Traveling abroad can be the adventure of a lifetime, and allows you to experience new places and cultures. However, some seniors may have health problems, and they may find themselves in a health-related emergency. While traveling abroad can be worrisome due to health concerns, seniors can take certain precautions to prevent crises that may occur during their vacations.
Regardless of your destination, there are several steps you can take to have an enjoyable and memorable trip overseas. Here are 10 important international travel tips.
10 Useful Tips for Seniors Traveling Abroad
1. Obtain or Update Travel Documents
Locate your passport, if you have one, and determine which other travel documents you will need for your trip. Keep in mind that many countries require that your passport be valid for one, three or even six months beyond the date of your arrival. If you need a new passport, submit your application at least two months before your trip begins.
Some countries require travel visas, obtainable from their embassy or consulate, as well as valid passports. If you plan to rent a car abroad, find out whether you will need to acquire an International Driving Permit.
2. Purchase Travel Insurance
Find out whether your health insurance policy will cover you in other countries. Medicare will not, so you will need to buy travel medical insurance if Medicare is your sole health insurance provider. You may wish to consider other types of travel insurance, such as Cancel For Any Reason, Trip Delay, Medical Evacuation or Trip Cancellation coverage. Be sure to read the entire policy before you buy, paying particular attention to exclusions.
3. Review Medical Conditions and Immunizations
Schedule an appointment with your doctor at least one month before your trip. Tell your doctor where you are going and ask about required and recommended immunizations. Make sure your prescriptions are up to date and obtain a written, signed prescription form for each. Should your medications be lost or stolen, having these prescription forms in hand will make replacing your medicines easier.
If you use medical oxygen and are flying to your destination, you will need to work with your doctor to document your need for portable oxygen concentrators during your flight. Some airlines require that you use a special form, signed by your doctor, while others ask for a doctor’s statement on official letterhead. Cruise lines, too, have special requirements for oxygen use. Contact your airline and/or cruise line well in advance so that you can comply with their policies.
4. Travel Alerts
It is also a great idea to regularly check the State Department’s regarding travel warnings and alerts. It’s also smart to print out the address and contact information of the local United States embassy.
5. Consider the Terrain
Once you’ve decided where you’d like to go, find out what the streets, sidewalks, and pathways are like. Pompeii’s rutted paving stones challenge even the most confident walkers, for example, and big-city sidewalks can be hard on plantar fasciitis sufferers. Pack at least one pair of comfortable walking shoes that can get wet. If you know you’ll be walking on cobblestones or gravel pathways, be sure your shoes are functional rather than fashionable.
6. Decide Which Travel Money You Will Use
Travelers’ checks still exist, but you’ll save lots of time if you leave them behind and use a debit card to get cash from local automated teller machines (ATMs). Bring a credit card, preferably a Chip and PIN card, as backup and for deposits on rental cars and hotel rooms. Before your trip begins, contact your bank(s) and credit card company(ies) to let them know that you will be out of the country; otherwise, you may discover that a hold has been placed on your card(s). To minimize pickpocketing risk, put your cash, credit cards, and debit cards into a money belt or pouch and wear it.
7. Organize Medications and Medical Supplies
Even if you usually use a pill organizer, plan to bring your original, labeled prescription bottles and boxes with you. Be sure you have enough of each medication to last a few days beyond the end of your trip in case your return flight is canceled, or another difficulty arises. Keep your medications in their original containers until you clear customs and immigration; set up your pill organizer when you get to your hotel or cruise ship stateroom.
8. Overcome Language Barriers
You don’t need to spend months studying another language, but you’ll have a better travel experience if you learn a few polite words, such as, “Hello,” “Goodbye,” “Please,” “Thank you,” “May I,” “I would like,” “Where is,” “I’m sorry,” and the words for restroom, hotel, hospital, pharmacy and any food you cannot eat. Use a foreign language dictionary, Google Translate, an app or a phrase book to find the words you’ll need to use on your trip.
9. Check Power Converters and Adapters
Whether you’re traveling with a camera, laptop, tablet, mobile phone or oxygen concentrator, you’ll want to be able to charge your devices each night. Look at the power requirements on each label; if you see “Input 100 – 240V, 50 – 60 Hz.” or something similar, that device is already dual voltage and you should not plug it into a voltage converter. Instead, you’ll need a plug adapter. Consider buying a dual voltage hair dryer if you need to use one every day.
10. Learn About Tipping Customs
In the United States, It is customary to tip 15 to 20 percent of your restaurant bill because servers hourly wages are usually extremely low. However, this is not the case in many other countries. To avoid over-tipping, read up on tipping policies and practicalities in your destination country before your trip begins.
Updated: October 3, 2023
Published: April 19, 2019
Scott joined American Medical Sales and Rentals in 2008 as a Web Manager and Content Writer. He is a writer and designer. He is extensively trained on oxygen therapy products from leading manufacturers such as Inogen, Respironics, Chart, Invacare, ResMed and more.
Scott works closely with respiratory therapists and oxygen specialists to educate the community about oxygen therapy products, COPD, asthma and lung diseases. He writes weekly columns and is passionate about educating the community on oxygen therapy and respiratory issues.
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Scott Ridlhttps://www.oxygenconcentratorstore.com/blog/author/scott/
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Scott Ridlhttps://www.oxygenconcentratorstore.com/blog/author/scott/
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Scott Ridlhttps://www.oxygenconcentratorstore.com/blog/author/scott/
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Scott Ridlhttps://www.oxygenconcentratorstore.com/blog/author/scott/
Are you aware of a portable concentrator that can provide 6 lpm + on pulse or continuous flow.
Hi. There are no machines that are portable that can do 6 LPM continuous. One that comes to mind is the SeQual Eclipse 5 which can do pulse up to 6 LPM and also do continuous up to 3 LPM. If you give us a call at 888-743-0156 we can help answer your questions and get you into one. For more infomation, please visit the SeQual Eclipse 5 page.