Post by Owen on Dec 11, 2023 9:39:54 GMT
1 ~~~ How my rare disability changed the way I look at travel
Navigating travel with a neuromuscular condition
I have always loved airports.
Not the buildings themselves, but what they promise: a gateway to excitement, adventure, relaxation; the potential of reuniting with loved ones, or the thrill of escaping the mundanity of your day-to-day life.
Everyone at an airport has a story to tell.
This time, though, it was different. Instead of excitement, I was filled with trepidation.
I was nervous about how I would navigate my way through the terminal now that I was “officially” disabled.
I hadn’t been abroad for over a year, and my mobility issues had significantly worsened in the meantime.
Despite my worries, when the assistant at check-in offered me a wheelchair, I was reluctant to accept.
Not for the first time that day, I cast my mind back to a school trip to Regents Street.
We were only children, and my best friend and I had borrowed a disabled classmate’s wheelchair to see what it was like.
The reaction from strangers was astounding – faces stared down at me with patronising, paternalistic smiles, and addressed me with condescendingly slow, loud voices.
www.cntraveller.com/article/how-my-rare-disability-changed-the-way-i-look-at-travel?
7 December 2023
Navigating travel with a neuromuscular condition
I have always loved airports.
Not the buildings themselves, but what they promise: a gateway to excitement, adventure, relaxation; the potential of reuniting with loved ones, or the thrill of escaping the mundanity of your day-to-day life.
Everyone at an airport has a story to tell.
This time, though, it was different. Instead of excitement, I was filled with trepidation.
I was nervous about how I would navigate my way through the terminal now that I was “officially” disabled.
I hadn’t been abroad for over a year, and my mobility issues had significantly worsened in the meantime.
Despite my worries, when the assistant at check-in offered me a wheelchair, I was reluctant to accept.
Not for the first time that day, I cast my mind back to a school trip to Regents Street.
We were only children, and my best friend and I had borrowed a disabled classmate’s wheelchair to see what it was like.
The reaction from strangers was astounding – faces stared down at me with patronising, paternalistic smiles, and addressed me with condescendingly slow, loud voices.
www.cntraveller.com/article/how-my-rare-disability-changed-the-way-i-look-at-travel?
7 December 2023