Tips for Traveling With Hearing Loss

If you wear hearing aids and aren’t used to traveling, you may feel nervous about navigating a new city and having a safe trip. Fortunately, you can take a few steps ahead of time to make this process easier.

Ask for Special Accommodations

A person looking at the depature schedule for a train or airplane

Whether you’re traveling alone or in a group, call a few hotels before booking a room to ask whether they offer any amenities for people with hearing loss. Large hotel chains often have rooms with flashing lights that can notify you when the phone rings, as well as other assistive technology. If you plan to visit a museum with guided tours or any other attraction, send an email to the staff to see if they can provide special accommodations. Familiarizing yourself with the names of specific places, people, or landmarks can also make it easier to understand their names when someone says them to you.

Communicate Your Needs to the People Around You

It may not be obvious to most people that you’re hearing impaired because hearing loss is invisible. Also, many modern hearing aids are too small to be seen easily or are positioned inside the ear canal. As stated above, people are usually happy to help if you ask for it. That’s why you shouldn’t be shy about letting them know about your needs. You can always ask someone to repeat themselves in one-on-one conversations. In larger groups, placing your hand behind your ear is a recognizable gesture that can quickly alert the person you’re communicating with that you’re having trouble understanding them.

Pack All of Your Hearing Aid Essentials

If this is your first time on a long trip, set a reminder to pack specific items that may be hard to find on the road, including:

  • Extra batteries and chargers for your hearing aids
  • Hearing aid cleaning supplies
  • Backup hearing aids if you have any
  • The contact information for a local office that services your brand of hearing devices
  • Ear protection

Before finalizing your travel plans, you should speak to your audiologist to make sure you’re fully prepared for your first long-distance trip. At Associated Hearing Professionals, we help patients throughout the St. Louis area find hearing aids that suit their lifestyle and offer advice about navigating any challenges they may face. To schedule an appointment at one of our locations, call 636-778-9232 today.