Category: Travel Tips

I was excited to stay on the quiet end of Waikiki that is actually called the “Gold Coast” near Diamond Head. There are a few hotels and some upscale condos that host vacation rentals in this quiet area that’s still within walking distance of Waikiki.

The Aqua Lotus is a boutique hotel with only about fifty rooms. There are a handful of wheelchair accessible rooms and mine was located on the top floor. It had a very large bathroom with a roll-in shower. The lanai was also quite large and accessed via an un-noticable threshold. It was nice to be able to roll out to the lanai and stare at the amazing view of Diamond Head on the left and the ocean on the right.

The staff was very nice and accommodating. I needed to have the mattress topper pad removed from my bed and the front desk clerk was up and helping me within a few minutes after my late check-in. I was always greeted by either the valet or the front desk staff as well. In addition the hotel has morning coffee and evening wine, not to mention complimentary Internet access.

There were two minor drawbacks to this hotel that may discourage you from staying here if you are a wheelchair user. First, if you are in a manual chair and not renting a vehicle, it’s quite a push to the main part of Waikiki. The dining options in the immediate vicinity are limited to some upscale restaurants and a convenience store, so you’ll either want to stock up (there was a mini-fridge) or plan on hauling it for meals. There is a bus stop almost right in front of the hotel, however.

Second, the beds are affixed to the walls so if you require any sort of repositioning of the beds in order to accommodate your transfers you might have some difficulty. I also personally found the beds to be a few inches too low, so I was nervous every morning when getting up that I would be stuck! I ended up not having a problem, however.

Overall, yes, I would stay at the Aqua Lotus hotel again. the view and location were amazing and my time spent there was incredibly relaxing. It is quite possibly one of the more restful hotels in the Waikiki area.

One of the questions I get asked the most is how I fly with a wheelchair. I thought I’d summarize the process here and hopefully encourage some hesitant wheelchair users to travel! It makes me sad to hear how some people don’t go anywhere because they worry about their chairs breaking. I understand this, but a wheelchair can always be fixed or replaced.

There’s also some uncertainty about how it all works! Sometimes having the knowledge makes it less unknown and scary. The process for traveling with an electric wheelchair is fairly the same in the countries I’ve visited. This includes the U.S., Canada, Australia, Italy, and S. Africa. Here is how the process usually goes for me.

• Check in and check your bags. Tell the person you talk to what help you will need and ask them if they can get you the seat you want if you aren’t assigned to the one you want yet. This is the first place to beg for an upgrade, so be nice!
• They will ask you if your wheelchair is a dry cell (gel cell) or not. If your chair is newer, you are probably a dry/gel cell. If you’re not sure find out. They will also ask what your chair weighs, roughly.
• You can stay in your own wheelchair all the way up to the gate. There are some exceptions with this on international flights. You can also have your wheelchair during layovers. You could theoretically check your chair at check-in but I prefer to stay with mine as long as possible.
• Go to security. Look for the Gold or the VIP line. Take that one. Take whatever line will get you through this process the fastest. Have your ID and boarding pass ready to go.
• Deal with the TSA screening. You will not pass through the metal detectors so you will get patted down and your chair inspected. Deal with it. You will still have to take off your shoes and hats and pop-out your laptop from your carry-on. But you can leave any medical-related straps or devices on your body. I find this part to be much more enjoyable when I think about it as a “free massage!”
• When at the gate, sit near the counter. You have brought your own chair so plant your butt right next to where the gate agent will stand.
• When a gate agent arrives (usually an hour before the flight) sometimes they see you and talk to you right away. If they don’t, get in the line that has probably already formed by anxious travelers who have no idea they don’t need to check in here again or can’t stand to sit more than one seat away from their loved one for two hours.
• When you first talk to the gate agent, say something like, “I promise I will not be a pain in the butt” or “Thank you in advance for your help.” This is the butter-up part.
• Tell the gate agent to try again to get you the seat you want if you still haven’t gotten it yet. This is your last chance to beg for a first class upgrade. Do it.
• Ask the gate agent for a “gate check tag” for your wheelchair. Make sure you get and keep the stub.
• Remind the gate agent that you will need an aisle chair (or “Straightback”) to board the plane. If you will need to be lifted for transfers, tell the agent this too and ask for strong helpers. If the helpers get there and you don’t think they’ll be able to lift you, say something. It’s easier for them to call for new helpers before you’re trying to get on the plane and you suddenly realize that the 75-year-old man they sent to lift you is about to break some vertebrae.
• Stay by the gate! I mean RIGHT by the door where they’re going to board you. Otherwise you’ll get crowded out by people who have ants in their pants to get on the plane first even though it’s assigned seating. You could get boarded almost immediately after the flight crew arrives. If you need to leave, tell the gate agent.
• When it comes time for you to board, you will roll down the jetway in your chair to the plane door. The assistance crew will bring down the aisle wheelchair. You will ask yourself, “How in hell is my butt going to fit on that tiny thing?” This is just one of the reasons I wish all U.S. flights used the Eagle Lift that is used in Australia and other places.
• You will transfer to the aisle chair either on your own or with help from the assistance crew. If they will need to lift you, tell them how to do it. Odds are you’ve been lifted before and know what works for you. If you haven’t, the easiest way for two people to lift me (200+ lbs) is to have one grab my legs under my knees from the front (making sure to lock their fingers) . Then I lock my fingers like I’m praying to God that they’ll be able to lift me and have the one behind you (hopefully the taller, stronger one) reach under your armpits and grab over the top of your wrists. This is hands-down the best, easiest, and safest way I’ve ever been lifted.
• After you’re on the aisle chair, they will strap you in with an overboard amount of belts for the 20-foot roll in the aisle chair. You can thank lawyers for this. This usually takes the longest out of anything you do to board the plane. For some helpers it’s like the toughest logic puzzle they’ve ever dealt with, so have patience.
• They will roll you backwards onto the plane, tell you to cross your arms, and pull you slowly down the tiny row of seats to your chair. This is one reason a seat near the door is easiest for you AND the crew. Prepare to bruise an elbow or two. The aisle chair will get stuck at every row, I promise.
• When you arrive at your row, inevitably the assistance crew and flight crew will struggle with the armrest, if it goes up at all. There’s a secret button somewhere under it that only a magical few crew members knows how to use. This needs to be changed but that’s a whole other article.
• The assistance crew will then lift you again, or you’ll transfer into the seat. Make sure they’ve unbuckled all the buckles and lifted the “side rests” on the aisle chair before they lift.
• If you haven’t been wearing suspenders, this is the point where you slide your pants back up while the flight attendants chuckle at having seen your “coin slot” or more. The hint here is: Wear suspenders!
• You thank the assistance crew immensely and they leave you at the seat.
• You buckle in and hopefully a flight attendant who has seen this whole spectacle comes over and talks to you. You charm him/her so that they bring you free food during the flight. You ask them to help you stow your bags or help you grab out whatever you need during the flight.
• You sit and wait while the rest of the travelers take forever to board the plane. Smile at the kids as they pass by and pray to God they’re not sitting right behind you.
• After the last giant carry-on is stowed and all the people have settled in, the plane takes off. Hopefully you don’t have to use the bathroom during flight. Do everything you can to avoid this. There technically is a portable on-board wheelchair on most large planes. However the flight attendants NEVER use it, if they know where it is at all (usually the cabinet with the wheelchair symbol on it…who knew?). Additionally, the flight crew does not have to help you transfer on it. I think they can push you but they will not lift you. Some might, but they’re not supposed to. Again, thank the lawyers. Also, the bathroom door cannot close when you’re in there sitting on this portable chair so although it’s setup so nobody can really see you, it’s like you’re peeing in front of 46 rows of people. I will post about how I deal with the bathroom issues in another article.

When you arrive at your destination, here’s what happens:

• You will sit in your seat while everyone and their mother exits the plane. The flight attendants cannot leave the plane until you’re done, so be nice and thankful to them for their help and patience.
• Just when you think the last person has gotten off, ten more people, usually families with their screaming infants and diaper bags will pass by and hit you in the head with either their soft diaper bag or their child’s foot.
• Hopefully the flight crew has alerted the gate crew that you will need an aisle chair to get off the plane. This is usually marked in the airline system too.
• Once everyone is off, the assistance crew will come down the aisle in the aisle chair again.
• You’ll transfer or be lifted into the aisle chair and then strapped-in again with the spider web of belts.
• They’ll roll you off the plane and hopefully your chair has already been brought up from cargo, in one piece!
• The assistance crew will get you back onto your own chair and you’ll motor up the jetway to your destination or to your next gate where everything repeats all over again.

Now this might seem like a ton of steps, but it’s really not that bad. I have done this dozens and dozens of times and I am still alive to blog about it! Do not let this list of steps be intimidating to you. Travel is wonderful and exciting. It’s worth dealing with it all to have an adventure. And keep in mind, I usually fly by myself! The above is tons easier when you have someone flying with you. But if you do have someone flying with you, make sure YOU are the one doing all the talking. (It’s more helpful to them and you can put your best puppy-dog, disabledy face on and maybe get that first class upgrade!) So what are you waiting for, go book a flight!

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I love traveling. Seeing new things and experiencing adventures are extremely motivating to me. My brain seems to light up. Over the last several years I have had many adventures. Unfortunately I have had a few adventures in my own hotel rooms along the way! Accessible hotel rooms should be comfortable and consistent but this isn’t always the case. It’s true that usually all it takes is a call to the front desk to get some help, but it would be nice if rooms shared some important characteristics.

Here are the top ten things I want in an accessible hotel room.

1. A door that doesn’t feel like it weighs 300 lbs.

Having to push a suitcase through a heavy door after a long trip is not my idea of a warm welcome. I much prefer light doors that swing and stay open on their own, than those that close heavily with a closer device. I often find that when checking out from a hotel room I have to do an acrobatic maneuver to get my rolling suitcase out the door while holding the door open for my chair.

2. A bed that’s within 3 inches of the height of a typical wheelchair and whose mattress won’t capture me like a venus fly trap

I’ve noticed several hotel chains like to have these “majestic” beds that are only a few inches short of the ceiling. I have less-than-optimal arm strength and I suspect that many wheelchair users cannot easily transfer up into some of these beds. Also, beds that are too low can cause a problem as well. Transferring up from a low mattress into my chair after a long night’s sleep can be difficult too.

Beds that are too soft (e.g. are memory foam) are impossible for me to move around in without help. Rolling over is enough of a chore when my elbows simply sink into the mattress. Also when it comes time to sit up, if I push onto the mattress and my hands simply get sucked into a foam handprint, I can’t get out of bed. Sure these types of beds might be comfortable to sleep in but I don’t want to be stuck in bed until the maids find me!

3. Elevators that don’t require your key card to operate

Swiping a key card in an elevator is a huge pain in my ass when I stay at a hotel, especially when I have luggage or something on my lap. I’m all for security but when it’s the illusion of security that these types of procedures create, I just get frustrated. If someone wants to get up in the elevator they can, key card or not. Trust me, when I’ve had difficulty swiping my card I’ve often been taken on a ride up until someone helps me.

4. A roll-in shower that has a bench and the bench isn’t 5 feet away from the shower head and controls

I just stayed at a hotel with a roll-in shower that did not have an affixed shower bench. Yes, the hotel had plastic shower benches but the presumption that a wheelchair user is going to drive their day-to-day chair into the shower or be towing a shower chair on a ten hour flight to Hawaii is ridiculous. Also, if the hotel is going to provide a shower chair it certainly needs to be adjustable.

And when you put the bench in, can it please be within arm’s reach of the shower head or at least the controls? Many times I have seen a nice roll-in shower where the bench is on the left, the shower head is on the right, and there’s 5 or 6 feet in between! I do not have Go-Go-Gadget Arms!

5. A roll-in shower where the adjustable shower head is not stationed at the top of the adjustable bar by default

Without fail, housekeeping staff will put the shower head at the topmost part of the sliding bar such that I can barely reach it, if at all. Then if I can reach it, I usually can’t loosen the part that lets it slide easily so I have to shimmy the shower head down the pole through a series of dozens of back and forth motions that just looks obscene after a while. Then of course the shower head starts dripping the “leftover” water on you. It’s not nice.

6. Two beds

On more than one occasion I have been traveling with a non-intimate friend and the accessible room only had one bed! The only configuration that satisfies the possibility that both guests will share a bed or that they might not is a two-bed room.

7. Beds that are not affixed to the wall and/or night stands that can be easily moved

When a night stand is right next to the bed, I cannot back my wheelchair up far enough to transfer my butt onto the bed right where it needs to be in order to lay down. If the bed can be pushed, I can at least angle it away from the night stand. But often the beds are attached to the wall or the headboard that is attached to the wall. There are also occasions when there’s not enough room between the wall and the bed on the left side where I need to get in. A bed that can move would be nice in this situation.

8. Remote controls for everything

Furniture is usually in the way of either the thermostat or the curtains or both. Sometimes the curtain and shade controls are out of reach. Occasionally the thermostat is too high on the wall. I’ve stayed in rooms where these were controlled by remotes and it was heaven.

9. A desk I can roll under

Short desks or desks with a thick top layer of drawers usually do me no good. If I can’t roll my chair under the desk, I can’t work comfortably. There are also times when there’s no place to put the chair that’s at the desk when I arrive since I don’t need it.

10. Lots of outlets, especially near the bed

I usually have to charge my wheelchair at night. I know other people that have CPAP machines and other medical devices that require a power source near the bed. I usually find myself unplugging the alarm clock or the bedside lamp or stringing my charger across the room in order to reach the power sources.

Overall I realize that not everyone’s needs are the same, but many of the things I mentioned are helpful to anyone with a disability who uses a wheelchair. Some of the things I come across are just completely illogical and were probably not approved by someone with a disability.

I usually leave feedback at a hotel when something could be made easier. Please take the time to do so next time you have a suggestion when you’re out traveling!

Yes, I am posting a lot about New Zealand when I talk about my travels. I circled New Zealand in 2009 on a cruise and stopped in several ports that are all worth mentioning individually. The next stop is Christchurch. As you may recall, there have been several major earthquakes in Christchurch in the last year. These quakes have done tremendous damage to the city and the people. When I was there in 2009, here’s what the cathedral in Cathedral Square looked like this:

After the most recent large quake, however, this cathedral looked like this:

When I was in Christchurch I spent the day going from church to church as a way to get around the city. Unfortunately as the pictures started coming in from the earthquake, I noticed many of the churches I’d photographed in rubble. Here’s another amazing church from Christchurch when I was there:

And here’s that same church after the earthquake:

One of the things about traveling and getting out of your bubble is that you actually start to care about the places and people you visit with a depth much greater than simply those moments of “feeling bad” when you hear news reports. Although the feeling isn’t as strong as those living there are experiencing, there’s a stronger empathy that’s only understood if you’ve ever actually been to the place. It’s an empathy I wish we automatically had towards all places and people on earth.

During my time in Christchurch I cruised about the city on my wheelchair after getting a taxi for myself from the ship into town. It’s actually a bit of a drive from the port to the town and hiring a private taxi is the best way to get there if you use a wheelchair. Just make sure you arrange to be picked up EXACTLY where you got dropped off so there is no confusion. My driver told me to meet him about a block from where I was dropped off and his description of the location was somewhat off! Thankfully I spotted his van just before he was going to leave.

Here are a few more pictures of Christchurch from my trip in 2009. I am not sure how these other buildings and monuments fared in the earthquakes. You can find out here about recovery efforts and donate to the recovery online as well.