Elaine got a mobility scooter to Mongolia this month. The airlines were fine and so were the airports, she says. The kerbs in Ulaanbaatar were another matter, and the road crossings were worse.
Nobody made her tell us that, and that is the part of this place worth protecting. People arrive needing an answer, then come back later and give one. When Rachel's husband's power chair died the day they landed in Kyoto, she had the chair's Japanese agent and two places to rent a replacement inside a day, from members who knew and took a minute.
If you know any of the places below, a few minutes of yours is somebody's trip.
Watch
Iceland, waterfalls and puffins
Betsy is 61, her mother is 83, and they are still driving the Ring Road. This episode is waterfall country, with accessibility notes as they go.
Watch it on tabifolk, and tell Betsy which of these you would add to your own list.
Inside the Norwegian Aqua
Danielle’s Bermuda port video was in the last issue. This time it is the ship itself. It is a ten-things-to-know video and the accessibility review starts around the twelve minute mark. She came away happy with it.
Watch it on tabifolk, and add what you noticed if you have sailed on her.
Can you help?
Any of these takes a minute if you know the answer.
The US Virgin Islands for a 50th anniversary. Paul uses a scooter and is after a resort that is properly accessible, down to grab bars by the toilet. Anywhere you would send him?
Paris with a hoist. Mandi is a full-time power chair user and needs a roll-in shower plus room around and under the bed for a rented hoist. She has asked in the hotels group too, so one recommendation covers both.
How bad are the cobblestones in Lille? Ptara travels in a manual chair and got caught out by Honfleur and St Malo, where her husband could push her about a block at a time. She would rather know before booking.
A queue card for attractions in Japan. Patrick can walk for a couple of hours, but standing still in a line is painful. Some countries issue a card for this. Does Japan have one a three-week visitor can get?
Is the Waikiki Trolley accessible? Josh saw one on a TV show and could not tell from the footage. If you have ridden it, say so.
Worth reading
Getting a senior dad around Tokyo and Osaka. 21 replies. Rianelle is bringing her father’s luggage scooter from the Philippines in November. An Osaka taxi operator, a traveller going over in October, and someone who did Tokyo and Kanazawa this year all weighed in on rentals, GO Taxi against Uber, and whether his own scooter is fine to use there.
London in October: black cabs and Tube lifts. 7 replies. Ptara has MS, is renting a scooter for four days, and wanted to know what still works. She last used the Tube 35 years ago.
A power chair that stopped in Kyoto. 5 replies. Rachel’s husband’s chair died the day they arrived. Within a day she had the Japanese agent for the chair and two places to rent a replacement.
Cruise questions, and where they got answered
Cruise questions keep coming back here. Three new ones this fortnight:
An affordable line with accessible restrooms on more than one deck. Jane’s scooter got her into exactly one floor’s worth on Carnival, and the doors were heavy enough that her husband had to help.
A sit-to-stand rental near Cape Canaveral, for Debbie’s upcoming cruise.
Jasminebed swapped a rollator for a folding scooter and sailed on the 13th, in an accessible cabin for the first time. Worth asking how it went when she is back.
A few from the archive that still hold up:
Shore excursions around Japan when the coach steps rule out the official tours. 8 replies.
American Cruise Line’s river ships, and whether their ADA labels mean anything on the day.
Consumer Reports ranked the lines on accessibility, which is where the scores above come from.
Celebrity is building two accessible river ships for 2027 and 2028, with hoists at the pools and a lift up to the sun deck.
New faces
Christine had a hip revision dislocate six times and now walks with crutches. What she asked for was travel without the dread, and four people answered her. Belinda listed a neurological condition that affects almost everything and still wants to get away; four answered her too. Lynda in London wrote that the information you need is not out there, which is more or less why tabifolk got started. Five people said hello.
Also worth a welcome: a caregiver in Calgary travelling with her husband in their eighties, and Lol in Liverpool.
A community thrives when members are willing to help each other, and ours are generous with their time. Thank you for being part of tabifolk.
Got a trip coming up? Come and ask! Been somewhere good (or horrible!)? Come and tell us about it. Either way it is good to have you.
If someone you know is planning a trip and could use a hand, send them our way. A nudge from you does more than anything we could write.