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3 Travel Tips for Seniors Traveling Abroad

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Travel is exciting. Visiting new places, experiencing different cultures and new people can be life-changing experience. Regardless of whether you’re on holiday or just to explore new places, you should ensure that this experience is always enjoyable. From packing your baggage just right, to researching for seniors travel insurance, there are a few precautions needed to get the most out of your trip.

We’ve assembled this 3 point checklist to help you get ready to plan your well deserved trip abroad.

  1. Make Financial Preparations

Money is essential when travelling. It pays for services, food, lodging and everything you need while you’re abroad. Without money you aren’t going to get very far at all. So, first things first, pay all your upcoming bills. You don’t want to find yourself without money when you’re overseas because a bill just drained your account or credit card. What could be worse than an overdraft nightmare when you’re half a world away?

Next, you should take a look at the monetary conversion rates in the country you’re going to be traveling to. Understanding the conversion rate is important to understanding whether the items you want to buy or the services you want to pay for while abroad are bargains, or not so reasonably priced. Also, keep in mind that if you want to exchange some your currency for local tender, conversion centers at airports are huge rip-offs. Just use a traditional ATM or bank to change your dollars into local currency.

It’s also important to ensure that your credit card works in the country you’re visiting. Most European banks, for example, do not accept magnetic-strip cards anymore, choosing instead to utilize chip-and-PIN technology. Call your bank before traveling and let them know that you are planning on accessing your funds from abroad. Some institutes might think that a fraud is occurring when a transaction suddenly appears in Hong Kong when you’re from New York, and may block your credit card as a security measure.

  1. Compare Your Options

Before you book flight or accomodations, it is important to compare rates between airlines to find the best one. Often times, you can save on your airfare or by booking your trip several months in advance. You can also save on flights by flying in the middle of the week as opposed to flying during high volume travel times. Wednesdays for example are are usually a low volume day for air travel, and planning to fly during these less busy times could potentially save you hundreds on your plane tickets.

You can also save money by booking your stay online with sites like expedia and trivago. Sites like these allow you to compare rates for accommodations to find the price that best fits your travel budget. Considering factors like, price, how much time you intend to spend in your room as opposed to visiting local attractions, and how long you intend to stay can help you find the right hotel for your stay. You don’t want to travel half a world away only spend your entire travel budget on accommodations.

By taking the time to book in advance you can potentially save yourself thousands of dollars, depending on the length of your stay. But keep in mind that resorts and hotels aren’t your only options when travelling abroad. You might consider a bed & breakfast, or even an apartment or townhome if you are planning on spending an extended period of time at your destination.

  1. Get Travel insurance

To some, travel insurance can seem like just one more expense, and many travelers ask the question why buy travel insurance and why get travel insurance? Well there are a few important reasons why it’s a good idea to buy travel insurance. For instance, if for some reason you should have to cancel your trip due to an unforeseen occurrence like a natural disaster, you can purchase insurance to reimburse you for the cost of your airfare and hotel accommodations.

Missed connection coverage is another way to safeguard your vacation against potentially disastrous events. Say your flight is late, and you miss your connecting flight and in turn miss your cruise ship’s departure, with missed connection coverage you will be able to catch a connecting flight to the next port of travel for your cruise, and catch up with all the fun.

Travel insurance can also be a huge help if you get hurt or injured while abroad, or if your luggage gets lost, stolen or damaged. If you are planning a trip abroad, this is one expense that you do not want to spare. By purchasing travel insurance, you can protect yourself against any possible outcomes that are less than desirable, and ensure that you won’t find yourself “Shanghai’ed” in some far off land.

Final Thoughts

Travel can be an exceptionally rich and rewarding experience for people of every age, but for seniors and retirees, it can be a once in a lifetime experience that they will remember fondly for the rest of their days. It’s important to take proper precautions and care when planning your vacation and with these tips you will be able to get the most out of your travel experience.

What are your favorite travel destinations? Leave us a comment and share your best vacation experience in the section below.

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Senior Travelers! Here’s Everything You Need to Know Before Your Trip

The popular adage, “Age is just a number” applies to a lot of things: doing art, publishing a book, taking up a new hobby, and most especially in traveling. Often times, a lot of people worry about seniors traveling the world, and the intentions behind are understandable. Getting old might mean they will get tired easily, might need to follow a strict medication schedule, and so on.

However, it is in our old age that traveling becomes more than just a need to experience the world; it becomes a force that makes us understand it. So there really is not better time to pick up the love for traveling than in our golden age. Before we get on with our travels, though, we need to be fully prepared for lots of unforeseen occurrences. For this reason, we have prepared a small guide for seniors who are planning to travel the world.

Pick shoulder or off-peak seasons

The worst enemy of every traveler is a crowd, more so if you are of a certain age already. To avoid long lines and big groups people, make sure to schedule your travels during shoulder or off-peak seasons. A shoulder seasons is a travel period between peak and off-peak seasons — this is perfect so that your destinations are not totally rid of other travelers.

Learn about what is included in the insurance

The first thing you need to know is seniors need to get a travel insurance. Pay particular attention to medical coverage and how it works abroad. For instance, if there are accidents or if you need to be given treatment, how will your insurance cover the expenses?

You also need to look at evacuation insurance, or the coverage for when you need to be transferred to another medical facility for better treatment. You should know now that if you have pre-existing conditions, you might experience difficulties securing an insurance plan, but there are plans available that will readily waive those exclusions.

Pack light

You should not be lugging around heavy and bulky bags during your trip. So consider taking fewer clothes and just have them laundered if you have run out of items to wear. Important things to have are a jacket that can protect you from the cold or the rain, a hat that can shield you from the heat of the sun, rubber shoes so that your feet will not hurt as much when walking, and comfortable clothes so that you will not have problems moving around. Traveling is a strenuous activity, make it less tedious by packing only what you need.

Important reminders when flying

As much as possible, a direct flight is better to have than a connecting flight. This helps you avoid walking from one terminal to another, which is incredibly difficult if the airport is huge and always busy. However, if it cannot be helped, always ask to ride on the airport’s electric cart so you will not have problems getting to your terminal on time.

Here are a couple of other reminders for your flight:

  • Book early so you can choose aisle seats. If you can splurge a bit, upgrade your seats to either an economy plus or first class.
  • Take a short walk every hour to help your blood circulation
  • Stay hydrated
  • Bring a travel pillow with you or ask the flight attendant if they have one so you can be comfortable during a long flight

Traveling is truly a rewarding experience, and your age should not hinder you from it. Keep these tips in mind when you plan for your travel abroad, and it will certainly go off without a hitch.

A Million Lives

Travelling in all its glory is fun and exhilarating but sometimes you might want to find some information on where to go, what to see and how to go about it from someone other than the go-to websites, especially when it comes to travel hacking and the coolest, most useful ways to get the most out of your next adventure.

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