Doing A Little Homework Makes Traveling With Aspergers Easier

(photo: zug55)

R and I are excited because in a week and a half we’re heading off to Cartagena, Colombia (barring any sudden twists in this swine flu mess).  We’ve gotten a lot of surprised reactions from people only familiar with the area’s old reputation for drugs, but actually Cartagena is comparable to any major US city these days.  We can’t wait to see the beautiful plazas and eat as much yummy food as we can!

When I was a kid my parents made fun of me for making packing lists a month ahead of time.  I think it was my way of getting myself transitioned a little bit more every day.

Travel can be disruptive because your daily and weekly routines are suddenly uprooted and every morning you wake up in a place you don’t recognize.  Flying can be exciting, especially for those who are into planes and vehicles, but also uncomfortable for those who are claustrophobic, antsy, or prone to popping ears.

Why those lists were helpful

I think those old packing lists were my pre-Internet-Era way of practicing the routine in my head.  If I could visualize each day of the trip as many times as I could, maybe I could make it a little more predictable.

Now I’m able to find detailed reviews and photos on Tripadvisor that help me anticipate local quirks and plan daily routines.  Chow has excellent forums for domestic and international regions where I can find local restaurant suggestions. Umapper lets me create my own map of routes and destinations (using Google Maps) and easily embed it into any page.  So I take all of that information and organize it on a Backpack page with photo galleries of each hotel, restaurant, and place I’d like to see.

We never need guidebooks, thanks to this habit!  Why bother flipping through a book on the street when I’ve already memorized it in my head?  In a pinch, I can use my cell phone to look at the Backpack page.  But starting my planning a month ahead of time, especially with the resources out there now, means I can arrive in a new country already familiar with the neighborhoods and street layouts.

Can kids help?

You might not want to leave it up to your 7-year-old to choose your hotel online, but he or she might like to map your routes and destinations once you’ve chosen them.  Selecting the points in order on the map will help him understand your itinerary, and as a bonus you might not get so many questions about “Are we there yet?”

Backpack has an option for a free account which your child could use for the trip (and then recycle afterwards).  If you have 5 extra minutes, you could set up a page template with dividers to help guide him visually.  It’s actually very simple to do and only takes a few clicks.

Being able to make lists online and organize information with photos in one place does wonders for easing pre-trip excitement and anxiety, and will hopefully free up time on your actual trip for you to enjoy yourself.

(Bonus: Do you use Opentable?  I use it all the time to make restaurant reservations online.  One more way to bypass talking on the phone!  They’ve really expanded their offerings and are all over the world now.)