{"id":8538,"date":"2019-08-25T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-24T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/?p=8538"},"modified":"2020-04-02T05:37:22","modified_gmt":"2020-04-01T19:37:22","slug":"disability-accessible-travel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/real-travel-stories\/family\/disability-accessible-travel\/","title":{"rendered":"5 things I\u2019ve learned since needing disability-accessible travel"},"content":{"rendered":"

I lumbered down the stairs, half-carrying my husband\u2019s 192cm frame while he clung to the rail on the other side. Never assume anything. This was one of the first lessons I learned after my husband developed a medical condition that transformed his strong, fit body into an emaciated version of itself. Here are five things I\u2019ve learnt since.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Rob with our daughters at the Hinze Dam on the Gold Coast<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. Elevating frustration to new heights<\/h2>\n

We were on holidays, visiting my family on New South Wales\u2019 Central Coast. Deciding to catch a movie, we\u2019d been escorted to the upstairs cinema in the ancient, manually-operated lift. All good, except the lift operator went home before our movie finished.<\/p>\n

So, I had to carry his walker down the stairs before helping him. If he\u2019d been in a wheelchair, I don’t know what we\u2019d have done.<\/p>\n

Before my husband became disabled in 2011, I took effortless travel for granted. Sure, having kids made it trickier than jumping online, booking and heading off with a carry-on. But that didn’t compare to worrying about walkers, IV bags and avoiding stairs.<\/p>\n

\"Rob
Rob and the girls at a Coffs Harbour garden cafe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Here\u2019s some other things I learned about travel when you\u2019re caring for someone with a disability.<\/p>\n

2. You need to do more planning<\/h2>\n

A LOT more planning. Like finding out whether disability-friendly rooms are available, or whether stairs need to be navigated. Once, we booked a resort in Noosa. Because the room was on the third floor, I assumed (yep \u2013 there\u2019s that ass word again) there would be a lift. No go. Climbing flights of stairs carrying a walker, loads of luggage and then a husband may be an awesome fitness routine, but it wasn\u2019t my ideal entr\u00e9e to a relaxing family holiday. Now I\u2019ve learnt to check the \u2018Hotel Amenities\u2019 before I book.<\/p>\n

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A list of hotel features (including an elevator) on a Wotif hotel information page<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

3. Stairs are EVERYWHERE<\/h2>\n

Movies, shops, restaurants, resorts and even beaches have stairs. Learning to find alternatives is an art. Now, along with my eye for coffee shops, I look for lifts, ramps and elevators wherever we go.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Rob was able to climb Mt Coolum with crutches<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

4. We\u2019re gonna need a bigger car<\/h2>\n

Just like with having kids, needing more gear can necessitate an upsize. Shortly after my husband became unwell, we had a holiday booked in Caloundra<\/a>. He was on intravenous medication at the time, which I was giving him twice per day. We must have looked a tad suspicious with our boxes of syringes, saline bags and cartons of medications and alcohol wipes. Setting him up on the couch with a bag hanging from the curtain rod wasn\u2019t quite what I\u2019d envisaged when we booked, but at least his perch had an ocean view.<\/p>\n

\"Beside<\/p>\n

5. People are good<\/h2>\n

While my husband\u2019s tremor and facial tics attract some stares, most people are considerate. Once, we turned up at Cabarita Beach<\/a>, where we\u2019d booked an apartment. Seeing my husband\u2019s walker, the manager immediately upgraded us from a one-bedroom upstairs unit to the ground floor, two-bedroom disabled one at no extra cost. When he had a seizure and collapsed in the street one time, we were overwhelmed by the offers of help from strangers.<\/p>\n

\"\"
In the Coffs Harbour Botanical Gardens with our daughter<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Things are easier now Rob uses crutches, and I\u2019m grateful that we can still enjoy wonderful family holidays \u2013 even if it means a bit more work.<\/p>\n<\/i> PLAN YOUR NEXT GETAWAY <\/a>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I lumbered down the stairs, half-carrying my husband\u2019s 192cm frame while he clung to the rail on the other side. Never assume anything. This was one of the first lessons I learned after my husband developed a medical condition that transformed his strong, fit body into an emaciated version of itself. Here are five things …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":8544,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,760],"tags":[591,36,503,580,581,65,582],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8538"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8538"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8572,"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8538\/revisions\/8572"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8544"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wotif.com\/vc\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}