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Getting a new wheelchair is not like getting a new hairdo, or a new outfit. It’s way beyond that. Getting a new wheelchair isn’t the same as having your bathroom redone or trading in your car. It’s not like getting a new job or taking a new lover (says the guy who married his high… Continue reading My New Wheelchair – Permobil F5 VS

As significantly disabled people go, I am the exception. My bladder still works. To take advantage of that, however, requires ingenuity. During the day, I pee into little containers and empty them into the nearest toilet. Straightforward stuff. But liquids have this unfortunate tendency to flow downhill, and that presents a challenge when I’m lying down in… Continue reading The Art of Peeing in Bed (on Purpose)

The last time we flew home from the Caribbean, the airline lost both of my power wheelchairs. That memory, and the knowledge that we had eight wheelchair transfers ahead of us, might have induced a certain dread for the trip home, but it didn’t. We had something working in our favor—first class seats on both… Continue reading Disabled Cruising 2017 Part 5: All Good Things…

For this vacation, we decided to use Kim’s eBay earnings to see how the other side lives. We booked a wheelchair accessible suite, which is of course larger than a normal suite, which is larger than a normal cabin.  Certain perks came with the suite package too, such as a butler (who we shared with… Continue reading Disabled Cruising 2017 Part 4: On the Ship

Why do Kim and I go on elaborate, expensive vacations? Why does anyone? It can’t be that these weeklong excursions make us happy only during the time we spend away, 2% of our year. It must be that they have a lasting effect, or at least we believe them to (is there a difference?). Midway… Continue reading Disabled Cruising 2017 Part 3: Cozumel and Jamaica

In the weeks and months leading up to an elaborate vacation, I build visual models in my mind. Before this cruise, I imagined a virtual state room, various parts of the ship, the ports of call, and more. Some of this modeling was based on research and previous experience. The rest, I probably acquired from… Continue reading Disabled Cruising 2017 Part 2: CocoCay

Security It began at 4:00 am at the TSA checkpoint, Logan Airport, Boston. My brother, Andy, and his wife, Karen, zipped through without a problem. Kim did too. A TSA agent shouted, “MALE ASSIST, MALE ASSIST.” I waited a long while for the male assist. He noticed I had my backpack hanging off my wheelchair.… Continue reading Disabled Cruising 2017 Part 1: Getting to the Ship

When I received an email from a company in the UK called Stairlift Reviews, informing me that I had been named to their list of the top 100 disability blogs, I was skeptical. Either it would prove a hoax, I assumed, or I would be asked to solicit online votes from my readership. Although I… Continue reading The 100 Best Disability Blogs

“We don’t want any adventures here, thank you! You might try over The Hill or across The Water.” — Bilbo Baggins’ response to Gandalf’s proposed adventure in J.R.R. Tolkien’s THE HOBBIT. It’s so much easier to stay home, whether home is a hobbit-hole in Middle-earth or a wheelchair-accessible, voice-controlled, single-story house in the city. Nevertheless,… Continue reading We’re Going on an Adventure