Claire in a Chair: 6

My sister, Lauren, and I have an ongoing competition to see who has traveled to the most countries. She’s winning with nine, while I have been to seven. We’ve camped and canoed in Canada, snorkeled and ziplined in Mexico, hiked the Pyrenees in France, swam in the Mediterranean sea in Salou, Spain and Lauren has climbed the Great Wall of China.

 Traveling hasn’t been without adventures. The very act of getting to another country is so daunting it turns many with disabilities away from traveling. My chair must be put in the belly of the plane with other luggage, thus I have to sit in an unfamiliar and likely uncomfortable plane seat for anywhere between 2 and 10 hours. And I never know what condition my chair will be in on the other side; pieces have been lost, but luckily nothing too major. Once I leave the United States, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) can no longer protect me. Cities and countries don’t have to have curb cuts nor do they have to make buildings accessible, so I don’t always know what I am getting into when I exit the airport and enter a new country.

 We went to France and Spain when I was six, and things were easier because I was smaller and I didn’t always need my power chair. The trip was full of art museums and food I would still refuse to eat, but also some serious adventure. My family, including my grandparents, and our French friends went hiking in the Pyrenees. Lauren and I, however, did not hike in the traditional sense: we sat in what we called human backpacks, and were put on the backs of the men of the trip.

 Several years later we went on a Mediterranean cruise, which stopped in France, Spain and Italy. When selecting our excursions, day trips off of the boat, we were presented with the accessible options, ones that likely involved seeing the city or the monuments from the comfort of a bus. This may be what some want or need, but not us. Instead we went on the regular excursions, my chair was left on the ship and I was carried on and off of coach buses.

 The uncertainty that comes with traveling is amplified when it involves wheelchairs, but so is the adventure and gratification. I hope everyone who wants to travel and see the world gets the chance to, because I know it has been, and will continue to be, the highlight of my life.