According to TravelBite, 25 percent of people with disabilities didn’t travel in 2004 due to the lack of accommodations. I recently wrote about a little kink in my recent trip, but accommodating me is less complicated than for those getting around in wheelchairs especially when it comes to airplane toilets. Heck, those toilets are difficult for a able-bodied person to use.
I’ve been trying to remember my first trip alone without visiting family. I believe it was in 1992 or 1993 when I traveled to Oklahoma City. I never gave it thought that I could have challenges on the trip. Over the years, I’ve traveled alone many times. Getting from airport to hotel is usually the difficult part of the trip. Sometimes renting a car was hard because I couldn’t read the employee’s lips. Whenever that happened, I came across obtuse or dumb. I hated that.
I’ve had trouble finding out which baggage claim to go to as some airports have big ones and they’re not all in the same place. I usually just follow the signs to baggage claim then walk through the area until I see my flight number. When I lived in Washington, DC, taking a cab home was nerve-wracking. Taxi driver and I couldn’t understand each other. But I got home and I survived.
If I want to order room service, I can’t do it from the comfort of my hotel room. I’ve covered this in the previous travel entry.