Travel

I attended a thought provoking challenging visit to the Netherlands learning about their  concepts of elder care, dementia, end of life care and assisted suicide.  

The Dutch, I was informed, feel their elderly should stay home as long as possible and cared for by their families, friends and neighbors and some public nurses, health care givers.  The support is simply expected and apparently provided.    Anyone who has had to have a elderly relative or friend hospitalized, especially someone with dementia knows that the individual never fully recovers his memory to the same point as before going into the hospital.   And if the individual has had surgery, their memory loss seems so much greater after the surgery which is why we worry so much about falls and broken bones.

READY, SET, GO!

Planning in advance of your trip will make things go more smoothly, whether your traveling for business or pleasure.  If you don't take a laptop, computer or other electronic device, take paper copies of your itineraries with you and give a copy to a neighbor, send to family and let people know in advance that you will be away.  You don't have to post a note on the front door, but make it obvious to your neighbors so that anyone seeing an unknown person, vehicle or truck in your driveway will notify the authorities. 

Notify th enewspaper, the postal station and any automatic deliveries. You may also want to  notify your credit card holder so they'll be prepared for charges coming from your destination.  

Write down all the numbers where you may be reached and keep your phone on.  It may be a vacation but if you need to be contacted about an emergency at home  it's best to know as soon as possible rather than finding out too late.

Some people tell me that they ask the sheriff or police to add an extra visit to their neighborhood while their away, especially if they live in the country.