Avoid Travel Travail

One of the great things about modern living is the ease of travel. You just show up 2 hours before your flight at the terminal, doff your bracelets, watches, jewelry, and dignity at the security check, board an aluminum tube loaded full of explosive fuel, find  your assigned seat, heft your carry-on bag into the overhead compartment, strap yourself down in case one of the doors blows out while the tube is taking off, turn your life over to a variety of total strangers, including the one in charge of ferrying you safely to your destination, endure some miserable dry pretzels and carbonated beverages while a crying baby serenades the cabin from the seat behind you and then, at long last, emerge from the tube in a location thousands of miles and several time zones from home. 

Now, for extra credit, do all of the above with Parkinson’s Disease. This entails coordinating your medication doses across different time zones for optimum movement down aisles and between gates, a pat-down by security if you have a brain implant and would prefer not to pass through a metal detector, hiding your tremor from your seat mates, making unsteady trips down the aisle to slip into the restroom when the drink cart is not blocking your way, making sure you have ready access to your pills, and liquid to wash them down, and several more things that I am forgetting, just as I forget to carry them on in real life when on a flight.

I have found it helpful have a checklist for travel which I keep as a note on my phone. The Parkinson’s segment of the note lists only meds and DBS gear, which you would think are such obvious necessities listing them is taking compulsive note writing too far. That is, you may think that until that fateful day you arrive at the airport and discover these essentials missing. Put them on the list. 

Anything of critical importance you should pack in your carry on. The one time I was lulled into a false sense of security by a sustained streak of successful bag retrievals, I foolishly packed my meds in my checked luggage. What happened? Of course, the airline misplaced my bag. I had just enough Sinemet to make it through the two days it took for the airline to find the errant bag and return it to me. The Ted Stevens International Airport has rarely seen a more joyful reunion than the one between me and my humble suitcase with its cargo of pills.

Here is a collection of gathered travel tips for the Parkinson’s traveler:
*Add a name label to assistive equipment, such as a walker, cane or walking stick, before packing. 
*Give yourself extra time for everything. 
*Days before a flight, request wheelchair or electric cart service within terminals if necessary. Your bags will be handled too. Be sure to have cash on hand to tip your scooter driver or wheelchair pusher.
*For cruises and theme parks, call ahead to rent assistive devices, such as a scooter.  
*For hotels, call ahead to request an accessible room, or a room near the elevator.  
*Don’t be afraid to ask for help. 

It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of travel and get distracted but try to keep to your daily routine. Follow your usual medication times, mealtimes, exercise routine and sleep schedule. 

Here are additional tips from around the Web:
*Try to add a rest day for your trip, and schedule long layovers when possible. Take stretch breaks and exercise breaks when you can.
*Reduce the stress of travel by booking a direct flight, if possible. You will not have to worry about missing your connecting flight, saving all your energy for your final destination.
*Request extra time to board the plane.

by Peter Dunlap-Shohl
NW Parkinson’s Blogger and Person with Parkinson’s

“It is the work of the creative to be a prosthetic imagination for the distracted and the dull”
– Maxwell Hubert Maxwell, playwright, butterfly collector, amateur surgeon and snob.