Duchess DJ Dementia Diaries

How I helped make my mom’s life a bit better during her time of dementia

Navigating the World requires a specialized roadmap, especially when traveling with a loved one with dementia.

Navigating the World can be challenging for those without cognitive difficulties; but those Traveling with a loved one with dementia doesn’t have to mean the end of your family adventures; in fact, it can be a path to profound connection. In this comprehensive 57-page book, Duchess DJ Love—wealth manager and frequent globetrotter—shares the exact systems she uses to travel the world with her mother, Lady Lexie. From navigating international flight logistics to managing “little girl mode” behaviors, this guide is the definitive resource for caregivers who refuse to let a diagnosis dictate their lives.

The Gold Standard for Dementia Travel
This isn’t just a list of tips; it is a masterclass in Navigating the World. Duchess DJ Love combines 20+ years of professional organizational expertise with the heart of a daughter to help you:

Master the “Baby Love” Method: Learn how comfort objects and specific routines keep your loved one calm in busy airports.

Coordinate with Global Authorities: Get scripts and strategies for communicating with dementia-friendly airports and local service providers.

Safety First: Use our exclusive Checklist for Traveling with a Loved One with Dementia to ensure no medication or document is left behind.

What You’ll Gain:
Preparation Mindset: Transition from “anxious caregiver” to “confident royal traveler.”

Safety & Security: Detailed plans for medication management and emergency contacts.

Respite & Support: How to find support groups and online communities while on the road.

Navigating the World with Dementia
Navigating the World – Traveling with a Loved One with Dementia eBook is the ultimate travel companion for caregivers who refuse to let dementia limit their loved ones’ experiences. Written by Duchess DJ Love, a seasoned traveler and advocate for accessible adventures, this book blends expertise, heartfelt storytelling, and actionable strategies to make travel not just possible—but truly rewarding.

This guide covers everything you need to embark on meaningful journeys, including:
✨ Understanding dementia’s impact on travel
✨ Choosing destinations that inspire & comfort
✨ Navigating transportation with ease
✨ Packing essentials for a stress-free trip
✨ Coping strategies for unexpected challenges
✨ Creating lasting memories through travel

Whether you’re planning a weekend getaway or an international adventure, this book ensures you’re prepared, confident, and ready to explore.

Turn travel worries into cherished moments. Grab your copy today! 🧳

Someone once said if you take care of someone with dementia you lose them more and more everyday. When they get the diagnosis, when they go through different stages, when they need treatment and when they pass away.

This is called "ambiguous loss.” As the brain slowly dies, they change physically and eventually forget who their loved ones are. They could end up lying in bed, not moving and not eating or drinking.

There will be people who will scroll past this post because Dementia has not touched them. They may not know what it's like to have a loved one who has battled or is still battling dementia.

To raise awareness of this cruel disease, I would like my friends to put this on their page today. Hold your finger on the post to copy and paste to your timeline.
A special thank you to anyone willing to put this on their timeline for Dementia Awareness Week.💔💜

To them every day is a new day, every minute is a new minute.

Duchess for SC Governor

After visiting 85+ towns in our beautiful state, I’ve heard your concerns from the yellow tables of diners to the historic markers of our smallest streets. It’s time for a platform built on common sense and Carolina pride.

Here is where I stand:

💰 Your Money: No taxes on your primary residence and zero state income tax. We move to a consumption tax—giving you control over your hard-earned dollars.

🎰 The Vision: It’s time for brand-level casino resorts and video poker legislation. Let’s turn our travel corridors into economic powerhouses that fund our future.

🛣️ Infrastructure: Targeted tolls on specific roads and bridges to ensure our visitors help pay for the paths they travel.

🏫 Education & Family: A modern 3-day in-person school week with half-day Fridays—prioritizing family time and focused learning.

⚖️ Safety & Seniors: Tougher stance on crime and expanded programs to support the senior citizens who built this state.

🐊Wildlife Population Control: I’m in favor of a hunting season for the dangerous wildlife in our state: alligators, bears, coyotes, sharks, etc. if it can hurt us then we need to limit the growth.

I’m not just exploring our small towns; I’m listening to them. I’m Duchess DJ Love, and I’m open to discussing every issue that matters to you.

📌 HOW TO VOTE FOR CHANGE:
True reform requires a bold choice at the ballot box. When you cast your vote for South Carolina's future, manually check the write-in option and print my name exactly as follows:
Duchess DJ Love for Governor.

Together, with your vote, we can make the historic changes our state desperately needs! 🗳️🏛️✨

Which of these points hits home for you? Let’s start the conversation in the comments. 👇🏼💙

Make memories while you can

Duchess DJ Love and Lady Lexie on one of our many adventures. This picture is from Trinidad California.

This honors Lady Lexie.

Post #49 🌊 SC Small Town Series - Huntington Beach State Park in Murrells Inlet

A Coastal Sanctuary Filled With Memory, Love, and Legacy

Some places hold more than scenery.
Some places hold stories.
And Huntington Beach State Park will forever hold ours.

This photo was taken in January 2025, during a season when my mom — Lady Lexie — and I explored as long as she was able. Even as dementia changed the pace of our adventures, the ocean was still her peace. The waves were still her comfort. The Carolina coastline was still her joy.

💙 I’m Duchess DJ Love — travel educator, storyteller, and believer that travel is an investment in you.
🧸 This is Baby Love — my little heartbeat, my joy magnet, and the keeper of our memories.
Together, we walk these places not just for the views… but for the legacy.

Huntington Beach State Park was one of the last coastal places we explored together.
The winter air was crisp.
The sky was wide open.
And the ocean felt like it was holding space for us — gently, patiently, lovingly.

I remember standing here thinking:
“This is what grace looks like.”
A daughter and her mother.
A shoreline and a season.
A moment that would one day become a memory I’d hold onto with both hands.

Now, as Baby Love and I continue the SC Small Town Series, every stop is a tribute.
Every mile is a thank‑you.
Every post is a love letter to the woman who taught me to wander with intention and to savor the world while we have it.

And on our sister page, Gallivanting Like A Royal, we honor her in a different way — through Cartoon Saturday, where our real‑life adventures become animated joy.
Because legacy deserves to be remembered in every form — real, illustrated, and everything in between.

💛 Hope You Enjoyed Post #49…

Huntington Beach State Park will always be more than a destination.
It’s a memory.
A moment.
A reminder that love travels with us — even when the people we love can’t.

💬 Follow Our Journey

💙 Follow us on TravelTude for the SC Small Town Series
👑 Follow Gallivanting Like A Royal for Cartoon Saturday
🧸 Comment TRAVEL for your free guide — filled with affordable‑luxury tips and caregiver‑friendly travel wisdom

Here’s to honoring the past, embracing the present, and exploring the future — one Carolina town at a time.

A Mother’s Day Tribute to Lady Lexie

Our first Mother’s Day without her

Tomorrow carries a weight I’ve never felt before.
It’s our first Mother’s Day without my beautiful mom — Lady Lexie — and today I took Baby Love to her resting place to honor the woman who shaped my entire world.

Standing there, I felt the quiet.
The kind of quiet that holds both ache and gratitude at the same time.
The kind of quiet where memories speak louder than words.

I thought about her laugh.
Her gentleness.
Her courage.
Her way of loving people so deeply that it left fingerprints on their lives.

I thought about the years I had the privilege of being her daughter —
the caregiver years, the travel years, the storytelling years,
the years where love became our language when words became harder to find.

And I realized something:
Mother’s Day didn’t disappear because she’s gone.
It transformed.

Now it’s a day of remembrance.
A day of honoring.
A day of carrying her forward in everything I do.

Baby Love sat with her today — the same way he sat with her in life —
and it reminded me that love doesn’t end.
It just changes form.

So tomorrow, on this first Mother’s Day without her,
I celebrate the woman who taught me strength, compassion, resilience, and joy.
The woman whose legacy lives in my work, my travels, my storytelling, and my heart.

Happy Mother’s Day in heaven, Lady Lexie.
You are still — and will always be — the best mom ever.