Rolling Traveler

A wheelchair has to meet the needs of its user. It’s more than just a way of getting around: a wheelchair has to be good enough to let you live the life you want to live. A folding-frame chair with the wheels perpendicular to the frame is not right for playing basketball, and a rigid-frame chair with the wheels at a pronounced angle to the frame will limit your sightseeing options in many countries. As a regular traveler, I have learned a bit about what makes a chair right for traveling in, and I want to use the next few Friday posts to give some advice about what to look for when making a chair purchase.

If you’ve never thought about it, you might not realize how many variations of wheelchair there are, from lightweight fold-up manual models through solid and powerful motorized models to extremely specialized sports models; if you are a wheelchair user, then you know how broad the selection is and what you wish you’d known before buying your first chair. I am now on my fifth chair, and from the point of view of traveling, the first and third were completely unsuitable, the second and fourth were good for getting around but awkward to transport, and the fifth is almost perfect, although I recently realized that it has one big flaw. I’m hoping to be able to fix it though - fingers crossed!

Why did it take me five goes to get it almost right? There are a number of factors. Availability, a lack of advice and information, impetuousness, short-sightedness, clerical error, and finances all contributed over the years, but of those factors, the lack of advice and information was the most significant.

As an example, the first chair I got was bought in a hurry, I knew nothing about wheelchairs, and I didn’t know any other wheelchair users then to ask. I wanted a chair as soon as possible because I could no longer get around on crutches at all, and it had come upon me suddenly. The chair was bought at a medical supply store that, like most such establishments, only had a couple of models in stock, none of which were suitable for traveling. The salesperson didn’t know much about chairs, and just kept saying the model would be fine. The chair was a monster of a thing: it weighed 40 pounds, and was about 8 inches wider than I needed. I couldn’t maneuver it comfortably, and got chest pains from trying to handle it on the streets alone. The leathery seat and backrest meant it was too hot and sticky in summer, and too cold in the winter. It was the type of chair that could be used in a nursing home or hospital, but absolutely unsuitable for someone who craved independence and loved travel. We suffered each other’s existence for a few months because I didn’t have the money to get anything different, but believe me, that chair was history the first chance I got.

From next week, I’ll look at wheelchairs part by part and try to build up a picture of what makes a good travel chair. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please let me know. This is an area where the more experience we can bring to bear, the better.

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