The law says I’m blind. I no longer have a driver’s license, but people who’ve been in the car with me say with love that this is not a great loss. I like to think of myself as visually impaired as I still have some decent central vision.
In Tokyo’s Haneda Airport in Japan, passengers with mobility issues can hop on automated electric wheelchairs. The WHILL Automated Mobility Service chairs can be found at stations after the security check and in gate areas.
The article “Travel Tips for the Less Able” by Paula Prindle (Jan. ’20, pg. 40) spurred another ITN subscriber, Bobbi Benson, to share her own tips in the letter “Super-senior’s Travel Adaptations” (March ’20, pg. 28). Bobbi also asked readers to tell us how they’ve learned to manage their own travels as time goes on and one’s physical stamina abates somewhat. She wrote, “I would like to hear from super-seniors on how they adapt their travel, making it more physically comfortable and doable.
Japanese tour company Omakase (omakase-tour.com) offers private one-day tours for travelers in wheelchairs in Tokyo (“Barrier-free Tokyo”) and Osaka (“Barrier-free Osaka”).
The 7-hour Tokyo tour visits Asakusa shrines, Sensoji Temple and Sumida Park, then the neighborhoods of Shibuya, Harajuku and Omotesando. ¥24,000 (near $222)for a single wheelchair member or ¥16,000 per wheelchair member and ¥14,000 per accompanying non-wheelchair member. Includes hotel pickup and drop-off.
Dear Globetrotter:
For travelers with mobility issues, Italian tour company Roma Experience (phone, in the US, 719/266-2360) introduced two private tours in September: “Accessible Vatican” (including St. Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel) and “Accessible Rome” (including the Colosseum and Roman Forum).
After picking up a car in Munich, Germany, in late October 2018, we drove to northern Italy for a 10-day stay. While in Trieste for four days and in Cividale del Friuli (an hour’s drive away) for two, we successfully used our US handicap-parking placard without any problem, which was quite convenient. It also was thrifty, because handicap parking places were free of charge.
My husband, Norman, and I and a friend of ours were on our way to take a cruise from Copenhagen, Denmark, through the Baltic area on the Norwegian Cruise Line ship Breakaway. We began our trip on May 9, 2018, by flying from New Orleans to Chicago on United Airlines and from Chicago to Copenhagen on SAS Scandinavian Airlines (in a code-share with United). On May 20, we would also fly back on SAS from Copenhagen.
The Australian travel company The Good Scout Travel Company (thegoodscout.com.au) specializes in helping travelers with impaired mobility plan trips and activities Down Under. Anyone who signs up for the free email newsletter will receive a link to download the PDF book "101 Accessible Australian Adventures." In the PDF, the title of each adventure links to the webpage describing the activity.
