Travel After a Spinal Cord Injury

by Charlotte Bethune-Fisher

This is the first in a series of articles that will give you tips on how to arrange a successful voyage.

Traveling arrangements are generally a straightforward process for able-bodied individuals. Most people contact a travel agency, choose a destination, and hope that their baggage and the sun follow them.

For the traveler with spinal cord injury (SCI), or other disability, there is much more to consider when planning a trip. Anxiety about air travel, the accessibility of accommodations, transportation, and attitudinal barriers can be extra “baggage” for the novice traveler with SCI. With proper planning, these issues can be minimized and often avoided.

Having an SCI does not stop people wanting to travel for pleasure or needing to travel for business. Travel for someone who uses a wheelchair can be an alarming prospect, but does not have to be an impossible problem. Careful planning is needed, but provided you are honest with what you can and cannot do, there is no reason why you should not be happy with the outcome. Travel opportunities and choices for people with disabilities have grown dramatically over the past few years, and travel agents can play an important role in ensuring the success of what may, in many cases, be a first trip away from home.

The purpose of this series of articles is to assist people with SCI to travel with greater ease and comfort. It will provide you with useful travel tips, an overview of applicable laws, and a listing of up-to-date resources.

In this article, we will look at some of the basics of travel arrangement: booking hotel rooms, renting cars, planning an agenda, and traveling with attendants. Before you make any arrangements, however, you should figure out what sort of traveler you are.

What Kind of Traveler Are You?

Are you a self-reliant, independent traveler? Or do you need a travel agent to navigate the plan-making for you?

As an independent traveler, as long as you have all of the necessary information available to you, it should not be difficult to meet the requirements for a pleasure or business trip. Keep in mind, however, every detail must be double-checked, particularly on a complicated journey where the risk of a problem is greater.

Be wary of calling 800 numbers for hotel reservations. The phone reservationists who work these lines are often not located near the hotel you are calling about, and they rarely have a clue about a room’s accessibility. Instead, call the hotel’s direct number (which you can get from the 800 line) and ask to speak to the manager, who should be able to provide you with access information. Remember to be specific about your requirements.

If you would rather have someone else figure out the best fares and schedules for you, then pick a travel agent, but choose one carefully. Ask your friends with disabilities for referrals. Getting a good recommendation could help you avoid novice agents and those who know zip about travel arrangements specifically for someone with SCI. Visit the travel agencies and interview their agents about their knowledge of your chosen destination. Good agents are more likely to remember a hotel, cruise ship with an elevator, or recall a museum’s access. You will then be able to quickly determine if the travel agent has a greater interest in your wallet than your access needs. Remember travel agents are primarily there to book tickets, not measure bathroom doors. Any hotel listings they do provide will most likely be in the four- to five- star price range and costly.

For these reasons, we highly recommend using United Spinal’s own ABLE to Travel service on the Web at www.abletotravel.org, or by phone, call toll free, 888-211-3635. Our agents are among the most experienced with accessible travel arrangements of any agency anywhere. And not least important to consider, ABLE to Travel ensures the lowest rates and can provide you with discounts for accessible travel that other agencies will not know about. Even if you are an independent-minded traveler, it makes sense to use ABLE to Travel for that reason alone.

Over the Ground

The provision of facilities for travelers with disabilities in taxis, buses, and trains varies considerably from country to country and city to city. Even where there are specially adapted vehicles as in the United States, these may not be available on all routes or at more than a few locations.

It’s important to research your destination’s accessibility-how prevalent curb cuts are, what the local handicapped parking regulations are, what sort of local access laws are in place-if you want to keep your trip as stress-free as possible.

It’s also important to contact travel lines, not just to see if they have accessible coaches, for example, but often to give them notice of your needs. Rail lines in the US and abroad can give various types of assistance to travelers with disabilities, provided you arrange it in advance. For over-the-road travel within the United States, Greyhound now guarantees lift-equipped bus service between any of the destinations it serves as long as you provide them with 48-hour notice. Most car rental companies have cars equipped with hand controls for drivers with lower-limb disability. For further details, contact the specific rental company directly.

Health Considerations

Traveling can be a tiring experience even if you are in the best of health. If you require medication, take extra bottles along with a written prescription from your doctor. If you are planning to visit a developing country or one where there is a threat of a contagious disease, visit the Center for Disease Control at www.cdc.gov or the International Association for Medical Assistance for Travelers at www.IAMAT.org both on the internet to learn if there are any health advisories for your destination. The IAMAT also provides a list of English speaking physicians throughout the world who will visit your hotel.

In future articles, we will discuss travel by air and sea. Happy traveling!

Charlotte Bethune-Fisher is a case worker for Hospital Services.

ABLE to Travel

A full services travel agency for United Spinal Association members

For more information, call ABLE to Travel, toll free, at 888-211-3635. Or visit our Website: www.abletotravel.org