I’m living proof, so there’s that. But seriously, I can understand any apprehensions you might have about doing this. I’ve had them too. But slowly they have gone away as I’ve taken more and more trips. Sure I have ongoing concerns, but I’ve figured out ways to handle them. Here are some things I’ve learned.
Helpful people are everywhere
Unless you’re planning a solo journey to the middle of the Australian outback, you’re going to have people around you. If you fell out of your chair in the middle of Times Square, people would help you back up. Ok I can’t say that for sure but I have fallen out of my chair in downtown Milwaukee and four strangers came to my rescue.
In addition to strangers, there are people in the travel and hospitality industry whose jobs are to help travelers. I’m not just talking about the assistants who can help you board an aircraft, but I’ve had to ask for help from hotel maintenance staff on more than one occasion. When my chair stopped working in the middle of the night, my aunt and I called the front desk and they sent up some guys with tools to help us. They eventually pushed me back to my van and I fixed it later (with help of another stranger) but they were happy to help.
Make your independence portable
I’ve written on here about how I need help getting out of bed in the morning. That’s not just when traveling, it’s when I’m at home too. If you read the other article, I have pretty much the same setup at home but a more permanent version. That’s the version that came first. Once I had that done, I figured out a way to make a portable version of the actuator arm so I could use it on trips.
If you have things at home you need in order to be independent, find portable versions of them. There are all sorts of things out there from portable commode chairs to reachers to chargers, or whatever else you might need. I try to get everything into one suitcase so it’s easier for me to get around, but if you had to bring two, you could make it work. When in doubt, re-read the “helpful people” section above.
Take baby steps
I traveled a lot for wheelchair tennis, but once i started having more difficulty with my mobility I got nervous about traveling again. So I had to re-train myself, no pun intended. I decided to take the train from Milwaukee to Chicago (something I’d never done before) and spend a day down there.
I was nervous about everything from paying for parking at the train station to boarding the train, to getting off the train, and then about wandering downtown Chicago. Thankfully, it was easier than I imagined and kick-started my travel bug again.
So if you want to take an adventure to Europe but you’ve never even taken a short train or bus trip in your own region, you might want to start there and work your way up. A simple trip like that has a LOT of the same components with much less of the stress. You’ll have to plan transit, get a hotel, and pack for your mobility. But if you need something you can always call someone you know to come and help you.
Others have done it
Knowing that you’re not going to be the first person in an electric wheelchair to take a journey is actually a comforting feeling. There are very few places in the world where others haven’t been. They’ve figured out how to do it and you can too.
If you have questions or need ideas, don’t hesitate to contact me!
You Should Go Anyway 