There are two kinds of vacations, right? One kind is full of activities at all times. This kind will leave you more exhausted than when you left but all of the fun will be recalled for many years to come.
The other kind is all about relaxing. You may not even do much of anything on this type of vacation. Perhaps you spend a lot of time on the beach with some drinks. Or maybe you spend your entire vacation at some sort of resort, getting pampered the entire time. These types of vacations will leave you quite rested and recharged.
There’s no best to vacation. Whatever way you prefer, however, neglected hearing loss can put your vacation at risk.
Your vacation can be spoiled by hearing loss
There are a few unique ways that hearing loss can make a vacation more difficult, especially if you don’t know you have hearing loss. Look, hearing loss can sneak up on you like nobody’s business, many individuals have no clue they have it. On all their devices, the volume just keeps going up and up.
The good news is that there are a few proven ways to reduce the effect hearing loss could have on your vacation. The first step, of course, will be to make an appointment for a hearing screening if you haven’t already. The effect that hearing loss has on your good times will be greatly reduced the more prepared you are ahead of time.
How can your vacation be impacted by hearing loss
So how can your next vacation be negatively impacted by hearing loss? There are actually a few ways as it turns out. By themselves, they may not seem like that big of a deal. But when they start to add up it can become a real problem. Some common examples include the following:
- You can miss out on the radiance of a new place: When what you’re hearing is muted, your experience could be muted too. After all, your favorite vacation spot is alive with unique sounds, like active street sounds or singing birds.
- Important notices come in but you often miss them: Maybe you miss your flight because you failed to hear the boarding call. And as a consequence, your whole vacation schedule is cast into total chaos.
- Meaningful experiences with friends and family can be missed: Everybody loved the great joke that your friend just told, but unfortunately, you didn’t hear the punchline. Important and enriching conversations can be missed when you have untreated hearing loss.
- Getting beyond language barriers can be overwhelming: It’s hard enough to contend with a language barrier. But understanding voices with hearing loss, especially when it’s very loud, makes it much more difficult.
A number of these negative situations can be avoided by simply wearing your hearing aids. So, taking care of your hearing needs is the ideal way to keep your vacation on track.
How to prepare for your vacation when you’re dealing with hearing loss
That doesn’t mean that you can’t go on vacation if you have hearing loss. Not by any Means! But it does mean that, when you’re dealing with hearing loss, a little bit of additional planning and preparation, can help make sure your vacation goes as easily as possible. Whether you have hearing loss or not, this is definitely practical travel advice.
Here are several things you can do to ensure hearing loss doesn’t negatively impact your next vacation:
- Clean your hearing aids: Before you leave on your travels, make sure you clean your hearing aids. If you have clean hearing aids, you’re much less likely to have difficulties on vacation. It’s also a good plan to make sure your recommended maintenance is current!
- Pre-planning is a good idea: It’s okay to remain spontaneous to some degree, but the more planning you do ahead of time, the less you’ll need to figure things out on the fly (and that’s when hearing loss can introduce more obstacles).
- Bring extra batteries: There’s nothing worse than your hearing aid dying the first day because your batteries died. Don’t forget to bring some spare batteries. Now, you may be thinking: can I bring spare batteries in my luggage? Well, possibly, check with your airline. You may be required to store your batteries in your carry-on depending on the type of battery.
Tips for traveling with hearing aids
Finally, it’s time to hit the road now that all the preparation and planning have been done! Or, well, the airways, possibly. Before you head out to the airport, there are some things about going on a plane with hearing aids you should certainly know about.
- Should I be aware of my rights? It’s a good idea! Generally, it’s smart to become familiar with your rights before you go. If you have hearing loss, you’ll have lots of rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act. But essentially, it amounts to this: information must be available to you. Speak with an airport official about a solution if you think you are missing some information and they should be able to help.
- Will my smartphone be useful? Your smartphone is extremely useful, not surprisingly. Once you land, you can utilize this device to change the settings on your hearing aid (if you have the correct kind of hearing aid), find directions to your destination, and even translate foreign languages. You might be able to take some strain off your ears if you can utilize your phone like this.
- Will I be able to hear well in an airport? That will depend, some airports are really noisy during certain times of the day. But a telecoil device will usually be set up in many areas of most modern airports. This is a basic wire device (although you’ll never see that wire, just look for the signs) that makes it easier for you to hear with your hearing aids, even when things are noisy and chaotic.
- When I go through the TSA security checkpoint, will I need to remove my hearing aids? You can wear your hearing aids through the security screening process. Having said that, letting the TSA agents know you’re wearing hearing aids is always a good plan. If there is any kind of conveyor belt or X-ray machines, make sure your hearing aids do not go through that belt. Conveyor-belt style X-ray machines can create a static charge that can damage your hearing devices.
- Is it ok to wear my hearing aids longer than normal? Most hearing specialists will suggest that you use your hearing aids all day, every day. So you should be using your hearing aids anytime you aren’t in an extremely loud setting, swimming, or showering.
- Is it ok to fly with hearing aids in? You won’t need to turn your hearing aids off when you hear that “all electronics must be off” announcement. That said, you may want to activate flight mode on hearing aids that heavily rely on wifi or Bluetooth connectivity. You might also want to let the flight attendants know you have hearing loss, as there could be announcements during the flight that are hard to hear.
Vacations are one of life’s many adventures
Vacations are hard to predict with or without hearing loss. Not everything is going to go the way you planned it all the time. That’s why it’s essential that you have a positive attitude and manage your vacation like you’re taking on the unexpected.
That way you’ll still feel as if your plans are on track even when the unavoidable obstacle arises.
However, the other side to that is that preparation can go a long way. When something goes amiss, with the correct preparations, you can keep it from going out of control.
For people with hearing loss, this preparation often begins by getting your hearing assessed and making sure you have the hardware and care you need. And that’s true whether you’re visiting every museum in New York City (vacation type number one) or taking it easy on a beach in Mexico (vacation type number two).
Want to be certain you can hear the big world out there but still have concerns? Call us today!
