Roma! We made it!

I’m going to just update this post as I can throughout my journey, instead of making a lot of separate posts.

Days 1-5

We made it to Rome after a full day of travel. We flew from Jacksonville, Fl. to Charlotte, NC and had a 4 hour layover before our 9+hour flight to Rome. I spent most of that time standing and walking around, knowing that I would be sitting for the next 9+ hours.

Here are some tips for the journey.

We couldn’t afford First Class but we did upgrade to Premium Economy. We booked the bulkhead seats because those are the only seats on the plane that give you both a foot and leg rest, so the seat reclines into a recliner seat. Even the other Premium seats only have foot rests. That was a big difference in being able to stay comfortable!

I took 2 neck pillow’s because I found that one was helpful for me to sit on, and it fit in my carry on. My regular sitting pillow was too big. The good news is that the plane offered plenty of pillows to place around my back and sides as needed. We flew American Airlines BTW.

My doctor prescribed me an extra strong muscle relaxer to help me get sleepy, so I was able to get to sleep pretty easily. I had also spent several days before my trip training my body for jet lag, by going to bed extra early and waking earlier. I can’t tell you how much that helped.

When we arrived in Rome, we were both still pretty tired and laid down for a nap. We made sure we didn’t sleep through though. We arrived at our hotel at 11:00 am and woke by 2:00. Then we walked around the hotel a bit and had dinner at 7:00.

Our hotel was very close to several historical and tourist sites, so it was an easy walk in any direction, to see interesting things.

We were both ready for bed by 10:00 and woke at 8:00am, ready to start the next day!

One thing about Rome and other parts of Europe is that they are very protective of their ice! lol It’s hard enough to get ice in your drinks, let alone to fill bags for your back pains.

I recommend packing instant ice packs for your emergencies and/or reusable ice packs that you can at least put in your hotel fridge and crank up the thermostat. They might not fully freeze but it’s something I wish I had known about.

We made sure that we booked the tours of the things that we really wanted to see, in advance. We also spent extra to do the most private tour as possible because the sites are extremely crowded, with long lines, even for basic tour groups.

By booking a private tour, we were able to skip the lines and crowds, and get more information. Our tour guide was a lovely woman who is an archeologist and has been doing tours for 20 years. We were her only guests, all day! Being able to pick her brain, privately, was priceless, because we both love history.

Also, with me being a minister, getting a better understanding of the history of Christianity was very moving. I cried many times through the Vatican, even though I am not Catholic. My faith is still based on that history, the good and the bad.

People were standing in the heat for hours, which I knew I couldn’t do, so paying for the private tour, particularly for the Vatican, was a must. It was a once in a lifetime event that we had saved for.

Rome is not a handicapped friendly city, if you need to use a scooter or rollator, etc. You also have to be very careful when walking because the streets are uneven and there are a lot of obstacles.

In all, we made it for 4 days in Rome, taking our time but I averaged about 2-3 miles a day and still felt great!

Off to the Cruise!

On day 5 we made it to the port and boarded our ship. By the time we got on board I was finally ready to crash. After unpacking our bags, I laid down for a couple of hours, while Steve explored the ship and met with our friends, before heading to dinner. I barely made it through before needing to just go to bed.

Here is another great piece of advice. I understand that going on a trip with your spouse or significant other is special, but having other traveling companions can take so much pressure off of your relationship!

When I needed down time to rest, Steve always had others who could do things with him, who understood our situation. This prevented me from pushing too hard and feeling guilty, if had to miss out on things, and it prevented him feeling disappointment or frustration, when I just couldn’t go anymore.

I feel stronger than I have in years, doing this trip. In some ways, I believe that being able to leave the stress of life at home, has given me a release of “wellness”, and all of the activities and exercise has strengthened my body!

The more that I do now, the more I’m able to do! Not to a point of pain or exhaustion but I AM pushing myself to do more. That’s only because I CAN now. I COULDN’T for so long, as much as I WANTED to.

I am now so Blessed! When everything has been stripped away, you feel the gratitude so much deeper when things are restored!

I can only rejoice in the fact that God has given me the tools and know how, to get to this place! I’ll update this more, later in my journey!

Greece

Today we are in Olympia, Greece. I have walked over 2 miles and it’s 10:00 am! Many more miles to go!

It’s not lost on me that I am celebrating what my body is now able to do, while walking through the ruins of the first Olympiads!

I am not in pain but my muscles aren’t used to all of this. I may be the first person in the world who comes back from a vacation healthier than they left! 😁

The rest of the cruise was wonderful. We visited so many beautiful countries and enjoyed so many unique experiences!

I highly recommend cruising as a form of travel for anyone with a disability. Being able to see so many places, without having to pack and unpack, was a great way to experience the world and then see which areas you might want to return to for a land vacation.

A couple of tips about cruising though.

1- Try to book a cabin as close to the elevator as possible. Looking at our ship, we realized that the majority of activities and restaurants were in the back of the ship, so being close to the Aft Elevator was perfect.

2- If you have trouble showering in the cabin shower, most cruise lines will allow you to use their spa locker room showers. I did that on the days when I needed to shave my legs.

After we arrived back in Rome, we took a flight to London for several days. Be careful not to over book though. Give yourself plenty of down time so that your body can handle the trip back home!

We stayed in a very central location at Hide Park and bought a ticket on a Hop On, Hop Off bus for 2 days. That way we could see things at our own pace and stop when needed.

The only real tour we did was the Rock n Roll tour, which I loved. It was with a guy named Steven who has Rock Cab Tours! Great guy and great history!

Unfortunately in London we had some strife. Remember my tip from earlier when I said to try and go with friends, to take the stress out when you don’t have the energy to do everything and your spouse gets disappointed that you aren’t up to doing certain things? Well, we didn’t have our friends in London and it did cause some frustrations.

It’s sad but also a reality. I said that I would share the good and the bad. As hard as we both try, we can get it wrong.

I was exhausted after the previous weeks of adventure and that made me worry about being able to fly home on my own. I felt guilty for not being able to do everything that Steve wanted to do and unfortunately, he showed his disappointment.

This then made me angry because instead of appreciating all of my accomplishments and being thankful for all that I COULD do now, he was being selfish regarding not having me to entertain him.

THIS is exactly why I recommended earlier to have travel companions. This was proven in London and we’ll never find ourselves in that situation again. We will plan ahead to prevent it.

Now for my return to the real world!

Unfortunately, no matter how much I attempt to prepare myself and the airlines for my flights, I am always disappointed. This time was no different.

When I arrived in the States I had a shorter than expected layover, because the airline had somehow lost my return reservation and had to book me on different flight, with only a 1 hour and 20 minute layover. This meant rushing through customs, picking up all of my bags and rechecking them, and finally getting through security again, to get to my gate.

When we landed I was one of the first off of the plane and the wheelchair was there, ready. Then they proceeded to roll me to the side of the hall and just leave me there. They said that wheelchair passengers had to wait for the plane to clear first. This is NOT a true policy and had never happened to me before but my anxiety was through the roof!

I don’t know how we accomplished it but I made it to my flight just in time to enter, before the door shut. Thankfully I was in business class and didn’t have get to the back of the plane.

Again, when I landed at home there were no wheelchairs or even a cart for my luggage. I ended up pulling my bags one at time, out to the bus that would take me to my vehicle.

By the time I got home I was completely exhausted and wrecked. I have been home for a little over 2 weeks now and I think I’ve slept about 90% of that time.

It was absolutely worth it all though! The fact that I actually COULD pull my bags and survive every difficulty is miraculous!

I hope that sharing my journey offers some people hope and also, maybe there are some suggestions here for others to take with them on future journeys themselves!

If you have questions, feel free to ask me too!

God Bless you all!