It seems like you have your time filled, but one thing I haven’t seen mentioned are the bank pubs on Fleet Street. Lots of history and great food in a unique atmosphere.
I don’t drink alcohol and my doesn’t drink beer. We’ll find some cool stuff for lunch but otherwise that really isn’t our jam
Not sure if this is the right place to ask so feel free to move it if appropriate. My parents are about to both be retired and will be traveling more. My husband and I were thinking about getting them some kind of garmin/rescue beacon/sat communication device for times when they are pretty far off grid. They aren't super feeble but my mom has MS and my dad has (well controlled) heart disease and I have anxiety. They will mostly be doing day hikes, but I feel like you hear about enough people getting turned around/lost/in trouble in relatively tame situations that I'd like for them to have a failsafe. Ideally not a million dollars, and either with a reasonable monthly subscription or one that is easily turned on/off based on when they are traveling. Any insight you have into devices that are reliable and reasonably user friendly would be great.
I've actually done a bit of research into this myself, since I've spent some time in areas without cell service and it's only going to get more intensive as my boys get older. The Garmin InReach is what I will end up using (don't have one yet), combined with signaling tools such as a survival blanket and a signal mirror. For the Garmin, there are a ton of youtubes now where people who were videoing their hike and ended up having to use it because of an emergency. Gives you a good idea for both the response time as well as the limitations. One thing that really helps is those signaling options, because SAR can't help you if they cannot find you. I've been incredibly turned off by noise signaling, emergency whistles and such, because where I've been those things will bounce off mountains and echo and you end up like "oh great, now I know that someone needs rescuing, in that general fucking area *gestures to a mountain range*" GearJunkie recently did a review of some sat comm options
I second the InReach as the most accessible and comprehensive solution that I'd trust. PLBs - personal locator beacons - actually have a higher level of precision because they combine both a satellite signal with a local radio frequency broadcast, so they can provide a more precise beacon for a rescuer and they have no subscription. However, the tradeoff is that you have no granularity - you push the button and the cavalry is coming, even if what you really would like to do is say, "we're okay, but Dad twisted his ankle so we'll be a couple hours late" or "we're in a car with a full tank of gas and food, but the car is stuck so don't send a helicopter but do send someone." Consequently, for most people, PLBs aren't ideal. I use one but it's because my risk is a little different. The InReach Mini is very good if they need something small. If they want something larger, with on-device maps, you could spring for the GPSMAP 67i. Both will be similar in terms of friendliness, both have phone apps you can use to enhance their features. Both let you send messages as well as trigger the emergency signal. The difference is just whether they need a much larger, more sophisticated, map-filled device or if they just want something small and simple to carry. Once you get them the device of your choosing, sit down with them and practice. They need to know how to use it and the time to learn isn't when they have an emergency, so it'd be good to set aside some time to help them. You can set it up so that it'll automatically send their location to the InReach website every X minutes, which can be helpful. Make sure they charge it. The other thing that you should help them with is making sure they have maps accessible to them at all times. That might be the Garmin, or maybe it's just showing them how to download maps offline on their devices. I frequently use the GaiaGPS app, and pay for the subscription - I can download large areas offline, which includes both roads as well as trails and stuff. Ideally, they should have paper maps too - but having some map is better than no map. I'd suggest the InReach Mini + GaiaGPS on their phone. It's a nice combination. That and making sure they pack emergency supplies as @Revengeofthenerds suggested, plus at least a little extra food. I also recommend some way to filter or treat water as a backup. I like my Platypus Quick Draw. Extra food and water can sometimes be the difference between an inconvenience and a crisis. Something like the Quick Draw is small and light and they may never use it.
I don't know your background so maybe you don't find this as helpful as I do, but I would also add: - Sign them up for a cpr/1st aid class. You could greatly benefit from taking it with them. Re-certify every two years as required -- best practices are always changing, and training needs to be kept current. It does save lives. I know, because I've used that training to save two lives: an elderly neighbor, and my son when he was an infant. - Buy a tourniquet. Or several. Same thing with the garmins or what have you, you gotta learn how to use them and practice in a controlled environment to the point where you can't get it wrong, so that when you're under duress and thinking about a thousand other things you cannot help but get it right. - Makeshift splits. SAM splints and a handkerchief or tshirt or whatever will work great. But whatever you have on or near you will work -- it's the theory and knowing what to do and when to do it that's important. One time I made a splint out of a file folder and some painter's tape for a student's badly broken arm and it worked just fine until EMS got there. If they're in the back country and have to activate the garmin or PLB, they're not gonna be found quickly enough if they're injured and immobile in the muck. For the water filtration @Binary mentioned, I use several options. Sawyer squeeze, lifestraw, water purification tablets. Depending on where I'm going and for how long, I always take at least two options. For maps, I highly recommend buying a Delorme Atlas for their state. I keep mine in my truck, and if I'm going somewhere I will print up the pages specific to that area. For example, if I'm doing a trail race, just in case I'm putting my lifestraw and a baggied print out of the local map in the back of my running vest. Usually I have a headband on me for sweat anyway, but if I don't then I'm grabbing my RATS tourniquet (I know I know, not as good as the SOFTT, but I've found it easier to use on myself so I have higher confidence I could use it effectively if necessary).
My mom is a doctor and I work in a medical clinic so we’ve got first aid pretty well in hand. I can barely count on both hands the number of times I’ve done CPR/First aid training. I’ll look into water filtration though. They really won’t be doing anything crazy, I just want them to be able to hit the “rescue me” button if anything goes sideways. I do really appreciate the insight though!
The easiest (and probably best) thing they can do is keep you informed of their itinerary and check in with you immediately upon returning to civilization. That said, how far back country do you expect them to get? Are they familiar with the area? Is this hikes near where they've lived for years, or places they've never been? How comfortable are they reading maps? An actual topo, not a gas station roadmap. Using a compass? Pacecounting, reading terrain features, reading the weather, etc? You don't need to turn them into Les Stroud, but basic skills & knowledge will protect them much more than any piece of gear. Otherwise, everything Binary suggested is great info, do have them practice with any equipment they buy to ensure they're familiar & comfortable with how to use it before it's needed. It'll also help them realize what works for them & what doesn't.
Unfamiliar areas, probably mostly reasonably well traveled and not particularly rugged or overgrown. My dad is definitely capable of reading topo maps and I’m sure he always has a compass on hikes, but he’s not some master orienteer-er. He is also an old school computer bro and reasonably tech-savvy for someone just south of 70. Honestly I would just feel better knowing that they had a way to call for help no matter what. So I think one of the garmins is a good way to go. They’re going on a 3 week road trip to Montana as a hooray-we’re-retired trip, who knows if they will get more or less adventurous as time goes on.
here’s one of those videos I was referring to. This is actually the specific one I checked out when I was looking into options for myself. Hopefully it might be helpful for you
All the hunters i know use them, and swear by them. My dad(he is 70) when he is working alone in the bush in the middle of no where(hundreds of km's from anyone) has one.
This reminds me of the group of two couples and a third woman in their mid 50s I met at a scenic pullover spot south of Devil's Tower in WY back in 2009. A tire on their minivan went flat, they had one of those cigarette lighter compressors, but the valve stem was bad and the tire wouldn't hold air. I offered to help put on the spare, but the "guy in charge" of the group said he had already called AAA and they would be there in 20 minutes. We were at least a 30 minute drive from I-90 where I last passed a gas station, so I asked "are you sure they're not calling back in 20 minutes with an ETA?" He was adamant a truck would be there in 20 minutes. I said I'd stick around until the truck arrived, or he changed his mind. It turned out they were all doctors & nurses from Chicago. The 3rd woman was a friend of theirs, but had worked as a traveling nurse most of her career. She slide up next to thank me and agreed with me, but said that the guy (a cardiologist) was bull headed and wouldn't accept help. Sure enough, 20 minutes later he got a call from AAA with a 2hr ETA & he exploded on the poor person on the other end of the phone. I offered again to help them swap the spare and he went off about what if someone had a real emergency or a heart attack, etc. Before I could stop myself I responded, in places like this you tend to know how to fix your problems...he turned three shades of purple and the traveling nurse standing behind him almost doubled over trying to stifle her laugh. With that, I left for DT to hike the longer 3ish mile trail around. About 4hrs later, as I was finishing up and repacking gear in my truck, they pulled into the parking lot next to me. He was the only one that didn't give a wave and chat as they got out of the van. The woman was cool, but fuck that guy.
When I was going through initial officer training, we had a 2 week stint in the field learning the basics. There was one platoon that was made up of all the lieutenants and captains that were hired right into that rank because they were all medical doctors. 30 doctors. They were the biggest fuckups in the world. They could not figure out how to get shit done, and every warrant officer around did nothing but yell at them about their utter incompetence. We used to have fun by sneaking near their perimeter and throwing shit into their camp, causing them all to raise the alarm to go to their firing points, thinking it was some sort of test. Nope, just us, fucking with them when we were on watch and bored. We once got caught doing it by our own warrant officer and thought we were going to catch major shit, but instead he laughed and told us the whole drill staff thought it was fucking hilarious and, in a Sgt. Schultz imitation, told us "I see nothing!"
I absolutely respect the various survival and first aid options presented here. I think being able to self-rescue is an invaluable skill - I regularly hike 20-30 mile days and have multiple emergency plans. That said, a retired 70 year old going on day hikes is probably not ever getting >10 miles from their vehicle. By far their most likely risk is a mobility-hindering injury, getting lost, or a flat/mechanical breakdown when they're out of cell service. A single water treatment solution and a couple of granola bars can help ensure their time waiting for rescue doesn't turn scary, and the InReach can provide some granularity between, "please call the nearest sheriff to give us a ride home" and "please send the $15,000 helicopter up the mountain because mom broke her ankle." 'nerds and 'hokie have mentioned some things that can reduce their risk even further, but how much of those can or will be adopted is really individual; while it's true that a compass, map, and competency reading terrain will be more reliable than electronics, it's also true that most people are not sufficiently competent with those tools. It's also nearly impossible to effectively travel that way after dark if you really get lost - which brings in other skills. For most normal day hikes, assuming your parents aren't marathoners, they'll do great with some basic gear. If they decide to start really getting out there, especially camping and multi-day hikes, those other skills can be built over time.
Italy is beautiful. This is the view from our hotel room in Sorrento. That is Mount Vesuvius in the distance.
Some Venice pics. Some dude tried to steal my wallet this morning getting onto a boat. Warnings about pickpockets are no joke. As soon as I felt someone touch my leg alarm bells went off and I brushed his hand away, turned around basically said “ hey what the fuck”. His hand was actually on my wallet. Guy played it off as an accident, it definitely wasn’t. Dad shorts with Velcro pockets are very handy.