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Simon R.... I'm considerably younger than your father and have had PD for 21 years. While I've traveled all over while having the disease, my gut instinct is that even IF one is able to handle the actual trip at your dad's age, the trip/event RECOVERY time (after returning from the trip) will be rough and will take WEEKS rather than the mere days it might take someone younger having PD. It seems to me that the post-trip-fatigue increases exponentially with the age of the individual taking the trip. Your dad may be able to handle the flight, but by the time he lands, gets settled in a hotel, has to adjust his meds to local time, cope with the excitement of the wedding itself and the disruption it will cause in his daily schedule, etc., he's going to be one very tired individual whose daily living schedule will be very disrupted as will his coping skills. At dad's age, if you have him attend an event requiring a long flight and disruption in his daily living schedule, it may be that he'll need the assistance of a live-in caregiver for a few weeks after returning, in order to function at all. (Gee.... I'm not 'xactly "Lil Miss Sunshine," huh?) Barb Mallut [log in to unmask] ---------- From: Parkinson's Information Exchange on behalf of Simon Ravenscroft Sent: Tuesday, September 16, 1997 3:42 AM To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN Subject: Travel advice needed Hi there! I am new to the list and have read a few recent postings with interest. My fianc=E9e's father has had PD for 7 years, he is 78 years old. We are organising our wedding and are considering one=20 away from home in another country.=20 One location we are considering is a Carribean island. Before we make any firm bookings we want to check out the travel arrangements. Can you help us with some real practical advice on travel for=20 people with PD? What are your experiences or opinions on travelling by air with a flight time of around 7 hours? We don't believe that economy class would be suitable. We have had little experience of first class and do not know whether such a journey could be accomplished with some degree of comfort for him. We accept that we may have to look closer to home. Any help that you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Simon Ravenscroft ([log in to unmask]) Adeeba Dar ([log in to unmask])