Travel Tip #8: Take a friend!

I used to travel solo.

Now I rarely travel on my own.

This might be the biggest change to my travel habits since acquiring my disability.

Back at Mile 21, when I was just learning to walk again, longtime friends Jen and Polly convinced me -- and all my new equipment -- to take a road trip to Maine. 

We stuffed the trunk with a zillion supplies:

shower chair,
prosthetic pieces,
crutches,
medications,

shrinkers,
first-aid creams,
alcohol spray,
and a portable DVD player I watched at night when I couldn't sleep.

On that trip, I felt exposed and vulnerable in ways I had never imagined.

Like passing TRUCKS on the highway...

...adapting to a hotel room, walking with an ice cream cone, and sweating out of my prosthesis, exhausted, on the way back from dinner.

But I also felt -- for the first time -- a freedom that I thought was lost from my life forever.

I was traveling.

And my C-Leg was at sea!
(Or Casco Bay, anyway.)

Since that milestone trip, I've learned the value of not going it alone.  

Friends are great in case of emergency and, of course, for helping with bags.  But they also boost our confidence and help us laugh at mishaps.  (Which, for me, still happen many times a day!)

Most of all, taking a friend along reminds us that we ALL have strengths and challenges.

That we're all adaptive travelers in our own way.

Walk on,
Rebecca 

P.S. Read the postcard from Mile 21 here: The Way Life Should Be.

Travel Tip #7: Consider cultures close to home!

You don't have to go far.

On my "Alive Day" each year, I like to focus on being present and grateful for... well, being alive.

I always want to do something special and out of the ordinary, but that's a bittersweet time of year for me, and often my energy is in short supply.

So what do you do when you're feeling ambivalent and drained? 

Or where do you go if you only have a few hours?

How about Japan??

Japanese culture has a rich history in Philly, so I hopped in the car with friends Mark and Jasmine for a very short road trip.

Within a half-hour, we'd arrived at the Shofuso Japanese House and Garden -- a place I'd never visited before!

You can read more about it at Mile 13,140.

On our way back to the city, we stopped in Chinatown to slurp steaming bowls of ramen at Megumi, a new-to-me Japanese restaurant, literally blocks from home.

We knew we'd only dipped our toes (or chopsticks) in, but it felt like we'd traveled halfway around the world!

I know what you're thinking.  

It's easy in big cities because they're so culturally diverse.  But small towns -- and even rural areas -- have roots to explore too.  

No passport required!

So what's in your hometown?

Walk on,
Rebecca

Travel Tip #6: Choose "right-size" adventures!

Travel isn't one-size-fits-all.

I don't know about you, but travel pushes my body into overload.

I walk more than usual, eat different foods, get less rest, carry more than my share of emergency supplies (see Tip 2), and -- like even the most able-bodied traveler -- face weather and time changes.

The rewards are worth the struggle, for sure.

But keeping pace, while keeping my body on an even keel, can be challenging!

Luckily, travel comes in many sizes.

Figuring out how to use the teapot in your temporary home, taking a walk or roll around your new block, or browsing a local supermarket --

It all counts!

Back at Mile 8,000 in Copenhagen, when the days were chilled and darkness rolled in at 3:45 PM, travel-buddy Nat and I made an "evening" trip to the Lidl supermarket, just steps from where we were staying.

We gathered up local delights -- Danish rye, smoked salmon, thick yogurt, tea, and chocolate bars -- and feasted on them at "home" in our PJs and slippers!

It was true Denmark hygge -- Goldilocks' style -- not too big, not too small...

Just right!

(To this day, I can't pass a Lidl supermarket without remembering the fun we had there.)

Walk on,
Rebecca