HOLIDAYS
My family and I always have a lot of fun while we are on holiday. Though there are, understandably, sometimes accessibility problems, we have been able to travel to some really lovely places. When my sister was younger, it was relatively easy to travel with her. She didn’t need many bags, and her buggy was smaller and foldable. My mum or dad, or even sometimes me, were able to carry her onto the plane or train, or into the car.
However, as my sister is now much older and bigger, it is a bit more of a struggle to travel with her. She needs a bag for her feed (as she has a gastrostomy) and also needs a bag for emergency medication. She also travels in a rather big wheelchair, which can’t be stored on the plane anymore. For my parents, they are not always strong enough to be able to carry my sister for a long amount of time, so we normally get on the plane or train either before or after the other passengers get on.
When I was much younger, I used to find it quite glamorous that we were allowed on the plane at a separate time to everyone else, or that we were able to take a different route into a building. A few years ago, I visited Buckingham palace with my mum, grandmother and two sisters. I remember feeling very special, as me and my other sister were allowed to walk up the central steps to visit the palace, where no one else was allowed to go. When I was 10, we went to Disneyland. The queue for a ride we wanted to go on was very long, but one of the workers there let us skip the line with a disability pass. Though we really enjoy skipping the queue, we never try to purposefully skip. Most places are very helpful and considerate, and will send someone out of their way to take us to the front.
Inevitably, people are going to stare at my sister. I’ve got quite used to it, and I like to think that people are just curious. This is not just an event that happens on holiday, but whenever we go outside or to a restaurant. Only, we stand out on holiday as tourists alone with our massive rucksacks and cringeworthy hats, so I guess people would stare anyway…
Though I don’t always realise, my parents go through tons of preparation to make sure that our holidays can be enjoyable and run smoothly. When booking flights, they have to make sure that the wheelchair for my sister will be waiting for them on the other side, ready so that my sister can use it. When choosing hotels, they have to make sure that the hotel is accessible on all possible levels, and that we are able to travel to wherever we would want to visit easily from the hotel.
What was somewhat surprising and very convenient, is that at many major landmarks that we have been able to visit, almost all of them had wheelchair accessibility. When we visited Paris, we went to the Eiffel Tower. My sister was not able to go up to the top, but she was able to get to the main viewing platform, and she really enjoyed it! When we visited the Colosseum a few years ago, my sister was able to access the higher and underground levels with a lift, which was very surprising and lucky. There are many other accessible places, and my family and I are very grateful that people have thought to make sure that everyone of all abilities are able to experience as much as possible.
Until next time…
Leah