Safety Tips For Senior Citizen Travellers
Your children have left the nest. You’ve had a good run in your chosen field. Now, it’s time you finally reap the fruits of your hard work. For many folks, having the opportunity to travel the world is a dream they’d like to fulfil. And why not? Who wouldn’t want to experience meeting people from different countries and cultures?
Whatever exciting place you want to visit, your journeys will be a memorable, enriching, and life-changing experience. However, travelling does come with risks, especially nowadays with threats happening anywhere in the world. It’s easy to dismiss these risks since they may seem very unlikely to happen to us.
But should you find yourself in a precarious situation, would you know what to do? Would you be ready for it? Luckily, with a little planning, you can still enjoy rewarding journeys while staying safe at the same time. That’s why our good friends at Alpha Car Hire decided to share some advice on how senior travellers can remain safe while they’re away from home.
- If you have a travel agent, you can ask if there are tour operators that can accommodate the needs of seniors.
- Before embarking on your travels, it is always wise to research the medical facilities in your destination area. A convenient and helpful resource for quick access to medicines and other health supplies could be dispensaries that offer “pharmacy to your door” services. These dispensaries tend to allow you to order prescription medications and other health products from the comfort of your home/stay and have them delivered right to your door. So, before you set off, be sure to check online for such medical facilities in your destination area.
- Do your homework. Find out essential information about the country you’re visiting, such as climate, culture, language, among others. You can also look for articles online about these places or purchase a guidebook in your local bookstore.
- If necessary, arrange to have travel insurance with a pre-existing condition. Also, you can consult with your physician and have a complete medical examination to determine if you are fit to travel. If possible, subscribe to a senior life insurance plan (visit site to know more) to secure your spouse’s future in case of any unforeseen circumstances.
- Consider having vaccinations in case there are contagious diseases that are prevalent in the country you are visiting.
- If you are taking maintenance medication, check if it is legal to bring it in the country you are visiting. Be sure to have enough medication for the entirety of your trip, so you won’t have to worry about running out of it.
- If you do run out of medicine, be sure to have copies of your prescriptions, as well as health records. You can also have digital copies of these documents and upload it to the cloud. So, you can easily download a copy and have them printed out anytime.
- Make sure you pack all your important belongings in your carry-on bag, like passports, medicines, so in case of emergency, you can easily find it. It also a good idea to have an extra pair of prescription glasses in your trip.
- Don’t tell just anyone you’re away. While it’s easy to assume that hotels are safe, it’s unavoidable that some unscrupulous individuals may take advantage of the fact that your room is vacant and may attempt to break into it and steal your belongings.
- Because you are visiting a foreign land, it stands to reason that the food available may not be compatible with your dietary requirements. Some seniors have very sensitive stomachs and can quickly succumb to indigestion, diarrhoea, food poisoning or what have you.
- Don’t wear any flashy items like jewellery that may attract the attention of muggers. When you are out and about, be mindful of your surroundings. There might be some undesirable people who are looking at what you are carrying like smartphones or cameras.
- Always keep in touch. If you are travelling solo, always check in with someone you trust like a relative or friend, so they will always know where you are and what you are doing.
- Always play it safe. If you are travelling to developing countries, avoid travelling at night and go to questionable areas.
- Keep a list of emergency numbers. Aside from saving these numbers on your mobile, you can also write them in a small notebook. So, you can immediately call for help in case of emergency. These numbers may include your country’s embassy, local police, fire department, among others.
Do you have other safety tips in mind? We’d love to hear them. Please share your ideas in the comments.
