Written by Collaborator for Wheel The World
With proper planning, research, and time, any wheelchair user should be rest assured you can have a magical trip. You just need to stay a few steps ahead of the game by pre-planning your travels.
This article is written by Ali Ingersoll – a C6 Quadriplegic who doesn’t let life’s circumstances stop her from adventuring around the world. Ali is a disability advocate that consults with corporations to bring more disability inclusion and works with non-profit organizations around the world to advance inclusivity for all. She also holds the title for Ms. Wheelchair America 2023 for Health Insurance Advocacy. To learn more about Ali, click here.
Ali recently traveled to Costa Rica with Wheel the World and made a Youtube video of some of the highlights. Check it out here.
Planning a trip can be exhausting for anyone, but for a wheelchair user there are many intricate elements to consider to ensure you have an enjoyable trip. One of the top issues to consider is the safety of your wheelchair with major commercial airlines.
Additionally, one also needs to consider medical supplies, durable medical equipment, different types of backup wheelchair cushions, arranging travel for caregivers, and much more.
With proper planning, research, and time, any wheelchair user should be rest assured you can have a magical trip. You just need to stay a few steps ahead of the game by pre-planning your travels.
Destination Research
If you are taking an international trip, you need to do your homework on accessibility for your destination. What national or international travel agency will you be using? Who do these travel agencies partner with locally? This is really important. You may find a country you’ve always wanted to visit and you work with a major global accessible travel company; but if they do not have strong local partners who are intimately familiar with safe and accessible adventures on the ground, your trip will likely not be everything you had envisioned.
I recently took a trip with Wheel the World to Costa Rica. Before speaking with them, I did a copious amount of research on areas of the country I really wanted to visit. At the time, I wasn’t aware that many adventures labeled as ‘accessible’ in various articles were actually inaccessible.
Wheel the World partners with local tour operators around the world to train them on how to become accessible and collects all the accessibility details to ensure travelers have reliable information.
All of this is to say, you need to do your homework. You cannot simply rely on a travel company to plan everything. Here are a few key lessons I learned when planning trips and looking at destinations:
Ask the Right Questions
You know your body best. You know what you need. You know what equipment you require to be safe. For example, as a C6 quadriplegic I suffer from sensitive skin leading to pressure sores developing within a few hours.
I had planned an adventure in the Cloud Forest of Monteverde, with this very cool Joelette chair where I was going to be helped through the forest with one man in the front and one man in the back essentially pushing and pulling me. I knew these chairs would likely be small and so I was therefore going to need my specialized Roho cushion that I sit on with my power chair in a smaller size.
I came prepared with 3 different cushions because I knew I would be picked up and put on so many different surfaces where my larger cushion would simply would not fit. But at the very least you could purchase cheaper memory foam you can cut into different sizes.
This prevented any pressure sore issues I might have otherwise developed, simply because I asked the right question when looking at different adventures with respect to what surfaces I would need to sit on.
Internet Research
When you find a desirable destination you would like to travel to, reading articles will be helpful. If there are accessible activities or locations to go to in the area, there will almost certainly be information or videos online that will help you navigate the accessibility aspects.
I had originally envisioned going to Panama, but I couldn’t find accessible travel companies or articles on the types of adventures I was interested in going on. I am personally not into rolling around and going to museums, but rather prefer outdoor, adrenaline-thrilling activities. After spending nearly a week reading up on Panama, I realized this was not the option for me.
While reading an article on Costa Rica, it popped up on my radar as a great destination for me. I then started my research mission and found Wheel the World, among several other travel companies, that focus on accessible rain forest adventures.
It all comes down to being your own investigative reporter in your own life. Many of us who are full-time wheelchair users deal with a tremendous amount of secondary medical complications, caregiving challenges, and navigating so many unknowns in a day. Honestly, I find that people with disabilities are some of the best creative problem-solvers on the planet.
It benefits you to use this to your advantage when researching destinations for your dream vacation. This does take time, though. It may take an able-bodied person just a month or two to plan for a trip, but it may take up to six months or longer if you’re planning a major trip as a wheelchair user. Make sure to allow yourself this time to do your homework.
If you’re going to spend a great deal of hard-earned money on this beautiful accessible dream vacation, you want to know what you’re getting into, what activities you will be doing, what you would like to do, what’s possible and what’s not. When you arm yourself with information, I find trips generally have a happy ending with the traveler feeling energized and ready to go on another adventure.
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Save time planning and book guaranteed accessible vacations when you travel with Wheel the World. Our travel experts are available for any questions or advice you may have.
Preparing for Travel
This is a complicated one. Each of us with disabilities have our own requirements with respect to equipment, medical supplies, wheelchairs, and so on. Again, you know yourself best. Do you use catheters? How often do you change them? How many extra will you need for a 10-day trip for example? Whatever question you’re trying to answer with respect to how much of any medical supply you would need, I do recommend this:
Pack Extra!
Especially if you are headed off to a foreign country, anything can happen. A flight can get delayed, a car can break down, you could get stuck in the country for a geopolitical issue, etc. Hopefully this doesn’t happen, but if it does you want to make sure that you are covered for at least an extra week or two of medical supplies you may need. How do you do this?
Make a List
I always pull up a Word document on my computer and make a list of all of the supplies I will need. When I am packing, I cross them off the list to ensure I haven’t forgotten a single detail. It’s a little time-consuming, but it has saved me so many inconveniences in the past and potentially saved my life.
Wheelchair Safety
It’s no secret as there are dozens of articles that have been written nationally on this very topic – Airline Wheelchair Damage. Whether it has happened to you or you know someone it has happened to, there is a real possibility an airline will damage your wheelchair due to lack of education or handling.
On my way back from Costa Rica, Delta Airlines damaged my chair. Many of us at the national level are working to amend the United States Air Carrier Access Act to deal with these many issues.
I don’t want you to give up your dreams of a fun, accessible vacation because you are scared of your chair getting damaged. Life happens and sometimes we have to go with the flow. In the meantime, there are few tips and tricks you can definitely employ to mitigate potential damage to your chair:
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