Travel Tips for Law Enforcement and Emergency Responders
It is National Police Week, and in recognizing the critical role law enforcement and emergency responders play in our lives, I decided to focus today's content on tips for planning vacations for law enforcement families, military, and emergency responders. Have you ever relied on the law enforcement or emergency responders community?
Recently my family had to engage the services of law enforcement and emergency medical services. I won't go into details about the scenario, but I was pleased with the quality of the emergency response from my community heroes. They responded in intimidating numbers but ultimately kept my family safe and provided community referrals after the event. These community heroes deserve a break from their taxing professional lives, but often planning for a vacation can be challenging because of the emergency response nature of their roles. We at Syreeta Garbarini by Dream Vacations value the services of law enforcement, emergency responders, and community heroes and their families who make many sacrifices for the greater good. Here are my tips on how you can grow your travel with advanced planning (and patience).
Schedule
Planning around a schedule is the easiest way to make your travel dreams a reality. Getting a good grasp of the shift rotations, training calendars, court dates, emergency exercises, etc., that influence your partner's schedule will lead to a better understanding of when you can spend time together on holiday. For example, some with rotating schedules can optimize travel on the weeks when there are more days off. Also, notifying the department or unit as far in advance as possible will be critical to successfully getting time off not to waste limited personal time off hours. Lastly, decide if peak or non-peak travel is suitable for your family. The advantage of traveling during peak times is that training and other department activities may be more limited if many in the unit are on holiday.
Budget
Earlier in the year, I did a blog entry on Money Tips for New Travelers, so review that for some foundational tips on travel. Law enforcement, military, and other community heroes frequently get discounts on travel, such as cruises and other land vacations. I know Disney, in particular, has such deals. One resource for uncovering travel values is the GovX.com website. Have you taken any military, police, or other emergency responder discounts on travel? Tell us about it!
Work with a Travel Advisor
It's essential to have patience with your partner's role, but it's also important to work with a travel advisor that understands the unique characteristics of a community hero's travel needs. As a full-time emergency management specialist, I'm willing to understand your family's individual needs. For example, I just reminded my husband of the upcoming hurricane season related to our travel plans. In addition, I prepare for situations such as rebooking and other emergency travel situations.
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