Smart Traveling for Senior Citizens
One of the real joys of retirement and enjoying your senior years may come in the form of travel. Travel is broadening and many senior citizens save for a lifetime to enjoy a lifestyle of travel once they have retired. The image of becoming a world traveler in their senior years is one of those dreams that has kept them going when life was tough in their working years. Smart Traveling for Senior Citizens
If traveling is the kind of retirement fun that you have in mind, it pays to plan ahead so you can travel smart. Being prepared for a long trip is a great idea for everyone. This way your dream vacation won’t turn into a travel nightmare.
A big part of smart traveling is to know in advance what you are going to need for the trip. It may be even more important to know what you are NOT going to need. By packing light, you make the chore of pulling large pieces of luggage through the airport less difficult. If you are going to be staying in several places on the trip, packing light means less repacking as well.
It will take experience to know what will work for you in a travel situation when it comes to packing for a trip. You may wish to build a special travel wardrobe of garments that wear well under stress, don’t wrinkle and can be rinsed out and used again on the road thus extending their usefulness and cutting down on excess clothing. Another way you can cut down on the bulk is to not take very much with you that can be bought when you get there. By not taking a lot of toiletries, you cut down on the problems with airport security and the chance of toiletries leaking in your bags.
Smart traveling for senior citizens also means having your prescriptions all up to date and well documented. You should get good copies of all prescription drugs, eyeglass prescriptions and other documents that you may need to get refills on the road should you lose or run through your prescriptions. Alert your local pharmacy about your trip so if they need to consult with another pharmacy while you are away it won’t cause a problem for you to get an emergency refill. Also file copies of all of your travel documents with a loved one so even if you lose everything, you can still get your documents sent to you or by email or fax. These kinds of precautions eliminate panic in the event of a problem while traveling.
Make sure your itinerary and copies of your passport and credit card numbers are kept in secure places and on file with a loved one. Go through your wallet and think about the cards and important documents you have and how you would handle having those cards cancelled and replaced should you lose your wallet or purse. By keeping those important numbers where you can get to them quickly, you can move fast to cancel credit cards and get replacements immediately from your hotel should you get robbed or lose your valuables while traveling.
By thinking ahead about every possible situation and planning how to respond, you can eliminate the chance that your dream vacation could be cancelled or put on hold. This way when things go wrong, you can easily shift to plan A-B-C or D to stay on track with your travel plans.
