Managing Medications Whilst Travelling

Posted on January 04, 2017

Taking regular and prescribed medication can add a whole new level of stress and anxiety to travelling – what if the airline loses your luggage with your medication inside? What if disrupting your routine affects your health? Are you even allowed to travel with ‘drugs’?

Don’t panic – thousands of people travel with medication every day, so as long as you’re prepared there shouldn’t be an issue. Below we’ve written a quick guide to help anyone travelling with and managing medication whilst abroad.

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Safety Tips for Senior Travellers

Posted on March 18, 2016

The number of senior travellers is growing every year, but some seniors risk their health and safety by not following some simple travelling rules and guidelines. Here are our top tips for senior travellers;

Senior Couple With Snorkels Enjoying Beach Holiday

  • Always research before you book anything, check our ‘Know Before you go’ page, the climate, the facilities and the resorts available.
  • Buy a guide and phrase book for your chosen location.
  • Always photocopy your important travel documents and prescriptions before you travel, and keep them in a separate location to the originals, just in case they are damaged, lost or stolen. Also make a note of important phone numbers.
  • If you need a wheel chair or walking aid, make sure you arrange transportation around the airport, and that they are waiting for you at your destination.
  • Always invest in quality travel insurance, and make sure you have declared any pre-existing medical conditions.
  • Before you depart, it might be worth having a check-up with your doctor.
  • If you use prescription medication make sure you have enough for your trip. Also make sure that you are allowed to carry your prescriptions into your chosen country, and how much you are allowed to carry in.
  • Remember that there are restrictions on what you can carry in your hand luggage and checked cases, check with the airline or travel company before you travel to avoid delays and fines.
  • Try to move around and stretch during your flight or journey, if you are going on a long journey, make sure you walk around or exercise at least once an hour.
  • Just to be safe, drink bottled water.
  • Do not carry large amounts of cash around with you. Do not wear expensive jewellery.
  • Carry your change in a small purse and your notes in a money belt under your clothes; this should avoid flashing your purse and cash too often. Plus, if you are mugged you can hand over the coin purse as opposed to all your cash.
  • Do not travel with valuables if you can help it, if you have to bring them along keep them, your travel documents and cash locked in a safe.
  • Always lock your luggage.
  • Only get in licensed taxis.
  • Try to avoid walking alone or in small groups at night or down small streets.
  • Always keep your bag close to you, use a bag which zips up or locks, and use a strap that goes across your body as opposed to on your shoulder. This should prevent anyone stealing your bag or pickpocketing you.
  • If you’re travelling somewhere hot, make sure you wear a high factor of sun protection, drink plenty of fluids and take regular breaks in the shade.

Cruise Your Way Through Retirement

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Imagine drifting away on a calm and crystal clear sea, you are lying in the sun, drink in hand, taking in the sea air in true relaxation. You dock only to explore exotic and beautiful places that you could only dream about in your youth; Hawaii, Australia, Asia, South America, Greece, Africa, the Bahamas and many more.
Now imagine spending your entire retirement doing this!

It has been reported that spending most of the year sailing on a cruise ship could prove cheaper than paying to live in a retirement home in the UK. To add to this, in recent years nursing homes have fallen out of favour, with undercover journalists discovering bad treatment and poor hygiene in several nursing homes across Britain.

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What are Grey Gappers?

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The newly coined term ‘Grey Gapper’ describes people who are 55 and over, and who have decided to take a gap year. Gap years are normally associated with young people and students, who are taking a break from education to backpack around the world, staying in hostels and partying a lot. However, according to a survey by the Post Office, ‘grey gappers’ are now on the increase, with 25% of people aged 55 and over taking a long break to travel the world.

This is actually not a shocking statistic; this age group is typically in an extremely comfortable position to partake in an extended adventure. They are mature people with savings, grown up children and empty nests, years of hard work, stress and pressure behind them; so why not shed some responsibility and indulge? This generation saw the birth of the package holiday, starting in the UK and rapidly expanding to places such as Spain and France. Therefore, many ‘senior citizens’ choose to visit the places they could only dream of when they were young; countries such as India, Australia, New Zealand, France, China and America are begging to be explored.

Cheerful senior couple taking picture with smartphone
 

On the other hand, the information that these grey gappers are partaking in some extreme activities during their adventures is a bit more surprising! In fact, 13% said they had tried;

  • Bungee Jumping
  • Water Skiing
  • Scuba Diving
  • Surfing
  • Parasailing
  • Rock Climbing

Travelling the world and Experiences such as theseare normally on everyone’s ‘life to do lists’, so why not treat yourself now? The statistics prove that they are by no means limited to the young, and given the state of the economy your savings probably aren’t gathering much interest in the bank.

Unfortunately, further research has found that a quarter of people who are 50+ find it hard to find travel insurance, as many are turned down by companies simply because of their age. Therefore, the Post Office found that 13% of the people they surveyed were travelling and partaking in adrenaline pumping activities either without adequate cover or without any kind of insurance. This is not the sensible and mindful behaviour you would normally expect from this mature generation.

*Please note, Holidaysafe's online prices automatically include a 15% discount against our Customer Service Centre prices. This code entitles you to an additional 5% off your policy, and is a discount from the base price, not including the additional cost of optional extensions or any additional medical premium.