My wife, Jackie, and I, along with another couple, took a 10-day bus tour of Ireland in early September 2014 with CIE Tours (US office in Morristown, NJ; 800/243-8687, www.cietours.com). It was fantastic!
We booked the trip through Bethany Travel (Millsboro, DE; 800/806-8747, www.dreamvacationinc.com). I don’t recall the total cost.
As a wheelchair user for 47 years and a paraplegic, I’ve found that overseas travel can provide obstacles and challenges.
As a child, I had a very mild case of polio. While I never had any trouble breathing, I did have trouble walking for a few weeks, but after a week or so in the hospital and a few weeks of being carried around by my father, I regained my ability to walk and all seemed well.
As of July 26, 2008, under guidelines set by the European Union’s Equality & Human Rights Commission, or EHRC (in England, phone 0845 604 6610, www.equalityhumanrights.com), mobility-impaired or otherwise disabled passengers who are citizens of EU countries and travel by air to, from or within the EU have greater rights to access and assistance.
The third edition of “Barrier-Free Travel, A Nuts and Bolts Guide for Wheelers and Slow Walkers” by Candy Harrington (2009. ISBN 9781932603835 — 312 pp., $19.95 softcover) covers the logistics of planning accessible travel by plane, train, bus and ship for the mobility impaired. It includes access laws, info on taking accessibility items on planes, and lists of companies that rent accessible vans in Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
$19.95 plus $6.50 shipping. Demos Publishing (800/532-8663, www.demosmedpub.com).
The book “Venice: Easy Sightseeing: A Guide Book for Casual Walkers, Seniors, and Wheelchair Riders” (ISBN 1419698745) contains 14 sightseeing routes each a 3- to 5-minute walk from a boat dock. There are maps plus descriptions of wheelchair-accessible paths, elevators and bathrooms.
It is available from Amazon.com for $15.99 plus $3.99 shipping, or from bookstores.
The Badaling section of the Great Wall of China was made wheelchair accessible prior to the 2008 Olympics. A 400-meter-long ramp was built. In addition, elevators are available; alert the attendant at the Badaling ticket stand for a security escort.
Hotel rooms with amenities for mobility-impaired travelers can be found online using new tools added to the websites Expedia.com and Hotels.com.
On each website, after the initial search for date and city choices is performed, a drop-down menu is available (on top right of page on Expedia and on right side of page on Hotels.com) showing options such as Braille signage, roll-in shower or accessible bathroom. Choices are then narrowed to hotels with those features, which can be requested on the booking form.
I would like to respond to the letter written by a traveler with an artificial knee.
Starting in 1998, after my initial hip-replacement surgery, I have traveled overseas numerous times. Since 2001, I have had another hip replacement, two knee replacements and a titanium bolt placed in my shoulder.
After each surgery, I was given a card, similar to a credit card, with my name, date of surgery, doctor, hospital, type of implant and manufacturer. Those cards stay with me in my wallet next to my medical insurance and Medicare cards.
The writer of the letter “Now Carries a Doctor’s Note” (May ’14, pg. 43) wanted to know if other travelers with artificial limbs or metal in their bodies carried doctors’ notes verifying the implants.
I’ve had two hip replacements, and after each one I was given a photo ID on which there was a picture of the prosthesis on one side and, on the reverse, my name, my doctor’s name, the date of the surgery and the make and model of the implant.
A reader mentioned that when he travels, he now carries a note from his doctor explaining that he has an artificial knee (May ’14, pg. 43).
My surgeon’s office provided me with a plastic, credit-card-sized card that reads, “The joint prosthesis implanted in this patient may activate metal detection devices,” followed by my name, implant type (knee), date of surgery and name of surgeon. On the other side is the name and address of the hospital.