I have just been on a coach holiday for a few days, my first but want to recommend the idea for others living with dementia.
We are lucky to have a local coach company who pick up across the road from where we live so just trundled our suitcase along. It was a long journey taking 7 hours with a few local pickups and a couple of stops on route but my oh is calm on journeys so I was able to relax and it didn't seem like 7 hours. On arrival we were given our room keys as we left the coach and our luggage was delivered to our rooms after we had used the lifts to our rooms. A bit of persuasion needed to OH to let them deal with the bags but otherwise an easy transition. For dinner we were seated on a table of 9 which was great for me as I had others to talk to and OH had a lovely man next to him who attempt conversation despite Oh's responses bearing no resemblance to the questions. Hopefully the others on the table didn't find OH too disruptive - two ladies were widows who had experienced living with dementia and everyone was really lovely to us. There were 2 other couples on other tables each with one partner having dementia which was comforting. We had trips out each day with stops for free time but it was good that we could return to the coach early as OH got anxious about missing it. All in all it as a very relaxing holiday.
Not of course without its mishaps - one night I dropped off while reading in bed and suddenly heard the room door closing. I leapt out of bed and went out to find Oh looking for the loo. Yes - you've guessed it the door locked behind us and we were locked out in our pjs. I took a moment to give thanks that I was wearing a lovely (and respectable) pair of satin pjs, a christmas present from my sister and OH had some new M&S pjs. Nevertheless I was not looking walking into reception wearing them. I hung around the lift a bit praying someone would appear - thankfully 2 lovely ladies appeared and phoned reception for us and even let oh use their loo! Next night I put a chair in front of the door and the keys ready to grab by the door but did manage to catch him the next night. To be fair the door was unfortunately just where our ensuite door is at home.
Other problems were him wanting to pack to go home after one night, trying to order coca cola at breakfast as well as at dinner, him coming into the ladies loo to find me and me leaving my mobile phone in a cafe and having to rush back about a mile to recover it.
What a relaxing holiday it was compared to others I have written about. There were 30 plus really lovely people on the coach all of whom were ready to listen to Oh's joke, keep an eye on him while I visited the loo and not least tell me how wonderful I was at looking after Oh - I must have put up a good front!
So if you are wondering about holidays give a coach holiday a try especially if you can find a local company - I will certainly be looking for another trip and hoping to meet some of the same people as many of them seem to be regulars. Apologies again to those who are unable to make trips any longer but I write to encourage those who may be uncertain to give it a try and hopefully you will experience the kindness and support that I did.
We are lucky to have a local coach company who pick up across the road from where we live so just trundled our suitcase along. It was a long journey taking 7 hours with a few local pickups and a couple of stops on route but my oh is calm on journeys so I was able to relax and it didn't seem like 7 hours. On arrival we were given our room keys as we left the coach and our luggage was delivered to our rooms after we had used the lifts to our rooms. A bit of persuasion needed to OH to let them deal with the bags but otherwise an easy transition. For dinner we were seated on a table of 9 which was great for me as I had others to talk to and OH had a lovely man next to him who attempt conversation despite Oh's responses bearing no resemblance to the questions. Hopefully the others on the table didn't find OH too disruptive - two ladies were widows who had experienced living with dementia and everyone was really lovely to us. There were 2 other couples on other tables each with one partner having dementia which was comforting. We had trips out each day with stops for free time but it was good that we could return to the coach early as OH got anxious about missing it. All in all it as a very relaxing holiday.
Not of course without its mishaps - one night I dropped off while reading in bed and suddenly heard the room door closing. I leapt out of bed and went out to find Oh looking for the loo. Yes - you've guessed it the door locked behind us and we were locked out in our pjs. I took a moment to give thanks that I was wearing a lovely (and respectable) pair of satin pjs, a christmas present from my sister and OH had some new M&S pjs. Nevertheless I was not looking walking into reception wearing them. I hung around the lift a bit praying someone would appear - thankfully 2 lovely ladies appeared and phoned reception for us and even let oh use their loo! Next night I put a chair in front of the door and the keys ready to grab by the door but did manage to catch him the next night. To be fair the door was unfortunately just where our ensuite door is at home.
Other problems were him wanting to pack to go home after one night, trying to order coca cola at breakfast as well as at dinner, him coming into the ladies loo to find me and me leaving my mobile phone in a cafe and having to rush back about a mile to recover it.
What a relaxing holiday it was compared to others I have written about. There were 30 plus really lovely people on the coach all of whom were ready to listen to Oh's joke, keep an eye on him while I visited the loo and not least tell me how wonderful I was at looking after Oh - I must have put up a good front!
So if you are wondering about holidays give a coach holiday a try especially if you can find a local company - I will certainly be looking for another trip and hoping to meet some of the same people as many of them seem to be regulars. Apologies again to those who are unable to make trips any longer but I write to encourage those who may be uncertain to give it a try and hopefully you will experience the kindness and support that I did.
