It is the time of year again to start planning the family vacation for next year.. As I won't be bringing baby M out travelling just as yet - so she won't need to miss her daily dosage of "secret ingredient" from her Mama, I'd be travelling a lot with my parents until my own baby comes or something along the lines of the likes.
Believe it or not, this years trip to Port Dickson was my parents first family vacation in their long long life. As I had probably mentions a zillion times, my parents has always been travelling to visit relatives (we have relatives in Indonesia & Malaysia mainly), for religious purposes (pilgrimage), or just following some friends (I remember they went to Batam and Pulau Pinang). Often, they'd say they didn't get to do some things they wanted because of time constraints, so it wasn't really considered a vacation to me. A vacation should be something they enjoy, where they relax, no worries, creating memories.. not something that they have to rush around and cater to some itenary of some sort)
And so they were excited about that Port Dickson trip which I had planned is silence, only telling them a weekend ahead. It went well, and I can see that they are happy with the surprise. So next year, we wanted to go Langkawi (yes again!). This time we wanna rent a car and drive around covering places we either didnt get to go, or places where we decided to skip the last time we went there.
And so I'd like to share some the things that you need to consider when travelling with aging parents:
Food
Believe it or not, this would be one of the first questions they ask. My dad especially, as he CANNOT miss rice intake PLUS he loves spicy food, so rice and chilli - check that!
Medicines
Do check if they need to collect their supplements a week early to accomodate your travelling date. You wouldnt want them to skip a day without their medicines. And if they have weak hearts and what not, do a check with the doctor, any tip would be helpful.
Weather
Them being elderly, what seemed cool to us may be freezing to them. So check the temperature, and keep a sweater on standby if need be.
Accessibility
Aging parents need our help and assistance whether they say it or not. Do consider their weak knees and back. Do check if there are many flights of stairs to climb, check if the place can offer a wheelchair to rent or any other less tiring options. If you're travelling by car, consider the no of stops, they aren't that capable to hold the nature's call for too long when it comes. Are the toilets elderly friendly?
Activity
Whilst my parents prefer to be indoors and just relax, some parents prefer to get out and do some activity, if so, do find out if the hotel has activities that they can participate in while you're there. My parents like to see sceneries and relive their kampung days, in our last PD trip, my mom was so excited when we were at the Ostrich farm, because she get to tell and share with me and my BFF what some plants are, and my dad is so happy to feed the ostrich and it reminds him of our pet goose from many decades ago.
So what's next?
So, Langkawi is NEXT! Wanna bring my parents see lots of historical places, surely it will bring back some memories that they forget to tell me, no?
And so, I have been planning, and saw two resorts/hotels that I really really like. I want to relive the "kampun feel". So I wanted a villa kind, the kind that really resembles the old kampung houses... And I found (and end up being in a dilemma as to which to choose!), the BON TON RESORT & HOTEL TERATAK SIREH LAGENDA. I love their concept.
So, I was just wondering, have any of you been there before? How is the stay, the service and everything related? Or you have something else to recommend with the kampung feel concept?
Maybe Bintan for 2016.. hehe..
Feel free to comment ya! Thanks in advanced!
Wassalam,
Jun
