Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello, I would love to find out about any hotels, airports or countries you have visited and loved.Were they ASD aware? Helpful or offer anything that went over and beyond?
What are the go to helpful things that help when you travel, any hints or tips? Is there anything you do differently if your child is on medication?
What do you find hard, stressful or overwhelming about booking a hoiday?
Thank you in advance.
NAS94620 said:What are the go to helpful things that help when you travel
Japan is my current favourite destination with 5 visits so far.
Big plusses are it is clean, safe, the people are helpful and it is wonderfully exotic without being harmful (well other than a dish I tried called salted, pickled squid guts that was saltier than salt itself, but I should have gotten an idea from the name that it was going to be difficult).
The downside from an autistic perspective is the riot of information in getting about. I was able to focus on the English language signage which is on pretty much all transport systems and is effective, but unfortunately some of the underground stations in Tokyo are the size of Watford and you can take 30 mins to walk from one exit to another and there are just so many exits to choose from.
Planning is important and getting a bit lost needs to be factored in, but with a mix of a decent map, internet access on your phone and the helpful locals, you will get about if you can control the anxiety.
Lots of restaurants off the beaten track only have Japanese language menus but there are numerous apps where you can use the camera on your phone to scan the menu and it does a real time translation to English for you. No excuse for not being adventurous.
Taxis rarely need you to even touch the door handles - all seem to be automated and are very well maintained / clean.
There is a wealth of culture spanning thousands of years and a very polite, welcoming people.
Oh and there is no tipping for anything - it is seen as rude to do it which is a bonus after being the likes of the USA.
Funny the places we fancy travelling too, I've nver fancied going to America, but Canada I could see myself visiting.
Japan looks so totally alien, I don't think I'd cope. My ex hiusband went there for a couple of weeks to work and said that it was the nearest he could think of to being in a sci-fi film, where the people are similar but more technologically advanced than us.
I dont' think I'd cope with the need for all the tech, it was bad enough when I had to speak to a customer service agent in Singapore or Korea, wherever it was, she didn't like my phone number as it was a landline and kept shouting me, 'Use mobile phone!' She couldn't get it through her head that I didn't have one and nor did I have any signal.