Super-soft and portable travel blanket makes flying more comfortable.
I hate airline blankets because they’re thin and small and feel like someone dyed potato sacks blue and folded them. Plus it’s hard for me to lift one up to cover my shoulders and chest. Thankfully I found this super soft blanket that you put over your head. Flight attendants are usually happy to help me put it on.
It covers your shoulders and doesn’t fall down. Best of all, it packs up into its own pocket, zips up, and you can attach it to your backpack or carry-on.
It’s a warm blanket that is easy to bring along. Sometimes I put other small items in the zippable pocket/bag that comes with it to reduce carry-on clutter.
I don’t know if it’s my need to stay independent or just a generalized feeling of anxiety, but asking for help has always been a difficult thing for me. I realized this was a problem when I didn’t even want to bother the front desk at a hotel for a toothbrush. I mean, it’s literally their job to answer the phone and ask what a guest wants, but somehow I thought I was being a pain in the ass.
Calling the front desk isn’t a problem. The phone and the agent are there for a reason!
I’ve observed pains-in-the-asses and I guess I didn’t want to be like them. You know these people, the ones who think the world revolves around them and everyone else is put here to serve them. They’re not gracious, kind, or grateful at all.
Finally I made a distinction between those people and myself. Even though we might ask for the same things, I was gracious, kind, and grateful, so in essence I was a guest the front desk people were happy to help. I wasn’t being an inconvenience. I was being a breath of fresh air. Nobody was going to look over to their co-worker and mouth, “What an asshole!” when I was asking for something.
I have noticed this trait in a lot of my family and friends. There’s a certain mix of graciousness and politeness that not everyone has, but I’ve always been surrounded by it. In some cases, this can be taken advantage of. However, with customer service situations it’s a necessary part of the interaction as far as I am concerned. Respect is important.
Be nice, be direct, be grateful
Here’s how I operate, whether it’s with a hotel front desk person, an airline check-in agent, or someone on the phone.
Smile and ask how the person is.
Engage in banter if it feels natural.
Ask specifically for what you want.
Be grateful they consider your request.
Thank them for doing what they can.
Be gracious if they cannot accommodate.
Be thankful if they are able to help you.
For example, this is me checking into a hotel when I am there way before my check-in time.
“Hi, How are you?”
“I know I am here early, but I was wondering if I could check in or leave my bags here?” (Handing them my ID and credit card.)
“Also, I hope this is already in the system, but if you could make sure I have an accessible room with a roll-in shower, that would be great. Thank you for checking.”
Banter here while they type and click and type and click and type and click and type and click. Hawaii. Wisconsin. Price of milk. Family. Blah, blah, blah.
“If you have a room on a high floor, I wouldn’t be against that.”
“Oh that’s okay. Thank you so much for checking.”
“Great! I wasn’t expecting to be able to check-in so early, but this is awesome. I really appreciate it. Is there someone who can help me get my suitcase situated up there?”
Being a decent person isn’t that difficult. If you are already a decent person, then asking for help shouldn’t be difficult and you shouldn’t feel like you’re being a burden.
I don’t know if it’s my need to stay independent or just a generalized feeling of anxiety, but asking for help has always been a difficult thing for me. I realized this was a problem when I didn’t even want to bother the front desk at a hotel for a toothbrush. I mean, it’s literally their job to answer the phone and ask what a guest wants, but somehow I thought I was being a pain in the ass.
Calling the front desk isn’t a problem. The phone and the agent are there for a reason!
I’ve observed pains-in-the-asses and I guess I didn’t want to be like them. You know these people, the ones who think the world revolves around them and everyone else is put here to serve them. They’re not gracious, kind, or grateful at all.
Finally I made a distinction between those people and myself. Even though we might ask for the same things, I was gracious, kind, and grateful, so in essence I was a guest the front desk people were happy to help. I wasn’t being an inconvenience. I was being a breath of fresh air. Nobody was going to look over to their co-worker and mouth, “What an asshole!” when I was asking for something.
I have noticed this trait in a lot of my family and friends. There’s a certain mix of graciousness and politeness that not everyone has, but I’ve always been surrounded by it. In some cases, this can be taken advantage of. However, with customer service situations it’s a necessary part of the interaction as far as I am concerned. Respect is important.
Be nice, be direct, be grateful
Here’s how I operate, whether it’s with a hotel front desk person, an airline check-in agent, or someone on the phone.
Smile and ask how the person is.
Engage in banter if it feels natural.
Ask specifically for what you want.
Be grateful they consider your request.
Thank them for doing what they can.
Be gracious if they cannot accommodate.
Be thankful if they are able to help you.
For example, this is me checking into a hotel when I am there way before my check-in time.
“Hi, How are you?”
“I know I am here early, but I was wondering if I could check in or leave my bags here?” (Handing them my ID and credit card.)
“Also, I hope this is already in the system, but if you could make sure I have an accessible room with a roll-in shower, that would be great. Thank you for checking.”
Banter here while they type and click and type and click and type and click and type and click. Hawaii. Wisconsin. Price of milk. Family. Blah, blah, blah.
“If you have a room on a high floor, I wouldn’t be against that.”
“Oh that’s okay. Thank you so much for checking.”
“Great! I wasn’t expecting to be able to check-in so early, but this is awesome. I really appreciate it. Is there someone who can help me get my suitcase situated up there?”
Being a decent person isn’t that difficult. If you are already a decent person, then asking for help shouldn’t be difficult and you shouldn’t feel like you’re being a burden.
I started playing wheelchair tennis in an electric wheelchair back in 2005. From 2007 to 2009, even though I was playing out of my league, I gave up my apartment in Hawaii and traveled the world as a pro (technically) quad wheelchair tennis player.
Not sure who I lost to in this match, but it was probably my friend Jeff who beat me several times 6-0, 6-0.
I totally sucked. I won two matches at that level in two years. I lost most of my matches 6-0, 6-0. In one match (Thanks, Nick Taylor) I won one point. ONE POINT. I like to tell people there were wildfires burning close to the courts in Sydney, Australia, and I just really wanted to get out of there but frankly, Nick is an amazing player and kicked my ass.
Because of wheelchair tennis I was able to go all over the United States and the World, including Italy, S. Africa, and Australia. Since I usually lost quickly, that meant lots of time to work and go sightseeing. I went on a mini-safari in S. Africa and held a Koala in Australia. I also pocketed prize money just for showing up sometimes.
Nowadays there are wheelchair sports organizations popping up all over the place. It’s easy to find wheelchair basketball, rugby, tennis, lacrosse, and even sled hockey teams to play on. These teams do fundraising and travel, often with subsidized expenses. Some of these teams and athletes even go to the Paralympics.
I saw a lot of cool stuff, met a lot of cool people, and learned a lot about how to operate life with a disability. It was the best support group I could have joined and made a huge difference in my life.
I didn’t finish last in my first event, which was nice.
Nowadays I play Boccia, which is essentially adaptive bocce ball for athletes with more challenging disabilities like muscular dystrophy or cerebral palsy. It’s a Paralympic sport too, which is awesome! Thanks to the Challenged Athletes Fund, I received a grant to use to travel to a few events this year.
So yeah, traveling a lot using out-of-pocket money can get expensive fast. But if you can find a sport, you might just find yourself in a lot of places you never thought you could get to thanks to tons of great people who want to see you succeed.
In some countries you can get into museums and things with special rates if you use a wheelchair. Unfortunately and somewhat idiotically, you can’t always just roll up in your wheelchair and ask for the discount. Some anal-retentive museum workers will ask you to prove your disability with a piece of paper.
I don’t have any such thing for myself except for my parking placard and I’m not gonna bring that around with me. So to counter the stupidity, I created a fake proof of disability card that can do the trick. (Use at your own risk, this is mostly a joke but honestly it does work for me. If you aren’t actually disabled and you try to use this, then you’re going straight to hell.)
You can also just save the image to your phone or take a picture of it and I’ve shown that as well.
Here’s a sample but you can put your own name and country on it if you use the link. Use at your own risk of being dragged out by some idiot who thinks you spent $15,000 on a wheelchair just to save $20 at the Louvre. Actually the Louvre is pretty cool about just letting you roll in if you have a chair.
You Should Go Anyway 
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