NEWSLETTER
Did you ever cancel a trip because of a bad knee or other mobility impairment? Have you avoided cruises and family events that require travel for fear you’ll need oxygen mid-trip? Relax. Today’s world is more accessible than ever, and for anyone with special requirements for traveling, there’s a world of information and help to wait for you.
It’s disappointing to be left behind or to have to leave a loved one behind because of a physical limitation or special travel need. Not having everyone around diminishes the fun for those who do make the trip, especially if the trip is a family event. Out-of-town weddings, family celebrations, reunions, and multi-generational trips are simply more fun and more memorable for everyone when every member of the family or group can participate.
Here are a few tips to ensure that when the next travel opportunity arises, you are ready to go.
Outline your travel needs
Take time to evaluate the logistics of the trip in relation to your ability to keep pace. What modes of transportation will you be using? Airplane, motorcoach, train, ship, transit vans for ground transfers? Make a list, referring to relevant brochures, your trip organizer, or travel agent to make sure you don’t miss anything.
Now, make a list of your specific requirements. Be honest, what types of special needs equipment do you depend on at home? What do you use or need (or wish you had!) when shopping, sightseeing locally, dining out or going to the movies, attending concerts, the theatre, street fairs, or sporting events at home?
Can you hear and see clearly without special auditory equipment or visual aides? How far can you walk without a rest break? Are stairs difficult? Can you get in and out of the tub or shower at home without handgrips or other assistance?
Travel, whether solo or in a group, is full of challenges. This is no time for being a martyr or trying to “tough it out.” If a wheelchair, scooter, or portable oxygen will make your trip easier, place that item on your list. Many people who do not use wheelchairs or walkers at home feel more comfortable using these mobility aides for tours and excursions. In fact, most of our wheelchair and scooter rentals are for individuals who only use such aides when traveling.
Plan Ahead
If you already own a scooter or portable oxygen, it’s important to know the policy and procedures for bringing that equipment onboard all the transport vehicles included in your itinerary, from planes to taxis to ferry boats. Does that transport have a way to stow your scooter or wheelchair? Is oxygen allowed on board? Some airlines prohibit certain types of batteries, such as wet cell batteries, or oxygen cylinders. Airlines operate under strict rules, so there may be packing procedures to follow if they do allow the equipment. Keep in mind, most airlines need at least 48 hours notice to make special arrangements and be prepared to fill out forms.
Overall cruise ships are more lenient in allowing oxygen, but some disallow certain types of oxygen. All require that the oxygen be delivered to the ship and that you have enough for the entire voyage. Oxygen may never be brought aboard in your luggage. Requirements vary, so check your cruise line for proper instructions. Again, documentation and paperwork are required.
Whether you are headed for a cruise ship, hotel, or all-inclusive resort, double-check for wheelchair access at that venue plus any venues you will be visiting on the trip. Confirm that accessible hotel rooms, resort accommodations, or ship staterooms are available for your travel dates. The earlier you book, the better your chances of securing fully accessible accommodations. And early booking increases your chances of securing a ground-floor hotel room or cruise stateroom near the elevator if these issues are important.
Check on the access to public rooms, restaurants, bars, toilets, the swimming pool, hot tub, beach area, and other amenities. Are there TDD phone devices? How will you get in and out of the shower or bathtub? Are there flashing lights to accommodate hearing? Braille room numbers? Knowing in advance the scope of your needs gives you time to arrange advance rentals of any necessary equipment, scheduled to arrive when you do. Everything from scooters, lifts, ramps, TDD kits, and special mattresses, including special needs cribs, is available for rental.
Will road travel or car excursions be part of the trip? Many car rental companies, such as Avis Access, have vehicles that are modified for drivers or passengers with mobility limitations. Check ahead to make sure a suitable vehicle will be available for your travel dates. If you will be hiring a car or van, make sure the company is aware of your special needs.
When traveling with a limitation or disability, full travel insurance for medical coverage abroad and trip cancellation insurance are even more important and strongly advised.
Ask the Right Questions
When making the final bookings, be sure you ask the right questions, even if the accommodations or cruise stateroom are categorized as “accessible”.
For example, are doorways wide enough for the largest wheelchairs? Do the doors open outwards or into the room?
Are all the public areas of the hotel, resort, or ship accessible? Do you need to make special arrangements in the dining room to accommodate the wheelchair or scooter?
Will the bathroom facilities truly fit your need? Is the bathroom large enough for the wheelchair or scooter? Is there a roll-in shower? Grab-bars?
Are there facilities for companion/assistance animals?
Are there shopping and entertainment facilities close by if you are staying at a hotel or resort?
Onshore excursions or tours, does the van have a lift and method for transporting wheelchairs and scooters?
Simply stated, don’t take anything for granted. It’s easy to arrange for almost every situation, and the world is wonderfully accessible, once you know what’s needed, what’s available, and how to find the necessary equipment.
As a Certified Special Needs Travel Advisor, I look forward to helping you with all of your accessible travel needs!
There have been some old sayings about eating breakfast;”eat breakfast like a king, eat lunch like a prince, and eat dinner like a pauper”. This age-old advice is based on scientific evidence research that recommends consuming the bulk of daily calories during the morning/noon hours before daily activities are performed. Unfortunately, the trend of eating meals in America is the total opposite of the above advice. Therefore breakfast is a misunderstood meal. The largest meal in American homes is the dinner meal when the least amount of activity is done. Breakfast literally means breaking the fast or starting the day with nutrition and fuel, Breakfast can look different for everyone depending on routines, daily activities, and personal tastes. The following Factors provide evidence-based facts about breakfast:
Breakfast: What is it: Breakfast is the first meal of the day and the first opportunity to provide nutrition to our body, which has been fasted overnight. Breakfast kick starts the metabolism, helping to burn calories throughout the day. It is the energy needed to get things done and helps to focus at work or school. When awakened from an overnight sleep the blood sugar and hormone levels are low. Eating breakfast within two hours of awakening helps to stabilize the blood sugar and hormone levels. This is very important for diabetics, who usually have very erratic blood sugar levels.
The Nutrients of Breakfast Related to Weight Loss: Eating the appropriate foods for breakfast can help with weight loss. A healthy breakfast requires protein foods, healthy fats, adequate carbohydrates, and fiber. These foods also provide vitamins and fiber to help control the number of calories eaten. Good sources of nutrients include:
The Top Traps of Breakfast and Weight Loss: Skipping breakfast causes overconsumption of calories throughout the day and limits weight loss efforts. Participants who skipped breakfast were so famished that they were not able to select the appropriate food for weight loss. A recent study found that women who ate breakfast were able to stick to their meal plans and lost more weight than those who skipped breakfast and “cheated” on their diets. The basic reason breakfast is skipped is because of tardiness to work. When breakfast is not eaten, a craving and bingeing cycle occurs. Usually, high-calorie and high-sugar items are selected for breakfast items. The advantage of a healthy breakfast is that it can stabilize blood sugar and hormone levels to prevent potential bingeing and overeating during the day. Eating a healthy breakfast gives the power to pass up those donuts in the break room.
Making Breakfast Happen: In order to have a healthy breakfast, it is ideal to have healthy breakfast foods and ingredients available for preparations. The following are some tips to be prepared for breakfast:
The importance of consuming breakfast within two hours of awakening for an overnight fast has been discussed, there are two recipes included with this article.
In this 12-part series, we’ll be showing you how we created a legacy for our late Uncle Al using his stories, and how you might approach doing the same with a loved one in your family.
The Long family had taken an entire afternoon to listen to Al’s WW2 and Ford stories. In hindsight, I wish we’d thought to ask him even more questions, or that I’d had some idea of his list of stories so I could prompt him to tell one he hadn’t told yet. On other occasions, while we were out at dinner, Al would launch into yet another story we hadn’t heard, but by the time I could pull my phone out to record it, he was halfway through the story. So not all of his stories made it into the videos that afternoon, and because none of us can now remember the details of the other stories, the unrecorded ones died with him.
There was a time in human history when Al’s stories would have been passed down from generation to generation all by oral tradition. Our brains would have been better suited to recall Al’s stories, and our children’s brains would have been better prepared to receive them and commit them to memory to pass down to their kids. But that just isn’t how our brains adapted to the modern age—and that’s okay. It’s okay because we have the technology now to record someone telling those stories. We can simply remember that the stories exist, but we don’t have to remember all the details ourselves. We don’t have to worry about Al’s stories being diluted by forgotten detail, changed with accidentally incorrect details, or forgotten entirely within a generation or two. As long as Al’s videos exist, his stories will be told exactly as he told them, and they can be passed down indefinitely from generation to generation. A thousand years from now, the Long family’s descendants will still know about Uncle Al tricking his commanding officer into letting him go to Brussels during WW2 and painting a Ford worker’s shoes while he slept. We have our Aunt Jan to thank for making it possible for that to happen for Uncle Al.
Do you have someone in your family like Al—someone with really great stories? Or maybe there are just details of a loved one’s life that you’d like to record for yourself, your family, or for posterity.
If you answered yes to any of those situations, check out Part 3, where we’ll talk about Memory and the importance of proactive passing of stories.
Or, if you’d like to read this series from the beginning, click here for Part 1.
On vacation in a small town, my husband and I went to a little cafe. The Vegetable Frittata with Cheese was the special of the day. Lynn loves egg dishes that contain vegetables and cheese. Omelets are usually his favorite. The waitress explained that this menu item is not folded over like the omelet, rather it is placed in a baking dish with all the ingredients combined together.
After sampling this frittata, I noticed that it was very tasty and much healthier than an omelet. Now for our special breakfasts on the weekend, the frittata is on the menu. This recipe can be easily doubled to share with another couple for breakfast.
Ingredients:
4 large eggs, beaten
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 cup chopped fresh broccoli
1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
2 Tablespoons finely chopped onion
2 Tablespoons finely chopped green pepper
2 Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dash pepper
Directions
Yield: 2 servings.
This banana split was made at a friend’s home for dinner. However, it can be used for breakfast also. She loved banana splits but not all the calories that go with a real banana split. For her dinner party, she created her own version of a “banana split” by using fresh fruit instead of the ice cream toppings. The ice cream in the banana split was replaced by a scoop of yogurt.
This dessert became a big hit at this party. Several people at this dinner have made it several times at home for a dinner dessert as well for a breakfast item. This dessert for breakfast or dinner.. can be well enjoyed without worrying about the excess calories.
Yield: 2 servings.
Ingredients
1 medium banana
1/3 cup each fresh blueberies, halved seedless grapes, sliced peeled kiwifruit, and fresh strawberries.
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup granola with fruit and nuts
2 maraschino cherries with stems
Directions
It’s been nearly three months since my husband and I made the move to our new digs. We’ve never lived in an apartment before and I worried how we’d adjust. It would either strengthen our marriage or we’d kill each other. As of this writing, we are both still alive. Honestly, it’s been like a perpetual vacation, living in a five-star hotel without the maid service or chocolates on the pillow, but that’s only because Steve is not yet fully trained. I’ve explained that since he no longer has a yard to tend to, dusting, vacuuming and cleaning toilets now fall under his job description. He bought it hook, line and sinker. Now if I could only get him to move the Dove chocolates from the candy dish on the kitchen island to my pillow after closing the blinds and turning down the bed, I’d be set.
Like vacation, we’ve spent a lot of time laying by the pool and drinking alcohol. At some point, we will have to dry out.
Unlike vacation, however, we’ve also spent a lot of time at the gym. It’s right down the hall so we have no excuse not to go. Steve is much more diligent than I am. He’s there every day trying to offset the lack of exercise he used to get pushing a lawn mower three times a week. I usually make it there four times a week. The other three I walk by it on my way to the poolside lounge chair.
Moving was not a decision we took lightly. We plan for everything, which is why when something goes awry, we have a hard time coping. We are not spontaneous people. Nor do we like change. We began our apartment search more than three years ago thinking we might like to live downtown. It didn’t take long before we realized one must find somewhere that suits your age group. The first place we looked at was a 100-year old converted piano factory with gorgeous exposed brick walls and 20 foot ceilings. The leasing agent and 99% of the residents were about as old as the ceilings were high. When I asked the average age of the residents, she said she was pretty sure there was one woman about our age on the first floor because she couldn’t handle the stairs. We smiled, thanked the young whippersnapper for her time, and hobbled back our car.
We then decided to head across the river to find someplace with a city view. I called that leasing agent on a Monday at 8:30 a.m. when the office opened, explaining we were selling our house, that I imagined it would sell quickly (it did), and were looking for a 2 bedroom/2 bath unit. I also mentioned I would be going out of town for a month at the end of the week and time was of the essence. I called again and followed up with an email on Tuesday. Still nothing. By Wednesday, I texted my co-worker who happened to live in the same complex and asked if the leasing agent was on vacation. She told me to hold on while she walked down to the leasing office so I could talk to Ms. Unresponsive. We had an appointment at 3:30 p.m. within minutes.
We toured the apartment and were prepared to sign on the dotted line until I asked Ms. Unresponsive about garage parking. Good thing I asked. There was none. No garage parking. No car-port parking. No surface lot parking. No parking period. We were told we could park in the alley or on the street (did I mention, I failed parallel parking and my car is not fancy enough to do it for me?). Neither appealed to Steve and me so we parked our butts back in the car and headed back across the bridge.
I began to hyperventilate when I spied a few homeless people with all of their belongings under said bridge and suggested we swing by a place that looked fantastic online. After driving through the parking lot of that complex, we realized the online photos must have been taken in 2003. The pics didn’t show the peeling paint, rotted decks and clouded windows. So we kept driving…right through to a two building, four story mecca where the sun was shining and I swore I heard angels sing.
When Steve asked, “What’s this place?”
My response was “Too expensive.”
We went in anyway.
An hour and a half later we decided we could go back to living on a pack of hot dogs a week and signed the lease. We couldn’t be happier!
I thought it would be more difficult selling my house. Not necessarily listing and selling of the property as houses anywhere in any condition have been selling at ridiculously high prices. I thought leaving a place that you had created memories in for thirty-one years was going to be harder that it was.
I’m very emotional and sentimental, but I’ve found that each time I’ve transplanted myself, it has been easier. When I moved from my childhood home of 24 years to the new home I’d share with my husband, I cried like a baby the entire six miles down the road. We left the following day on our honeymoon to Hawaii, where I promptly cried and slept through the entire trip. It’s amazing we are still married.
When we moved from our starter home to our house in Loveland, my sobs could be heard over the roar of the Oreck as I vacuumed my way out the front door.
In May when I handed the new owners their keys and said, “Welcome Home”, the lump in my throat could have choked an elephant, but only two tears stained my cheeks.
I figured I have three more moves left in me – one south, one to a nursing home, and the final move, I pray, will be to heaven. I believe it will look a lot like South Carolina and be a pretty smooth transition. At least with that move there will only be one box.
FINALLY! Travel is opening up. Europe is opening. Cruises are going out of the US. Airline schedules are expanding. Are you as hungry to travel as I am?
BUT beware! As travel restrictions are lifted, travel scams are on the rise. The Federal Trade Commission reports $26 million in travel, timeshare and vacation scams from January to March 2021. Action Fraud reported that 56% of the fraud cases are due to booking airline tickets and 29% of them are due to fake accommodations.
What do scammers want? Your credit card and personal information to use in whatever way they way.
Why are we so prey to these travel scams? Consumers are still looking to find rock-bottom deals on airfare, hotel rooms, and rental cars that were common during the pandemic. But now that demand is back, prices have rebounded. Scammers love to prey on the demand and cause havoc with your personal information while profiting from their clever techniques.
Let’s talk about 5 red flags that should tell you SCAMMER AT WORK.
Red Flag #1 – Asking you to pay by gift card, cryptocurrency, or debit card.
If they are asking you for a specific payment method, it is a good sign this is a scammer. If you use your “traditional” credit cards, you have recourse to reverse the charge if it is a fraudulent transaction. Gift cards, money orders, cryptocurrency, etc. offer you NO recourse.
Red Flag #2 – Advertising cheap car rental or airfares from a website you have never heard of.
If it seems to good to be true, it probably is. Always check the email address the sender is using as well as the URL for the website you are visiting. They can make a fake website look just like the sites you would see as legitimate. For example, they can make an airline website look like United Airlines when it has no connection to UA. What do they get? Your credit card info. What do you get? Absolutely nothing as it will not end up with a ticket on a UA flight.
Car rentals are great targets right now due to their sky-rocketing costs. During the pandemic, many car rental companies sold off their fleet of cars. Now that demand is returning, there is a shortage of cars resulting in an increase in fees. I tried to book a car for one week in Florida for a client and it was $3500!
Red Flag #3 – Free vacations or giveaways
As I stated above, if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. In our desire to travel, scammers are using free trips, free cruises, and the promise of huge discounts. They will often want a phone call to confirm your free trip. BEWARE! OR they may call you to offer you a free trip. Before you give any information, always ask for the name of the company. Then ask for their phone number and tell them you will call them back. Scammers will often hang up once you make that request or tell you “you need to do this now or the offer is gone.” Pressure to “do it now” is often a sign of a scam.
Red Flag #4 – TSA (Transportation Security Administration) precheck offers
The only legitimate sites are CBP.gov (US Customs and Border Patrol) or tsa.gov (Transportation Security Administration). Anything else should immediately send a red flag. These two organizations would never send you a solicitation email or phone you asking for information. If you receive such a call or email, do not respond or provide any personal information.
Red Flag #5 – Timeshare repurchase offers
Timeshares were a popular purchase during the “now seniors” early travel. With the decrease in discretionary spending during the pandemic, many individuals want out of their timeshares. Unfortunately, there are many scammers aware of this and may solicit you offering to get you out of your timeshare “for a small fee”. They then take the fee and provide you little to no options to get out of your timeshare. Protect yourself if you receive this type of solicitation. Do your research and make sure you understand your options as a timeshare owner.
Bottom line: Be a wise and careful consumer. Seek the advice of experts to assist you in planning your return to travel.
In this 12-part series, we’ll be showing you how we created a legacy for our late Uncle Al using his stories, and how you might approach doing the same with a loved one in your family.
Al Long was known for his World War 2 and Ford Motors Stories. If you sat with him long enough, you were bound to hear a few (whether you wanted to or not). But they were good stories, and Al loved to tell them. He remembered the voyage across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary, packed with soldiers and serving terrible food. He’d tell you about tricking his commanding officer into giving him the day to go to Brussels if he could finish digging the latrine by noon—which he successfully did by getting the Engineering Corps to do it for him with a digger. After the War, Al could tell you all about his days keeping the machines running at an Indianapolis Ford factory and painting the shoes of a worker a different color every day while the worker slept on the job.
Al would have been about 90 when I first met him seven years ago. He was my fiancé’s great-uncle, and everyone called him Uncle Al. At 95, Al was still going to the gym every day and walking without assistance. Although he was healthy, news of WW2 Vets dying every day reinforced how lucky we were that Al was still here. And my husband’s Aunt Jan had the good sense to record Al telling his WW2 stories. She asked for my help to set up the camera and recording. At the time, I was between careers, training to become a transcriptionist, and searching for a career that would allow me to use my skills to really help people and give back in a big way. My company, The Memory Collective, didn’t exist yet. It wasn’t even an idea. I had some background in setting up cameras and lighting, so helping Aunt Jan set up this video for Uncle Al’s stories came naturally. As we sat around the living room listening to Al tell his stories, laughing and gaping and imagining the things he’d done and seen and lived through, we had no idea Al would be gone before his 97th birthday in 2021. We just knew that these stories were important. They were important to Al and the Greatest Generation, to Aunt Jan’s generation, to our generation, and to the future generations of our family. We knew these videos would give everyone the opportunity to properly honor, remember, and know this great American war hero, even after he was gone. We knew these stories would become his legacy.
Next, check out Part 2, where we’ll tell you about the evolution and adaptation of modern oral storytelling.
The berry season is now upon us. However berries are now sold all year round in grocery stores. The best berries are seasonal and sold at farmers markets. These berries are grown locally.
The strawberries are small, brightly colored, sweet, and juicy. Other berries available are blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries.
Berries are labeled one of the “Super Foods”, and have been credited with a long list of health benefits. Berries are an excellent source of phytochemicals (Non-Nutritive compounds that are beneficial to health) contributing to prevention of cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes. When food is eaten to be healthy, the diet must be rich in phytochemicals. Berries are a great to obtain them.
The high natural sugar content in berries may cause concerns. However it does not need to be because the sugar in berries is contained with the intact structure of the berries, greatly slowing the speed of digestion and therefore reducing erratic blood sugar compared to processed foods.
There is another compound in berries that is beneficial to health. This compound is the fiber that also slows down digestion and offsets potential harmful effects of the small amount of natural sugar.
Fresh berries may be considered the ultimate choice, but really there is no berry season anymore as fresh berries are available all year round. In any season frozen berries are a convenient choice and dried berries are another option with a long self life. The problem with dried berries is that it ends up being eaten more than intended unless mindful techniques are practiced for portion control. One serving of dried berries is equal to 1/3 cup and contains 140 calories. The dried fruits to choose are the ones that do not have sweeteners added to them during the drying process.
Berries are most flavorful and nutritious at their peak of ripeness. The best berries to look for are richly colored, firm, plump, and dry without mold, bruises, dents, or blemishes.
Berries need to be properly stored due to being delicate. They are best refrigerated in a container that allows airflow.
In a nutshell, berries are not a cure all however they need to be part of an overall healthy dietary pattern.
The following are some tips to get the most flavor and nutrition from berries now and all year long.
