Traveling is a problem

To help take the stress off, try having the mind set that you are traveling with a 2 year old. — You need to do everything.
My DH “packed” his own suitcase. Then I packed what he needed in another.

We are currently a few weeks into a 2 month road trip visiting family and friends in another state, kind of like a last hurrah. I I did everything to prepare and pack the car while he watched TV or slept so he wouldn’t try to get involved.

During our last few months at home he wanted to go somewhere everyday. So I did 1 errand a day rather than be efficient and do them all in 1 day, and occasionally add something fun while we’re out and about. He’s pretty easy going as long as I keep things low key. Motto: “He gets to be right and he gets what he wants.” Anyway, since he always wanted to just go, (sometimes I’d find him sitting in the car) I figured we may as well hit the road. He’s been adjusting fine so far.

I’m prepare to quit if anything starts going south and blessed to have my son and his friend ready to help at a moments notice.
I’m hoping to continue to travel as long as we can but I will now need a flying buddy to help us navigate airports if there is a connecting flight. And my destinations are always with family or friends for support.

I hope you can find a way to continue your travels. We all know there will be a time when that too will come to an end. Address your stress points and see if there may be another way to handle them. Hugs.

Retired Teacher,

He’s been doing well sleeping in hotels and at families homes, as he does at our home also. We rarely had a routine lifestyle as we love to travel and took our 2 children with us. That may be why he always wants to go somewhere.

He doesn’t wander yet but at the last minute I considered buying a motion detector for hotel doors. That’s on the back burner for future trips.

I now prefer the car/fly travel over our motorhome as he wants to fiddle with everything, try to use the control panel & gets frustrated with it all.

Give it a try gradually and see how things go. Consider having your first overnighter close to home. I hope you are able to get out there again.

Traveling with my MCI DW last year had its challenges. It involved international air travel with connections, a cruise and then a six day land trip with two days of rail travel. Many episodes of DW misplacing her passport/ boarding pass/ cruise card/ credit cards (she refused to let me hold these items for her). Some episodes of disorientation (walking out of our cruise cabin in her nightgown in the middle of the night to find a bathroom!), inappropriate public behavior (crowding in front of other people during aircraft boarding before our group is called). Also multiple episodes of hyper-anxiety and occasional OCD behavior. When the trip was over, I told myself "never again".

Now reading these postings here, I'm starting to re-think maybe we should still try to do a few more trips (even if she repeats the above behaviors) because her condition could (and likely will) get a lot worse. I think travel is also wonderful source of mental stimulation for her as long as the anxiety doesn't take over. If nothing else, reading this forum has made me realize that these early stage days may still be the "good old days" and I need to be careful not to prematurely postpone happiness….

From the time that traveling became more difficult until the time we had to stop travel was almost 4 years. During that time I learned a lot of adjustments that allowed us to keep traveling. Fortunately DW is reasonably cooperative and that really helped.

I took responsibility for all the essential aspects of travel. I tried to let DW do what she wanted regardless of how much sense it made. I tried not to confront her with her limitations, mistakes, or nonsensical behavior. It was easier to play along with whatever her intention was rather than trying to confront and correct her. When necessary I tried to just discreetly clean up behind her to keep things operating. Along the way I tried to pay attention to what worked well, what was not working and to make changes for the next trip. I tried to stay focus on the big picture, achieving the intent of the trip. I did not want to get distracted by each of DW's symptoms along the way. Travel was not as fun as it used, to be, but it was still worthwhile.

This is good advice about mitigating the risk of wandering. With my DH the wandering began without warning - at 1:00 in the morning from our home. It was a panicked 8 hours before he was found. Definitely find some way to prevent this if you’re traveling.