Travel for the mobility-impaired: How to have a holiday when walking is an issue
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Travel for the mobility-impaired: How to have a holiday when walking is an result
From getting to the airport to checking out tourist spots, CNA Lifestyle finds out that it'southward possible to get effectually even if yous're in crutches or a wheelchair.
Plan it right and you lot can go along a vacation fifty-fifty if yous're in a wheelchair or on crutches. (Illustration: Chern Ling)
Every yr, Esmond Tan and his wife like to get on vacation. Together, the 68-twelvemonth-old retiree and his missus have been to Thailand, Malaysia, Cathay, Mongolia, Japan, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Nippon, Taiwan and Australia.
They're too both wheelchair users.
Just that hasn't stopped them from enjoying the sights, spending at least a week or perhaps more than at each destination – and they're looking to become to Europe soon.
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Travelling for the mobility-impaired – whether you're in a wheelchair or on crutches, permanently or temporarily disabled – might seem similar a pretty daunting chore. But Tan, who travels with his wife unassisted, begs to differ.
"I think it's not really a difficult thing," he said. "All you have to exercise is program."
If you're stuck in a wheelchair or hobbling on crutches – or you lot've got a friend or family member who is – in that location's really no reason why anyone should only sit and picket the world go past. Here's how it'south done.
Plan FOR THE TRIP IN Accelerate
As Tan says, the clandestine to a successful holiday is to plan way in advance for everything. Unless you've suddenly had a leg injury and are now hobbling in crutches (simply the doctor said yous're fine and information technology's as well belatedly to cancel everything), you'll have enough time for a proper game plan.
The easiest selection is to let someone else handle everything – travel agencies might have specific disabled-friendly packages or create a specific itinerary for y'all, similar Chan Brothers Travel.
If you want to practise a fleck more than research, telescopic out the destination, accommodation and send options.
Where should you become? Some countries are more disabled-friendly than others. In Asia, Tan swears by Japan, Taiwan and Hong Kong ("although in that location are a lot of slopes"). In Europe, some well-known destinations to consider include Deutschland, Finland, Vienna and Budapest. Knowing when to go is also crucial – you wouldn't want to be travelling during the rainy season, for instance, which is hard enough for mobile folks.
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Where should you stay? Online sites like Expedia, Booking.com and even Airbnb have become more sensitive to the concerns of the mobility-impaired, with specific filters or options to find out more about a hotel or house.
Only in that location are also other details that you shouldn't overlook – if y'all're using motorised wheelchairs like Tan and his wife, check if your airline allows you lot to bring them onboard. You'll also demand to inform the airline in accelerate if y'all need a wheelchair at the airport.
If you're on crutches, call up hard if y'all're going on long-booty flights, which may increment the risk of blood clots. If yous've got an immediate connecting flying, it might exist physically incommunicable to literally rush to the next gate. There is likewise lots of queuing up at the drome – while someone in a wheelchair is chilling out just fine, you lot're going to be standing upwardly quite a bit. You might desire to check with the airline and airport if they can provide y'all with a wheelchair.
At the end of the day, the Internet is your best friend – don't forget to crowdsource at sites like TripAdvisor or Lonely Planet. At that place are also excellent websites like Wheelchair Travel and Wheelchair Travelling, which offer loads of tips and information.
GETTING TO THE Drome
Perhaps the biggest issue for mobility-dumb travellers is getting to and from a identify – and that starts earlier even leaving Singapore.
Luckily, going to Changi Airport is a relative breeze. Taxis and private companies have wheelchair-friendly options. At that place'southward also GrabAssist, where the drivers are trained by the Agency for Integrated Intendance to provide assistance. Later this year, it'll as well be introducing a new characteristic that allows you to locate wheelchair-friendly choice-up and drop-off points.
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Do notation that information technology's best to volume in advance – and if you're not the only 1 on wheelchair, make sure your vehicle is big enough. (GrabAssist vehicles can accommodate simply one folding wheelchair, walker or collapsible scooter.) Set up to pay a flake more than, too – a London cab, for case, is around South$50 per trip.
CHECKING IN AND GETTING ON THE Plane
If y'all've already made prior arrangements with the airline, in that location should exist someone waiting for you when you accomplish Changi Airport. Alternatively, head for an information or client service counter for your gratis wheelchair.
Your minder will exist there to aid carry your bags as you queue up to check in. Your wheelchair, pikestaff, crutch or walker counts as checked baggage (some airlines, similar Singapore Airlines, won't count these towards your costless baggage assart). Once more, if you accept a battery-powered wheelchair, yous'll have to get in bear on with your airline at least 48 hours before the flight.
Going through customs is "very easy" as you've got someone to assist you, said Tan. Once inside the terminal, you can go around doing your last-minute shopping – but just make sure to be at the gate at least 45 minutes earlier difference fourth dimension. That'due south because you'll be boarding offset.
As for which seats are best, those would exist the bulkhead ones, which offer more legroom. Tan said he as well prefers window seats as it does not inconvenience other passengers.
Accept note also that you lot'll be the terminal i to become off the plane – they'll come and pick yous upward inside.
GETTING TO YOUR DESTINATION HOTEL
In one case y'all've landed, it's time to head to your hotel. If you've booked through a reliable travel agency in advance, information technology should exist a breeze. "Tell the agency beforehand that yous need a van with a hydraulic lifter," said Tan.
Once you've cleared clearing – nearly airports have a defended queue for wheelchair users – and accept your bags, there should be someone waiting for you at the exit. It'll be tougher if you're winging it, especially if you're using a motorised wheelchair, so it'south best to programme ahead.
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Check at the destination drome's help desk-bound. Prior to flying off, y'all might want to check if your hotel has a shuttle service and if information technology's wheelchair-friendly.
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR AT HOTELS
Equally with everything else in this list, the assumption is that you've done inquiry on your accommodation. Of course, information technology's all-time if your trusted travel agent has already sorted everything out for you. If not, online booking sites should have more than information about a hotel's accessibility features (in Expedia, that's in the "Nearly The Hotel" section).
According to Lavinia Rajaram, Regional Head of Communications for Asia, Brand Expedia, travellers tin also asking a specific accessibility feature during their reservation procedure, which their Customer Service team tin can review to ensure that the hotel can meet the request.
At the top of the list are accessible toilets. Hotels with walk-in showers are the best, simply many have tub-shower combos – which tin exist a challenge for those on wheelchairs and crutches. These should be big enough to accommodate wheelchairs, and have other important features. "There'southward no use travelling if there's no shower chair, and if your toilet bowl doesn't accept a handle bar, that's a trouble," said Tan, who suggests request the hotel for photos.
Long corridors can also exist an issue if you're on crutches – ask for a room on the ground floor or at to the lowest degree most an elevator. If the hotel has wheelchairs available, that's also a plus.
GETTING AROUND TO SEE THE SIGHTS
Once all of that is settled, y'all tin finally get around to playing tourist. Tan suggests y'all merely go for a proper tour specifically for the mobility-impaired rather than practice a free-and-easy. The former volition likely have everything covered, from transportation to picking out specific sites that are easy to navigate.
"If you're not very familiar with the country, you lot'll waste a lot of time going around on your own. You'll end upwards visiting one or ii places and the rest is spent figuring out how to get there," he said.
If you do determine to get information technology alone, some places simply aren't meant for you – wet markets, for instance, volition be too chaotic, narrow and crowded. Ditto sites that require a lot of climbing upwards steps or places with cobblestone streets. "We went to Inner Mongolia one time but because there were a lot of steps to climb, my friends had to carry me upwards at certain places," recalled Tan.
As for going around, some ride-hailing apps do have that option. In Indonesia, there's GrabGerak. Uber offers similar services in certain countries, with different names – in India, there's UberAccess and UberAssist, for instance, while UberWAV is plant in London and certain cities in the US.
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If you lot're taking trains, find out more than well-nigh getting to and from places (are at that place lifts at the station? Are there sections for wheelchairs? Is it rush hr?). Tan cited Nihon'due south efficiency and convenience during his previous travels. "The station chief assists you onto the railroad train and when you get off, somebody will already exist there waiting."
1 thing y'all should proceed handy is Lonely Planet'southward Attainable Travel PhraseBook, which features disability-specific words and phrases in 35 languages. It's going to come in handy when you're, say, in United mexican states and need to notice out if there are steps going into the loo (that's "Hay escalon en el bano?" in Spanish, by the style).
WHY NOT SKIP THE Airplane AND Go ON A Cruise INSTEAD?
If, after all these tips, travelling still sounds daunting, here's an piece of cake alternative – simply keep a prowl.
Chan Brothers Travel's senior marketing communications executive Justine Koh said there are cruises that have peculiarly designed wheelchair-accessible staterooms. "Some of these offer wider door frames, a v-human foot turning radius in sleeping areas, roll-in showers, high-rise toilets, handrails in the shower, and toilet areas and sitting areas for easy manoeuvrability."
Your best bets would exist Royal Caribbean area International, Celebrity Cruises and Norwegian Prowl Line.
"I think it's the best fashion to travel for people on wheelchairs," agreed Tan.
That said, slots are quite limited in cruises so you have to volume early. And there'south also ane downside – some ports aren't wheelchair-friendly at all, and crave ships to anchor off-shore while guests disembark on small boats chosen tenders. And once you're on land, "you you lot oft can't go far for urban center tours. Normal people have taxis but the options are limited for united states of america," he said.
And so again, perchance you don't want to jostle with tourists when yous can savour the tranquillity of a vacation on the vast ocean.
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Source: https://cnalifestyle.channelnewsasia.com/travel/how-to-travel-holiday-wheelchair-crutches-disabled-accessibility-258106
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