How to Make Travel Bearable when You Are Older

Steps

1. Plan for plenty of time between connecting flights. If you have connecting flights, make sure you have at least one hour (preferably 90 minutes) between arrival and departure. You do not want to be panicked by having to find a new terminal and have to catch buses, climb stairs, or walk a long way on travelators etc. If you can't get flights that have a long connecting time, and if you walk slowly, request a wheelchair or ask for some other form of fast assistance.
2. Try to make your reservations far enough in advance so you can get an aisle seat. Be aware, however, that on some flights the aisle seats have much less underseat room to stow your luggage than the other seats. This means that there may not be enough room for a laptop.
3. Use easy-to-wheel, compact luggage. Use one small wheeled bag (about 9" x 13" x 17") plus another soft bag about the same size that can fit on top of the wheeled bag. Put a maximum of 20 pounds in each bag so that you won't strain your back getting your luggage off the carousel at baggage claim. Also, with two bags you may be able to carry your bags, one in each hand, up a few stairs.
4. Place these essentials in your checked luggage: Rubber or plastic shower mat (so you don't slip in the shower); hot water bottle (so you can get warm quickly if the heat in your room in inadequate); tea bags, nuts, crackers; water heater (immersible "watta heater") and cup; collapsible cane with reflective tape around it (use it if you need to cross streets without a signal; drivers will expect you to walk slowly if they see you have a cane ); pillowslip (to use if the hotel pillowslip smells so strongly of bleach or cigarette smoke that it irritates your eyes); flashlight (to put beside your bed to use if you wake up at night and to carry if you are going to be walking in unlit or poorly lit areas at night).
5. Check as much as possible to avoid having to carry items. On some full flights, there may be no room in the overhead compartments by the time you board, and the flight attendant will take any luggage or laptop and check it. If this happens, be bold; speak up and make sure the flight attendent checks it to your final destination. Take either one small shoulder bag or (on very long trips) one small backpack and one small shoulder bag. Two bags are better than one large heavy bag because then you will be able to put at least one small bag under the seat in front of you. With a shoulder bag and a backpack you will have your hands free for navigating stairs.
6. Assume that you will get no edible food on the plane and that you will not have time to buy any food in a connecting city. Take some carbohydrates and some protein--crackers, nuts, beef jerky, etc. If you want to take foods that should be kept cold (e.g., hardboiled eggs, cheese, frozen cooked sliced chicken), put this food in an insulated cloth bag. Keep the bag in the freezer the night before you leave. If you're travelling more than eight hours, also take a small watertight container (Witz Keep-It Clear Dry Case) in which you can put ice (after you go through security) and put this ice-filled container in the insulated bag.
7. Take a cotton handkerchief. On long flights, every hour wet the handkerchief with water and put it up to your face and breathe the moist air through it. Take a case for your glasses so you can sleep with your glasses off. Take something to keep yourself distracted--paperback mysteries or novels; knitting (circular or short needles); etc. Take at least three days supply of any prescription medicines.
8. Use luggage carts and elevators whenever possible.
9. Wear shoes that have a zipper or Velcro fastener so you can easily remove them at Security Checkpoints. If you carry metal items in your pockets, put them all in a clear bag before you get to security. Do not put your wallet in plain view--put it in a carry-on before you go through security.
10. Be wise to when to use the restroom on the plane. The best times (shortest lines) to use the restroom are just before the movie ends or after any food service ends. If you are on an international flight that boards 45 minutes or more before departure, use the plane restroom while you're still on the ground and the plane is still boarding. If you are on a small plane with one restroom, assume that you will not be able to use the restroom because it is too small.
11. Plan ahead if you arrive after 10:00 p.m. in your destination city. Call your hotel beforehand and ask if they have room service, or if they can keep sandwiches from the hotel kitchen cold for you and give them to you when you arrive, or if any local restaurants deliver food late at night.
12. Prepare the address for the taxi. Before you get in the taxi, give the taxi driver a card on which you have printed the address of your destination, plus the name of the nearest cross street, if possible. Ask how much the ride from the airport to your hotel should cost. Have a city map with you in case your taxi driver gets lost. If you find a good taxi driver with a clean cab, ask if you can request him or her again. If you are staying in a downtown location, find out where the taxi ranks are--where taxis line up waiting for passengers. If you need a taxi from your hotel, ask the concierge to call for you. Taxi companies often give priority to calls from hotels.
13. Try to find a hotel that has an elevator and no steps up to the front desk. If the hotel does have stairs, ask for a room on the lowest level and find out if an employee will be available to help with luggage when you arrive. If the hotel has an elevator to the upper floor rooms, but has steps from the street to the main floor reception, ask if help will be available when you arrive. As a last resort, pay a taxi driver to bring your luggage up the steps to the main floor. When you get to your room and before you unpack, check to see that the toilet is flushing, there is hot water, and the heat or air conditioning is working. If there are any serious problems, request another room.