Traveling with Disabilities: Ten Top Tips 3

8. Determine whether the local transport services of the city you are
visiting are equipped with special seats for disabled persons, and
whether the vehicles are equipped with a ramp. Check to see if the
hotel you are staying at has an airport shuttle, how many elevators,
how easy the access to the hotel and your room with be, and so on.

9. If you are utilizing a service dog, check out whether the countries
you are planning to visit permit such dogs. Notify the airlines upon
making the reservation that you will have a service dog on board, and
what the extra handling and service fees might be for this.

10. The most important tip is to ensure that your insurance plan
provides coverage/compensation in the cities you are planning to
visit. You can obtain additional travel insurance at the airport,
online when you book, through the credit card company you are using to
pay for your trip, and/or or through your travel agent, if necessary.

Traveling with disabilities can be difficult, but not impossible. The
main things is to know before you go and be prepared.

Traveling with Disabilities: Ten Top Tips 2

4. Health care is another issue to check out before embarking on your
trip. It makes sense to have a discussion with your doctor regarding
medicines that might not be available in your country/city of
destination. Stock yourself adequately with them prior to departing.
Also remember to pack your medicine in your carry on. At the worst, if
you lose it, remember that you can get a three day emergency supply
from a pharmacy in the US (though you will probably have to pay more
than the co-pay).

5. Check with the airline to determine what the regulations are for
transporting medications to and from destinations. You may require a
doctor’s note for each medication. Be careful with large liquid
bottles in particular because, like baby formula, they might be
disallowed by certain airlines due to heightened security
restrictions. If you are carrying something like insulin that needs to
be refrigerated, make sure you bring it along in a cold back with the
small freezer packs. Also make sure you request a refrigerator in your
room at the hotel.

6. Always carry your medications in a clear plastic bag to take on
board. Do not store it in your luggage as on-board baggage can be lost
or stolen.

7. Carry your doctor’s prescription along with you if you are being
treated with prescription drugs. Also, have on hand the generic name
of the drug just in case you need to refill it in another country.

Traveling with Disabilities: Ten Top Tips 1

Just because you are disabled does not mean that you should not enjoy
the joys of traveling. More and more disabled people are traveling and
enjoying wonderful vacations now thanks to their needs being taken
into consideration.

A lack of mobility should not mean a life sentence stuck inside the
house. Disabled persons have their special individual requirements
depending on their degree of disability, and type. Many more tourist
destinations are adequately equipped to accommodate disabled persons.
If you plan before you go, it should make for a smooth and enjoyable
trip.

Hoverounds and other types of motorized wheelchairs, plus walkers,
strollers, canes that convert into seats, and more, are all available
now, to help take the stress and strain of travel off older people
too, not just the disabled.

If you are disabled or have limited mobility in some way, and want to
ensure that your trip be a memorable one, here are ten tips on how to
travel with disabilities.

1. Research the cities on your itinerary before traveling to ensure
that they have the resources required for disabled persons. Do not
hesitate to ask about the services provided.

2. When making airline reservations either on the phone, online, or
through a travel agent, let them know you need assistance (such as a
wheelchair) from the time you arrive at the airport to the time you
disembark at your destination. Even if you have just a mild
disability, remember that airports can be very large, with long walks
from gate to gate.
Also keep this in mind if you have to change planes on your trip.
Certain airports like Atlanta and Charlotte and the DC airports, can
be impossible to get through in anything less than 30 minutes even for
the physically able, so know before you go, plan your routes
accordingly, and make sure there will be assistance for you as well.

3. Check out the local luggage transportation facilities to and from
the airport/station. In some cases you can send your luggage and heavy
items like your power chair on ahead so it will be there waiting for
you.

Lonely Planet Goes through the USA

Here’s a new book you might be interested in if you are thinking of
taking a vacation in the US, or would like to plan a stayvaction close
to home:

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Lonely Planet Goes through the USA State by State in this all new book

Now that the holidays are drawing near, many of us are likely going to have to get on a plane to visit loved ones. But what about those of us who are afraid of flying?

Here is some timely advice to take the fear out of flying: Fear of Flying

Magellan’s is one of the world’s premier stores for travel-related items. Whther you are on the go, or an armchair traveler, you are bound to find products you will love.

Check out their weekly web specials for great bargains. Magellan’s

Discount on Paris Hotels
Race to Savings in Paris! Stay at Hotel Migny Opera Montmartre from $114, Hotel Magenta from $80, and Au Grand Hotel Francais from $127!
Offer expires 11/15/2008

http://www.kiwitourism.com/cityoftauranga/

Tauranga is the bustling, confident port city where pleasure craft jostle in the marinas and charter vessels operate fishing, scuba diving and dolphin-watching trips. There is no shortage of shopping and dining in Tauranga either.

This, after all, is the centre of the Bay of Plenty, a region experiencing steady population growth.

The Bay of Plenty is the North-east coast versus north-west coast of the island, and you are now heading into wine country.

http://www.tourism.net.nz/wineries-new-zealand.html

Hawke’s Bay, Hastings. Napier, Gisborne are all charming towns thriving thanks to wine.

The Gisborne Wine Region, located on the country’s most easterly tip and closest to the international dateline, boasts the world’s most easterly vineyards, and the first vines to see the sun each day.

The region receives high sunshine hours on coastal plains that are sheltered from the west by a range of mountains. Soils include alluvial loams over sandy or volcanic subsoils of moderate fertility. Vineyards are predominantly sited on flats, a dramatic contrast with the hilly, rugged terrain around Rotorua and Tarawara.

I didn’t get much time here, not for want of trying, but it was on to Wellington. Just suffice it to say that for all things wine and old world charm, these towns are justly on the map.

Here is a handy interactive calculator for common daily activities:
http://www.clevelandclinic.org/health/interactive/burned.asp?&Source=FathomSEO&email+marketing&campaigned=Health_Extra
Remember, one lost pound = 3,500 burned calories

So you can stay fit even when you are traveling!

Welcome to Travel Goddess. Here we will bring you handy travel tips, great photos, and more.