[JEVE19]

For me personally,

I took my cane.
I took a cushioned lumbar support that I bought from a medical supply store.
That cushion was a life saver!
I used it on the plane, in the car, in the restaurants, I took it with me everywhere.
Of course, this would be most helpful to lumbar patients.

Because I purchased 3 seats, I could take extra luggage.
I had a carry on bag that was nothing but my pillow from home that I'm used to, two blankets, an eye mask cause I can't sleep unless it's dark, ear plugs to drown out noise, bag of all my prescriptions, a snack (sometimes you need a snack so the pills don't eat your stomach), tablet for playing games.

In my check in luggage, I did take extra pillows and a blanket.
The lodge had everything so I didn't end up using them.

I sooo wished I had brought my heating pad.
My hubby ended up taking warm water and putting it in a ziploc bag and then put that inside another ziploc bag. When my guts were soar from irregular BM's, the warm water bag helped but I had to keep worrying if it was leaking. The heating pad would have been great to have.

We bought two power converters. I plugged my blow dryer into it along with phones, pc, tablet, garmin (navi), etc. I wanted my electronics to be safe and used the converters just to make sure nothing was harmed. All was fine. Make sure you get converters and not just plug adaptors. I bought mine from Best Buy and they were $35ea.

My tip for hard beds is to make them give you an extra comforter at the hotel.
Not a blanket, they always want to give you an extra blanket but you have to fight for a comforter. This plushy of the comforter is what you're after.
We take the sheets off of the mattress and then put the extra comforter down.
Then put all the sheets back on. It gives you a little extra cushion that usually makes a difference if the mattress is too hard.
I've only been in one hotel that had a mattress that was beautiful.
The Waldorf Astoria in Orlando. OMG, the best bed I've ever had while traveling.
Other than that, the bed is always too hard for me.

The garmin was essential for driving instructions and finding restaurants, pharmacy, etc. My hubby was super happy we brought it and said it was a life saver.
Again, not sure where you are going and if you are getting a car.

IF you are driving, please go to my post where I gave the link to UK signs if you are headed here. The signs are very different from that of the US and my hubby starting reviewing them a month before we left.

As far as help with luggage.
We always had help. Maybe because I had the cane, but as soon as airport personnel saw me standing with that cane, they always came over to help my hubby with the luggage. Even in Europe, a guy came with a cart as soon as he saw us to help with our luggage. Get a wheelchair and use a cane, these are clear signs of you needing help and it sure worked for me.

I never left my passport in the room. Always kept it on my person.

I checked the weather before leaving and knew we needed warm clothing and jackets.
I brought clothes to layer with and made sure to bring comfortable and supportive shoes. You will be walking alot and supportive shoes are important.

Hopefully, a travel companion can go with you.
I would have been lost without my hubby's help.
Being a lumbar patient, I couldn't bend to even dry myself after showering.
Having a companion was nice to help me get up and down, hold me steady while walking, get me a tea or food, anything I needed help with, I had it.

I think you will be surprised at how soon you will be able to get out and sight see.
The trick is not to over do it. When you start feeling tired, stop. Your body will let you know when it's ready to rest. Listen to it.

I loaded my pc and tablet with music. I found this very comforting and it took my mind off of things.

Make sure you have a real credit card and not just a debit card because some places only take a real credit card (like the car rental company).

Also, pain meds don't help me sleep. I'm one of the lucky ones that it actually makes it harder for me to sleep. On the plane, xanax (or ambien) helps me to sleep longer. Again, I ended up having four seats to lay across so once I took my pills, I slept through most of the flight. I never even played a game or watched a movie.
I was laying on my down pillow, had a little pillow between my knees, a blanket over me, eyes covered, ears plugged...LOL Hubby tickled my hair and I slept!
Flight to England and back was fine. I thought it was gonna be awful but it wasn't.

Hope this helps, trying to remember all things I did that helped me.