Written by Darryl Musick, The World On Wheels, March 7, 2022
When you travel with a wheelchair the biggest need you have is assurance. You need to be assured that there will be accessible transportation at your destination; you need to know that there will be no steps where you need to go; you need to know the bathroom in your room will be suitable for your needs; you need to know that the doors will be wide enough for your chair…in short, assurances.
The problem with assuring your vacation is that it usually comes with a price. When you see those really good deals on the internet, the only thing you can be assured of is that the company selling it will not want to give you any. “We can request it but it’s not guaranteed…you can request it when you check in,” is the familiar refrain.But…what if the deal was just too good? What if you found the perfect destination, with one of the worlds best hotels, right when you wanted to go and the price was a quarter of what you’d normally pay? Would you throw caution to the wind or would you pass it up.
That was the quandary I was in. We had so much fun in the Dominican last year that I told Letty and Tim that I’d try to book another great beach vacation for this spring’s trip. I was working with a travel agent, who is supposed to be an expert in finding accessible vacations. We were looking at Playa del Carmen, just south of Cancun, and were getting quotes of $5-6,000 for a six night vacation.It was just too much out of our budget range, even if it was all inclusive. Just when things looked bleakest, one of her e-mails came in with a Gmail ad at the top saying the Virgin Islands were on sale. What’d I have to lose? I clicked…
