Travelling with a cochlear implant has unique challenges. Here are some top travel tips from fellow recipient, Mariana, so you can feel secure and prepared travelling with your sound processor.
Exploring a new country with a different language offers unique challenges to cochlear implant recipients. If you’re planning a big trip, Mariana has some learnings to share. Last year she travelled from her home in Brazil to London to attend Cochlear Foundation’s Achieve Anything: Global Summit as a National Ambassador.
Being selected as an ambassador was an exciting opportunity. Her overseas trip to London was a fun and extremely busy week from meeting the other ambassadors, sightseeing, sharing their stories and listening to other advocates for hearing loss. Most importantly, they discussed ways to advocate for young people with hearing loss and to ensure they have access to a quality education and hearing health care and support.
With so much to take in, Mariana wanted to make the most of her experience. Technology proved to be her best friend. As well as her sound processor, Mariana leaned heavily on her mobile phone to enjoy her trip in every way.
Here are Mariana’s 4 top travel tips:
- Plan ahead for your sound processor
“Write down everything you need one week before your travel. I always take both my disposable and rechargeable batteries, my dehumidifier to store my sound processor, battery recharger and a universal plug for outlets.”
- Have everything ready at hand
“I keep my batteries and everything I need for my hearing devices in a dedicated bag. I always keep this in my carry-on luggage to avoid the risk of losing them.
“When passing through the airport X-ray area, I also always have my Patient Identification Card in my hand, which also helps to pass through priority queues. I also keep this ID card in my hand luggage, so I know it’s always close to me.”
If you don’t have your Patient Identification Card, you can also use your Cochlear Family Card. If you are not sure where to find your Cochlear Family Card, this video demonstrates how to locate it and print it out.
“I also think about what I need throughout the day when I arrive. When I leave the hotel, I usually come back late so I always try to take with me everything I consider important, including extra batteries.”
- Find other tech that can help you
“I do not speak English fluently so on my recent trip to London, I made use of Google™ Translate, which helped me a lot on in various situations.”
Using your mobile phone1 (either Apple®2 or Android™3), Google Translate allows you to easily translate foreign languages into your own. Just point your camera to instantly translate what you see. You can also translate speech when talking to someone who speaks a different language – just turn on ‘transcribe’ to understand what’s being said. And you can save translations so you can quickly access common words and phrases when you need them.
“It helped me communicating with waiters in restaurants to order a meal, to communicate with the other ambassadors from other countries who spoke various languages, as well as other key moments throughout the whole trip.”
- Purchase a local SIM card
“Don’t forget a mobile phone chip. I buy a SIM card as soon as I arrive in another country – this is very important if you need access to the Internet.”
While you don’t need Internet access to use this app, it’s very handy to have internet access while travelling to be able to access local apps, maps, train and bus timetables and so on. Google Translate allows you to translate from any app – just copy the text and tap to translate.
Moments to last a lifetime
These strategies helped Mariana ensure she could appreciate the special moments she experienced at the Achieve Anything: Global Summit. “Participating in these moments with the ambassadors was wonderful. Each one had a wonderful, beautiful and inspiring story,” she says.
“Another awesome moment was when Malala [Yousafzai] said that ‘we are not alone, together we are stronger, united we can raise our voices and change the world.’ I came back to Brazil with other thoughts. That we can raise our voice, go after what we want.”
Find travel essentials like microphone protectors, spare batteries and more at the online Cochlear Store.
- For sound processor and app compatibility information visit www.cochlear.com/compatibility
- Apple, the Apple logo, Apple Watch, FaceTime, Made for iPad logo, Made for iPhone logo, Made for iPod logo, iPhone, iPad Pro, iPad Air, iPad mini, iPad and iPod touch are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries.
- Android is a trademark of Google LLC.
