Aunt with Alzheimer's keeps wanting to go home anytime now. Any excuses to come up with?

Please don't take this wrong, its just curiosity. Why was she allowed to travel from her home country with her problem? Was it thought she'd stay permanently with family? You do realize that she is not entitled to any services here in the US, where I am assuming you are. Why can't someone take her home now? Things could get worse suddenly and then there is no option and no help here.

I think everything you have done has been good. Its just that Dementia patients get fixated on something and don't let it go. You cannot reason with them. They have lost that ability. She is in a strange place. Change is hard for Dementia people.

I'm not quite clear about this. Do you not want her to go back to her home at all? Are you trying to put off the idea permanently? Or is the problem about timing, ie waiting until it is more convenient for you to arrange it? If it is simply about arranging a companion for the trip, have you tried any other option beside yourself? I am pretty sure you can do this, with a contribution to the fare for someone who is going anyway and will take on the care needed for your aunt's trip.

The emailing her old friend sounds like an excellent idea and you could print out the response so she could refer to it when she forgets. Maybe calling her old friend could make her feel better?

Is it realistic that she can go back in the summer? Is it her intention to return there permanently? Is that realistic?

This "I want to go home" business is common, but the fact that home is in another country gives it a different twist.

Is her "real" doctor (the one at home) likely to cooperate? Would he send her a letter saying, "Dear Mrs. Patient, I am looking forward to seeing you again in June, when your relative will be able to travel with you. For now, I would like to see you take medicine x and y and we will reconsider that when I examine you in June. I hope you are enjoying your stay in New Country."

Of course, if that doctor doesn't agree with the medication or the diagnosis or doesn't want to endorse some other doctor's treatment plan, that could be sticky. But even just hearing from him that he is looking forward to seeing her might cheer her up.

How about
sorry, I can't get time off work to take you right now
the doctor won't clear you to fly... yet
we can't afford the tickets, let's put a little aside each week/month until we've saved enough
And redirect - tell me something about what/who you remember from back home.

The sad reality is that people with dementia want to "go home" but even when that is a possibility it is often not the actual place they are longing for, instead it is a memory of a time when they were younger and friends and family that have long gone (parents, spouse, young children) were still a part of their lives.

"Oh, Auntie, I know how much you want to go home; we need to talk to the doctor about that. THE DOCTOR says that you have to wait until you're stronger". "Yes, I'll make an appointment right now to see him next week so you can tell him that you're strong enough right now".

Are there any storms, earthquakes, civil unrest in her home country? Can you trade back and forth between that and "the doctor says"?

Don't remind her of "her condition". Her brain is broken. Use validation of her FEELING (wants to go home) and therapeutic fibbing about why she can't.