traveling with parkinson's
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I’m traveling this week to visit my son Austin in San Francisco. I’m so excited to spend time with him and it’s the first trip that I’ve taken since the pandemic started. Plus, I get to wear a sweater (trust me, if you live in Hawaii, it’s a big thing).
I’m fortunate that my symptoms are pretty manageable so I won’t have to make too many preparations for traveling, but I do want to be prepared and make the most of my trip. My right side has more motor problems like tremor and dyskinesia, so I’ve chosen a seat on the plane so my right side is either next to the window or the aisle. It’s less distracting to the person next to me and makes me feel more comfortable during the flight. If I’m on a long flight, I like to be on the aisle because it’s easier to get up and stretch my legs or use the restroom.
Traveling from Hawaii always takes a long time with many being overnight flights, and I cannot sleep a wink on a plane. Which means I’m a wreck when I arrive, so I try to plan my trip with only waking hour flights. That can mean I have to add a few connections and/or stay overnight on a connection but for me that works out much better than losing a nights sleep.
Next is packing. I’ve got my hospital kit for an unexpected hospital trip which I highly recommend if you don’t have one. For home or traveling, it’s free in the US, you just pay for the shipping. If you’re out of the US there are some free downloadable forms and you can create your own bag.
Take photos of my medication bottles, ID, Covid-19 vaccination card, & credit cards in case I lose any of them I have all the information. Also a tip for even at home is to take a photo of your Covid vaccination card and your ID in the same photo. When I go somewhere that requires it, I don’t have to fumble looking for both.
Check my phone apps that I use for traveling and make sure the passwords are auto loaded, and any credit card information in the app is ready to go. For this trip I’m using Uber/Lift, my airline app, google maps, and the TSA app which is the government travel app. Another tip is before I leave home I go onto google maps on my computer and I pin/star all the places that I plan to visit. Then it’s easy to locate when I’m looking at the map on my trip. But the funnest part is that when you’re done with your trip, you can look back at the map and you have an instant travel log.
Pace out my day. I tend to have a laundry list of things I want to do but that can lead to burn out, so I plan out down time. I also make sure I don’t stop exercising on my trip. The mornings are usually the best for me before the day gets busy. I’ve got my laptop so even in a hotel room I can get in a good workout.
Here are a few sites with good information on traveling with Parkinson’s. Hope you have a good week. 💖
