How can Seniors Ease Their Travel?

“I love to travel, but hate to arrive”, famously quoted by one of the greatest minds ever, Albert Einstein, describes why travelling is not just a hobby or an activity, but the most enriching experience of one’s life. Though arguably travelling holds the most popular amongst millennials, who, according to statistics, take around 35 travel days a year, it still has value for senior citizens. Seniors average 27 vacation days a year. The most common reason for travelling amongst seniors is to visit their families.

Around 56% of the seniors travel to meet their loved ones. While others travel to explore uncharted destinations, and some, unfortunately, have to travel for medical emergencies. There may be ample reasons to travel, but travelling becomes complicated with age. Senior citizens with age encounter several physical restrictions that have the potential to spoil their travel plans. Pain in joints, back pain, sore feet, and weak appetite are just a few reasons seniors do not travel. Apart from this, the lack of senior citizen-friendly travel infrastructure at the destination is also a common reason.

The best solution for these issues is to be well-prepared and equipped. Though there are multiple requisitions for travel, the below-mentioned are six outstanding travel accessories for senior citizens, and these are bound to make travel easy and much more fun.

1. Foldable Walking Cane

Seniors can maintain balance and stability while going about everyday activities using mobility aids like walkers and sticks. As a result, they give seniors freedom of mobility, serve as their closest friends during difficult times, and make it possible for them to lead independent lives.

A foldable walking cane makes it more accessible and efficient for seniors to carry the stick, apart from being travel-friendly and taking up less space. It can also assist seniors by helping them maintain their body balance and bearing their body weight due to old age, relieving them of chronic pains and fear of falling.

2. Neck Pillows

Memory foam is used to make travel pillows. Memory foam conforms to the contours of the neck. The memory foam will accommodate any movement you make and fully support the head. Some older adults can’t reach the headrest in their seat; even if they do, it is not comfy, as it might be hard or lumpy. The travel cushion supports the neck in these circumstances, enhancing the comfort of the journey. In addition, this neck pillow can prevent tiredness and tight neck, reduce snoring, and sleep apnea and assist those with arthritis, lessening neck, head, and shoulder strain.

3. Medicine Box

The best choice while travelling with older adults is to carry medicine boxes because they are the easiest to customise and use. Several pillboxes are available, including weekly pillboxes for an older person who has to take medication daily. The weekly packaging box has several compartments to separate medications; they are a useful gift for those who must take several medications.

Medicine boxes for travel may also include a water bottle. Patients or their carers can arrange their medications in these boxes once a week or once a month, making it simple to monitor dosage compliance. As a result, older patients do not constantly need to check their prescriptions or dose instructions when taking medication.

4. Western portable toilets

Western portable toilets that can be put up anywhere are known as portable travel toilets. Numerous amenities, including a mini-flush tank, simple waste disposal systems, and other features, may be found in portable toilets.

Because it is compact and collapsible, this portable restroom requires minimal storage space. Polybags are simple to connect to the seat, which may be taken out for quick disposal. A water spray trigger cannon with a built-in refillable water tank is included. All contents fit neatly in a zipper carry bag.

5. Travel Socks

These microfibre compression socks keep your feet from swelling and hurting while you’re on the road. They exert the greatest compression at the ankle and progressively lessen it as it approaches the calf to squeeze blood upward in the legs. This lowers the likelihood of DVT, edema, and blood clots by assisting in the reduction of congestion, pain relief, tiredness relief, and swelling. The high-quality microfibre fabric maintains its form and amount of compression even after several washing items while allowing the skin to breathe and regulate temperature effortlessly.

6. Personal Alarm

Seniors’ personal alarms or fall detection systems are made such that all a user needs to do is push an “emergency button” to contact the designated emergency contact by phone or text message (in case of an accident). As dementia patients are more likely to lose track of time, direction, or even incidence of any mishap, such a thing can be a terrific tool. It may be utilised as a personal alert for them. They can easily be located if they become lost by using the location provided by their alarm, which is connected to Google Maps. Another benefit of personal alarm is that if a senior meets with an accident, the aid for assistance comes sooner. It can scare away any invader trying to harm the elder member, and also gives other family members a sense of peace of mind and a sense of security.

If you’re looking for end-to-end security when your beloved senior is travelling, the Emoha app can be of assistance. With this app, you get access to 24/7 emergency support for nonmedical & medical emergencies alike, which can be availed from any place in India, within seconds. Additionally, you also get exclusive benefits like travel booking assistance, special discounts on travel & medicines, a 24/7 daily convenience desk, and much more. Download the app from Google Playstore or iOS App Store.

Conclusion

Travel shouldn’t be restricted because of advancing age. You may enjoy your independence with dignity and without jeopardising your health and well-being by taking a little more care and precaution. In this modern day and age, many tools are available to make that possible for senior citizens. While maintaining a medical box must be practised as a prerequisite on each of your travels, Car enhancements can ease getting in and out of the car. A walking cane to facilitate movement or a portable toilet to take care of your toilet needs while maintaining utmost hygiene have also become popular choices.