Travel: going away with confidence after 60

Step by step

1. 1

   Step 1: Sort the medicines before anything else

   Take more than you need in case of delays, keep them in hand luggage in their original boxes, and carry a written list of everything with doses. If you cross time zones, ask your doctor how to space anything that matters, particularly diabetes medication.

   Learn more: Diabetes: what it is, and what is happening in the body
2. 2

   Step 2: Keep moving on the journey itself

   Long sitting is the real risk of travel. Get up and walk every hour or two where you can, and when you cannot, circle the ankles, press the feet down, straighten the knees. Drink water regularly rather than rationing it to avoid the toilet.

   Learn more: Movement & blood sugar
3. 3

   Step 3: Ask for the help that already exists

   Assistance at airports and stations is free, it is not only for wheelchair users, and booking it removes most of what people dread about travelling. Requesting it is not an admission of anything; it is using something that is there.

   Learn more: Footwear & mobility
4. 4

   Step 4: Plan the days at your own pace

   The trips that go badly are the overpacked ones. One main thing a day, rest in the afternoon, and somewhere sensible to sit. You are not obliged to see everything, and enjoying half of it beats exhausting yourself through all of it.

   Learn more: Ten essentials of healthy ageing
5. 5

   Step 5: Keep the habits that keep you well

   Sleep and waking times roughly as usual, protein at meals, water, and some movement every day. Holidays are precisely when routines lapse, and a fortnight of none of it is felt on the way home.

   Learn more: Sleep & recovery

All topics in this guide

• Diabetes: what it is, and what is happening in the body
• Movement & blood sugar
• Footwear & mobility
• Ten essentials of healthy ageing
• Sleep & recovery

Other guides you may like

• Diabetes: managing it day to day

  Everyday food, movement and rest habits that help women 60+ keep blood sugar steady, with chair-based movement at the centre. General lifestyle guidance, not medical advice.

• Recovering after illness or a hospital stay

  A week in bed costs more strength at 70 than most people expect, and the weeks afterwards decide how much of it comes back.