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- Arguing with the check-in dolly for the seats you tried to pre-book, due to your special needs, that she has reallocated to a standing plonker who ‘wants to sit at the front.’
- Laboriously explaining the transfer procedure to the staff who are supposed to be helping you and then showing them how to do it!
- Holding your bladder for up to fourteen hours for a seven hour flight.
- Finding a safe place to leave your bags and wheelchair crip whilst desperately trying to locate the cab/car that was supposed to meet you which may/may not turn up and trying to get in whatever vehicle may have turned up and to your hotel in one piece.
- Finding you have no access to toilet or bathroom facilities after 14 hours of travel AND cannot get into the bed in the room AND there is no other seat for you.
- Finding the equipment you hired is not there/broken/the wrong thing and it is 5.50pm local time – you have 10 minutes to sort it out or every trip to the loo will involve three transfers and a lot of agony.
- Managing without essential equipment, sleeping in an armchair every night, having no bath/shower access for part/whole of your stay.
- Coping with additional pain, sleeping, dependence and mobility problems because the wheelchair and bed are not your regular – with all moving parts – equipment and the promised facilities are so inadequate.
- Trying to enjoy yourself despite all of the above?
- going through it all again to get home.
Be clear - the moaning does not mean we will never do it again. We keep trying and we are, kind of, looking forward to trying more of the UK and Europe when we get a new car – and can travel with equipment! Not that we haven’t tried both before and failed abysmally but, hey, wet rooms are in vogue now and there is a disability discrimination act, no?
It just gets really hard to motivate yourself to do it and, frankly, who can be a*sed with this amount of hassle and expense? You’ve gotta really really want to go wherever…so, next time you say to me, ‘you really need….’ Just hold that thought, ‘cos believe me, when I do, I will…
Luckily, London is a real pleasure over summer – no children, no people, bliss – and who wants to travel when everyone else does anyway!
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