Forum Discussion

Ihave gotten videos of certain countries, found interesting facts on the internet to share and served a food that is associated with that country.

Hello Marnie
I think you're complicating yourself, this is not hard.
What you need is a computer that is connected to the internet.
If you don't have Google Earth already installed, go to www.google.com/earth/index.html up on the right there in blue it will say DOWNLOAD. Once it is running you type into the search box the address you're wanting to go to and it will zoom onto a map of that location. To see the property you move your mouse over to the right hand side of the screen and there you will see an orange coloured man, click onto the man and drag him to the spot on the map you want to view and there it is.
If you're still having problems get back to me at [email protected] and I will be able to send you some screen shots that explain it better.
Regards
Ron

Dear Marnie,
Usually with ARMCHAIR TRAVEL we provide a DVD on the particular Country chosen, I use to look up information about the country on the internet - Ask the kitchen to cook something thats eaten in that country eg: AUSTRALIA: BANGERS 'N' MASH, hope this is helpful. SHIRLEY NSW

I have lots of tips on armchair travel ideas too many to list on this site!
Thanks Marcia Sydney

I have an arm chair travel activity approx every second month or so. I have had guests from Cuba, Mexico,Estonia and others come in to talk about their county. We had dancers from Mexico, made quacamole, had a blast learned a lot. It is a lot of work but worth it. I purchased a few movies from the travel video store but a lot of them were marketing videos for tourism Do you have any good video for this activity of can you direct me to a website that has.
Thank you Debbie from Pembroke Ontario

Hi Marnie

For my wheelchair travel I decorate up the room to the country or area I am talking bout and serve food from this area.

I get books and DVDs from my local library or if I know that a staff member or volunteer has visited the area I ask them to if them would like to talk to the residents about it. I also get the residents involved you would be surprised how much they have traveled and the stories they have.

From Newmarket Ontario (Heather)

hello everyone, we regularly do this activity and have had interesting sessions simply by google mapping residents former addresses.

Hi Marnie

We have many people doing this. I find workers are pleased to share their culture with the residents and often have a great supply of costumes, music, photos etc. So if you have workers from different backgrounds there is a source just there.

Your local public library may also have things you can borrow. It's amazing what you can find there.

You can also access your local community groups. Often there is an older dance group, musicians, or person who is happy to come and talk to them. Some may ask for money, but there are just as many who don't.

Also, our library has quite a collection of DVDs and music from many countries just for this reason and they are available for anyone to borrow Australia wide... library.mac.org.au is the address

hi all off you.

Hi John, welcome to Golden Carers!

Hi Everyone, I joined Golden Carers in Oct and I love it! It has helped me so much in such a short time. It has enhanced my daily activities in so many ways. So glad I found this site!!!
I love the idea using Google Earth during arm chair travel! Looking up their old addresses is a great activity. I definitely would target the ones that would welcome the idea. There maybe some that this would be a hardship for, especially the ones that did not come to an assisted living willingly! Do you think you would be able to use with a "smart TV" I'm going to give it a try tomorrow. National Geographic & Netflix are also a great resource for arm chair travel.

Hi Helen, you are quite right, a large TV can be a great source of entertainment, information and education to some seniors. Space and science documentaries, biographies of famous people, and exotic travel stories. Best wishes.

I just did my first Armchair Travel. My residents wanted to "travel" to Italy. We chose to travel to Milan and Lake Como (see video on Youtube) . I set up our activity room as though they were flying on an airplane. Printed off boarding tickets to pass our when they arrived. Offered music and a mocktails (being passed out from a cart like on a plane) before "take off". Read safety rules (Just for fun), had the captain make an announcement (just for fun). Watched the 25 min video, discussed what we learned, read some fun facts and finished with cappuccino and lemon and vanilla Italian waffle cookies. We also dressed for the part and got the kitchen involved to prepare an Italian fest for lunch. They enjoyed the attention to detail. We are now planning our next trip... Hope this helps someone.