Disabled Travel
My 12 year old son Scott won a trip around the world last year.
We went on this journey in spite of his unstable broken leg.
Since he has brittle bone disease, we face this situation fairly
often. It was a great trip, but fairly challenging, in spite of
pre-planning.
London was great. We told the black cab drivers
that Scott broke his leg playing football and we got really good
at cab hailing. We also got good at asking for help, because
everyplace we went there were just a few steps. Watching six of Her
Majesty's guards in full dress march Scott and his wheelchair up
two flights of stairs would have been fun, if I wasn't so worried
about them dropping him.
I carefully chose quaint hotels in South
Kensington and later on the left bank of Paris. They each had an
elevator just like we needed. Unfortunately I hadn't thought to
ask how big the lifts were. Scott's chair didn't fit in either
one.
Paris was more work. There is a handicapped bathroom on the
Eiffel Tower, but few people were willing to help and the cabs
were too small for the chair. We walked everywhere. We also got
what Scott dubbed "the pity discount." We both got in free
to museums and attractions. Beware of the steep moving sidewalks at
the airport.
Seoul was much more daunting. It's not accessible
and it's very steep. In every city we were stared at a lot. At
Narita the bus to the plane isn't accessible but the truck the
non-English speaking man pointed us to did deposit us on the
right plane. Honolulu was easy but the Wiki-Wiki bus is not
accessible, so it's a good thing te airline had arranged for
someone to escort us.
Traveling with a disabled person means you
meet more locals ans get a better flavor of the country. In spite
of all the research I did ahead of time I was not fully prepared.
Sorry we didn't contact you last week, but we were sick. Scott
wanted me to share our adventure with you. We're curious how the
woman leaving for Paris did. We think she was in for a bit of a
surprise.
Keep reporting on travel with a disability!
-Beth-Ann
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