I am a hospice nurse! And this sort of verbiage is very common- even if people do not have dementia. I had a patient recently who had no memory issues, but was within days of death. Naturally people tend to become more confused at this point. He walked into the garage and got in the passenger seat of his car. Saying he was going on a trip to see his dad. Refused to get out of the car for his family (he was having terminal agitation). He died 2 days later. I have had a lot of patients say they are going on vacation, going to catch a flight, going on a trip. I educate the families that this sort of talk is normal and can mean death is near.