Living: the ultimate team sport

Caregiving and the Challenges of Travel

Posted on March 1, 2013

Caregiving and the Challenges of Travel: It Can be Stressful for Both of You.

Read the above article if you’re not convinced that traveling with a loved one who has dementia can be challenging.  Or read it if you too have experienced this particular type of stress because you have already ventured into the travel hell that this Blogger describes.  I make that statement with no disrespect intended.  It doesn’t matter how much you love your co-traveler, it doesn’t matter how wonderful your destination – getting there is not without its mishaps and aggravations for both the caregiver, and the cognitively impaired traveler.

Then there is the other side of the coin: imagine that you are a person with mid-stage Alzheimer’s or other dementia who is not accustomed to staying put – you actually wander constantly when you’re on the ground – and you’ve been put on an airplane by yourself and you have no concept of what is taking place.  You don’t have the capacity to understand that this metal tube in which you are sitting is a confined space and trying to “get home” is not an option.  If you can’t imagine that scenario read the attached article, Alzheimer’s “exit-seeking” behavior at 35,000 feet, an article I wrote shortly after returning from Bar Harbor, Maine in October 2012.