distractions that cause stress. I look for a hotel that has restaurants within the hotel. At the Sand Pearl Hotel, there was dining on the beach, just steps from the elevator.
As a caregiver, I am mindful that my father has limitations. It is my responsibility to ensure his safety. Traveling is a challenge, but rewarding. Here are five suggestions for traveling with a person with dementia:
First: Consider how you can minimize the amount of walking by selecting a hotel with amenities. In most tourist areas, there are restaurants in walking distance. But for Dad, unfamiliar places, uneven sidewalks, and street noise are distractions that cause stress. I look for a hotel that has restaurants within the hotel. At the Sand Pearl Hotel, there was dining on the beach, just steps from the elevator.
Second: Research the hotel's available room views. There needs to be sights to enjoy that are also calming. My Dad is visual. As an Army artillery plotter in Vietnam, he was exposed to blasts from cannons for months, and his hearing is severely impaired. I often communicate with him through gestures, and he is able to understand his surroundings better by sight than with his hearing. The availability of sights gives me the opportunity to interact with Dad.
Our first room was a "partial beach view," which Dad did not like. We moved to a new room.
Third: Plan the trip with your loved one's abilities in mind. Dad loves to travel as much today as in the past, but he needs more rest now than before. With all of the excitement of the airport, airplane, then arriving at a hotel, Dad uses up his energy store for the day. The next day Dad usually is too tired to leave his room. He needs a rest day in between the busy days that tax his concentration and his ability to be around others.
Even on Dad's rest day, we need to eat. Dad and I will have a quiet meal together to renew Dad's energy and my energy as caregiver. It is taxing being a caregiver at home, let alone traveling. In-room dining has its limitations on quality and selection. Dad would not eat this meal of gnocchi pasta, leaving me to scramble to find him something else to eat.
Even on Dad's rest day, we need to eat. Dad and I will have a quiet meal together to renew Dad's energy and my energy as caregiver. It is taxing being a caregiver at home, let alone traveling. In-room dining has its limitations on quality and selection. Dad would not eat this meal of gnocchi pasta, leaving me to scramble to find him something else to eat.
Bernie says, "You can eat that. It does not look good."
Fourth: Plan to keep the same bed time and routines if you were at home. Enjoy the quiet time together at night. Dad loves a treat, anything sweet. This hotel offered little chocolates each night before bed.
Fifth: Plan to have everything packed the night before you leave. While that seems like common sense, it is easy to be distracted as the caregiver. Your hands are full without your usual supports at home. In my case, Dad cannot take the steps to pack. The part of his brain responsible for planning, known as executive function, is impaired by frontal temporal dementia. I pack for him knowing if I don't do it, we won't be ready to leave the next day.
We had a long day ahead of us, but as we wait for our vehicle, we both looked at the sunrise with excitement for our next trip.
We had a long day ahead of us, but as we wait for our vehicle, we both looked at the sunrise with excitement for our next trip.