Traveling With A Disability

I recently took my Grandma on a trip back to her homeland of France.  I found a France vacation deal and I just couldn’t resist surprising her with this trip for her 75th birthday. 

However, it was a really difficult decision because my grandma needs a walker most of the time and sometimes needs a wheel chair.  In addition, she does take medication for a few ailments so I needed to understand exactly what she would need when we were away.

I did some research on what to do when traveling with someone who has a disability and I created this checklist for my trip.  I thought it might be helpful to anyone else out there who may have the same concerns that I did.

  • Contact Grandma’s Doctor – Before I even told Grandma about the trip, I called her physician to get her o.k.  The doctor thought it would be fine and provided me with copies of all her prescriptions so that we could easily fill the prescription overseas should we lose her medication.

  • Talk With the Airline – I called the airlines I was going to be using to ask about wheelchair assistance for getting on and off the plane.  I made these arrangements ahead of time so that we were met with a wheelchair when transferring flights and when we deplaned.

  • Call The Hotel – Since many European hotels can have small rooms and bathrooms, I called the hotel ahead of time and asked for a wheelchair accessible room.  That way, I knew she would have plenty of room to maneuver with her walker.

  • Locate Medical Help and Pharmacies Before Leaving – Since we would be visiting two areas of France, I made sure I had the addresses and phone numbers of medical facilities, hospitals and pharmacies near where we would be staying.  It gave me piece of mind to know that I would know where to go if an emergency arose.

  • Check Insurance Coverage – It was important for me to ensure we both had adequate travel health insurance coverage. I also took it one step further and determined whether the hospitals where we were visiting would take our insurance coverage.  Again – a little piece of mind…

We ended up having a lovely trip to France and didn’t encounter any problems with her health or disability.  In fact, I think she was more spry and fit than I’ve seen her in a long time!  Since I was prepared in case of any emergencies, I was able to enjoy our time and relax.  Hope these few tips help you with your future travel plans with a loved one!

Posted by on 02/11 at 04:18 PM

Next entry: Landmark London is Lovely!

Previous entry: Lovely Hotel Lotti!

<< Back to main