Aah, the adventure of sight seeing! Getting to walk through all those shops and pick up every little trinket and treasure. Here you are, stopping frequently to see an out- of-the-way historical marker, or taking time to speak with one of the millions of private entrepreneurs who have opened his own “mom and pop” shop while living the American dream. Taking a trip like this with all the walking tours, seniors, as well as anyone traveling need to be aware of safety and wisdom. The worst situation to ruin a fantastic vacation is to forget to take the best care of yourself while out of your home environment. When journeying to your destination, take frequent rest stops. Your legs need a good stretching. Doctors recommend getting out of your car every 100 miles and walk around to help with circulation. Be cautious when needing to stop and sleep. You are safer to go ahead and stay in a moderately priced motel/hotel than to pull over in a rest stop and attempt to pull off a few winks there or in a cheap motel where doors open immediately onto the parking area. “Places where there is none to minimal security places the traveler at great risk . Quoted by Bill Cain from the Atlanta Georgia National Crime Prevention Task Force , 75% of crimes are committed within one mile of an interstate highway.

For those wanting to travel who have disabilities and haven't ventured out yet, the 1990 Americans with Disability Act made some great impacts upon society towards improving accessibility to hotels, airlines travel, restaurants, restrooms, and general sidewalk safety. The Society for Accessible Travel and Hospitality has a website www.sath.org which lists destination specific sites (handicapped-friendly guidebooks). This website also list over 25 airlines which have their specific accessibility information available online for those needing to travel with wheelchair assistance. The usual boarding time consist of preloading and arriving at least 3 hour early to allow cargo attendants to disconnect the batteries from electric wheelchairs. Batteries must be stored as cargo in flight. Information such as this can be found at the above listed website.

Perhaps you would like to speak to someone directly regarding a certain trip or type of trip to prepare for and there is no one who has “been there and done that.” You may want to look up www.access-able.com . This website is a specific place where global travelers write in and network with each other that are handicapped and give first person accounts of their trip experiences. You will be able to find out details regarding a specific area of interest.

Traveling safe and wise incorporates every aspect of your daily life. At home, we don't think about the small details in our lives. We have our habits which are unique and annoying at the same time to those around us, however, on the road these same habits can become a tragic flaw in our character leading to our demise. Chronic illness and daily regimens of medications may seem to be in control while you are in your home environment, but step out of home for a week or two and get lax about the scheduling of your medical regime, and you'll find the delicate balance of homeostasis becomes unbalanced very quickly.

Diabetes is a major issue for the traveler. There's foot care to consider. Most vacations involve some walking tours or activity where walking is needed to get from place to place. Diabetics may have impaired circulation and sensation (neuropathy) which cause them to have to stop and check their feet frequently for signs of blistering and cracking skin. Almost all diabetic challenged people have to deal with the highs and lows of blood sugar fluctuations. This requires frequent blood testing with a monitoring system (as seen in photo). On airline and other public transport systems, blood monitoring devices may raise an issue as to whether if can be used due to the potential blood exposure to other passengers. These are questions which should be asked before purchasing that ticket.

What do I do with all these pill bottles? Everyone uses a little pill box for their daily pills! Can't I do the same? No way! After that pill leaves the bottle, there's really not a good way to distinguish which pill is which. This is seen frequently by nurses and doctors at walk-in clinics and emergency rooms across the nation. Someone gets sick while on a trip, and the pillbox comes out with 13 pills in it, all of which are different sizes, strengths, colors, and will have different names and functions (see photo). So better to take the prescription bottles with you and also keep an extra copy of the prescriptions in your wallet. Better to be safe than sorry.

For wisdom's sake before leaving for that well deserved vacation destination, get your yearly physical. Include a blood pressure check (see photo), weight, any yearly exams pertinent to you, and eat sensible. Leave an itinerary with someone back home. In case of home base emergencies, you'll want to be contacted and in the event you don't arrive back as scheduled, there is always someone looking out for you.

No matter how much fun you are having remember your surroundings, and follow the author Robert Fulghum's advice “when you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.” Happy Traveling!

If you have questions you may contact me at:

Rhonda@photoandtravel.com