Over 60 and Love to Travel? Remember These Tips When You Hit the Road! Dhinesh Manuel March 29, 2017 Senior Travel, Travel Tips 5 Comments This post was last updated on August 14, 2023. Whether you’re a proud grandma or grandad traveling to see your grandkids, a solo traveler in their 60s, or a retiree eager to see the world, then you know traveling can pose a few challenges that didn’t exist a few decades ago. Maybe carrying heavy luggage is not what it used to be. Perhaps it’s sitting through really long flights what gets you. Or browsing through the millions of confusing new sites and apps to secure your perfect travel plan! We hear you, and that’s why we have compiled a few senior travel tips you can follow so that your next getaway is relaxing and enjoyable enough to leave you only with fond memories — and, maybe, a nice tan — from your holiday! Don’t Stress Out Before you even set foot on your plane, there’s the dreaded, initial stage of booking your tickets. If you find tedious to navigate the complicated options and add-ons a lot of travel sites try to sell you, you might want to consider an online site with travel agents you can actually talk to. This may also help you customize your flight, hotel stay, and car rental needs faster! Find the Perfect Seat For You When selecting your seat, an aisle seat would give you more freedom to get up and walk about than a window seat. Seats near an exit will also give you more leg room, but the lack of a seat in front of you also means you may have to sacrifice under-seat storage space as well as a place where you can store your earphones, blanket, etc. Pack Essentials and Travel Light Pack practically and take along plenty of layers of clothing that can be worn in many different weather conditions. Always remember to carry some flat, comfortable walking shoes. Our advice? Go with comfort over style. Take advantage of your phone’s camera: that’ll save you the hassle of keeping track of another camera case! Lastly, don’t forget a trusty pair of sunglasses to protect your eyes when you hit those beautiful Caribbean beaches. Organize Your Medication Make sure you put all your medication in clear Ziploc bags. This will make identification easy, especially if you need something urgently when on the move. It’s important to split up your medication between bags – this will be a safety net in case one of your pieces of luggage gets lost. Also remember to carry your prescriptions and/or physician statements with you, just in case you need to provide this information at any point in your trip. Before you leave home, you may also want to check with your doctor for a list of generic names of some of the meds you’re on in case an emergency arises, as pharmacists outside the US may not recognize the particular brand you’re using. Stay Limber, Hydrate, and Rest Up As we mentioned earlier, getting the aisle seat can be crucial to keeping you comfortable and giving you the option to stretch your legs every few hours. Just follow the exercises mentioned here to keep your blood circulation flowing and to stay comfortable through your trip. As you may know, staying hydrated is important, so make sure your intake of H2O is frequent. Airlines should provide a sleep mask (or take your own, just in case) to help keep out the light so that you can get some sleep, and you can also take some ear plugs to blissfully block out noisy passengers. You may also like: Tips Every Senior Solo Traveler Should Remember Take Precautions While being a senior will give you priority treatment in most countries you travel to, you may not be invulnerable to some of the misfortunes that most travelers face. Most notably, theft. The main thing here is to not flash your jewelry and other valuables around too much, and always carry cash in a safe place. A wallet in your back pocket or a handbag may be the obvious target for thieves. Be smart and find another place where you can safely keep cash. Always carry a small book with emergency contact numbers for your destination and some phrases in the local language to know how to ask for help. It’s also a great idea to carry a backup mobile phone you can keep at the hotel, just so you can store a few important contacts in case you lose your main phone! Get Used to Useful Technology If you managed to score cheap flights online, then you’re definitely tech-savvy enough to download and use these apps. Trust us, it will make your lives a whole lot easier AND they’re so easy to use you won’t need your grand kids to show you the ropes. You can try Pillboxie to help you organize medication and receive reminders for when to take them. Of course, Skype is always useful to let everyone know that you’re doing fine. Luminosity can keep you entertained at the airport or on long flights with games designed to help you improve your brain power and memory skills. Lastly, Netflix allows you to download your favorite shows and movies at home so you can watch them while flying. Are you an avid traveler who’s over 60? What travel tips can you share with us? Let us know in our comments section below!
